Adam never thought he would be a chicken farmer but now he won't turn back

The farm, called Amberly, may have only been down the road from their previous home but it was a completely different lifestyle.

John Lilleyman was a software engineer and Adam Lilleyman had just finished school when the family bought the property in late 2012 and spent his gap year mending fences.

"I found myself at the start of 2013 with a farm and absolutely no idea what to do with it, not a clue," Adam Lilleyman said.

"I can't say that I ever thought I would be a chicken farmer."

But now Adam Lilleyman wouldn't have it any other way and he plans to continue running the farm once his parents retire.

"Farming is not a hugely popular thing in young people and it's my plan. I plan to live here and keep the farm going and pick up when dad leaves it," he said.

"I'm not sure what it is that I like about the farming lifestyle but you'll never find me in a suburb ever again. It just resonates with me being on the land, the outdoors, the fresh air and the hard work. It seems to fit well with me."

Like many farms in the region, 2020 has been a much better year for Amberly. Paddocks have turned from dirt to long grass and there is much more feed for the livestock.

There is a copious amount of grass for feed but a downside was a lot of the cattle were sold at the end of 2019.

But thankfully, the farm is best known for its pastured free-range eggs; Amberly Eggs are popular across stores in Canberra.

There are 3000 free-range chickens on the farm, with 50 chickens per hectare.

"Our goal was to produce ethical food and we thought the best way was to let the chickens be chickens and have as much space as they like," Adam Lilleyman said.

"Our paddocks are so big in some cases that the chickens don't even get to the other end, despite having access to it."

Pastured means the chickens don't live on the same patch of land for an extended period of time. There are chicken feeders on the property in a trailer that is towed forward every week.

Adam Lilleyman said the chickens actually restore the land as they move around the property as they add a level of manure to each spot, which then spread out.

"One of our goals with the chickens was to improve the soil and so it was necessary to move the trailers along and it's a win-win for everyone," he said.

The property has been profiled in a new video by Landcare ACT that gives a virtual farm tour. This project is funded by the federal government's smart farms small grant scheme as part of the national Landcare program.

The Kambah farm was in poor condition when the Lilleymans bought it, but they worked tirelessly to restore it and it was now highly productive farming land. They were supported by the Southern ACT Catchment Group.

"All the credit goes to mum and dad, it's always been their goal to restore the farm. It's a very old farm - it's had a dairy, it's been cropped and it's been worked quite hard over the years," Adam Lilleyman said.

John Lilleyman won the ACT Australian government Landcare Innovation in Agriculture Land Management in 2019 for his efforts.