Malvern Poultry is a family business specialising in a small range of products.
Having kept and bred a wide variety of birds for over twenty years we became frustrated at the rising prices and general quality of the products available in New Zealand, particularly in incubation technology.
As far as we are concerned Brinsea have no equal globally in this field. It is no coincidence that conservation projects and zooilogical institutions the world over rely on Brinsea incubators. For example, many Kiwis have been incubated and hatched using Brinsea equipment. There are cheaper alternatives, but it is unusual in our experience for anybody who has used Brinsea incubators, and experienced the hatch rates and reliability they offer, to change to another brand. We certainly won’t go back.
Wire mesh is another area of frustration. You can find cheap mesh on the internet or in the big stores, but that is just what it is - cheap. It may look shiny when you buy it but give it a couple of years and watch it rust! Mesh needs to be hot dip galvanized (not electrically galvanized) to give it a decent life span. This process costs money so many suppliers offer ungalvanized or electrically galvanized wire and turn a quick profit.
Similarly, where as woven (hexagonal or ‘chicken wire’) mesh is great for penning chooks, welded mesh is preferable if you are building aviaries or keeping other species. It is stronger, tensions more evenly, is easier to cut to shape and the square mesh shape restricts birds from putting their heads through. The price of welded mesh can be phenomenal and, again, you are wasting your money unless it is properly galvanized.
With examples like these we searched far and wide for products for our own use. We were disappointed in the prices being demanded in New Zealand when compared to overseas prices. We then looked at importing but the cost of bringing in single units or small numbers pushed the prices up again. And so we launched Malvern Poultry.
The intention was simply to make available the products we wanted in New Zealand at reasonable prices. We were our first customers!
A sledgehammer to crack a nut in some respects but the company has taken on a life of its own and many others are benefiting the way we have done. We have had to restrict the range we offer to maintain our belief in quality products but are happy to discuss requirements with other keepers.
The unexpected benefit of the business is all the breeders it has brought us into contact with. As anybody passionate about birds of any sort knows, everybody has ideas and experiences to share. They are all worth listening to, regardless of whether you choose to implement them in your own husbandry techniques.
So, we are proud to maintain our ‘personal touch’ approach to the business. We certainly enjoy it that way and the positive feedback we get suggests that our customers do too!
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