It was early November 2016 and Cartapo Creek farm owners Chloë & Oliver were quickly outgrowing their 680 square metre metropolitan Adelaide block. With a menagerie of chickens, dogs & cats and a fully restored & landscaped miniature country farm style homestead on Adelaide’s fringe. Their 5 year plan was finished and it was time to move on to something bigger.

With a young daughter by their side and plans for a growing family, Chloë & Oliver had their sights set on a farm to restore and breathe some life back into. A 12 month property hunt ensued with regular weekend trips to the country for open inspections and property visits, many kilometres were travelled with no fixed location in mind, just a radius of 200kms from Adelaide’s centre and a property that ticked all the right boxes.

By mid 2017 the couple had shortlisted a couple of properties, but were still on the fence of whether they would take the plunge on this total lifestyle change. The property hunting was fun, and the idea was exciting, but such an extreme change for a couple of city slickers needed some serious consideration.

The couple put pen to paper making a list of all the pro’s and cons of possible scenarios a farm lifestyle offered vs more of the same.. A Farm lifestyle came out on top, way on top, and to solidify their decision and not waste any more time, they engaged a real estate agent to list their house for sale and fully commit to the tree change.

While the real-estate agent was being engaged and marketing campaigns created to sell their Adelaide property, a farm property purchase was being negotiated in the background, Chloë & Oliver had found the perfect property, located near the small rural township of Hallett in South Australia’s Mid North. Right at the tip of the couples 200km threshold, this location was certainly a stretch, but the property had so much to offer and stacks of potential, it was too good to pass up. Final offers were negotiated, deposits were paid and this city couples tree change was officially locked in, they were moving to the country!

The couple now had to manage the sale of their Adelaide property, they ended up going with an auction and the sale date was decided, as the sale date came closer the agent advised them that their Western suburbs property was gaining quite a bit of attention, the couple didn’t think anything of it “typical real estate talk”, but as the date approached it was advised that because of the significant interest in their property a TV camera crew would be part of the auction, and it would be live streamed through the sky news network.

As if the tree change wasn’t enough but the sale of their property was now becoming a circus, Oliver & Chloë had to pinch themselves, it was all a bit surreal. The Auction date approached and as advised the turnout was fantastic, a handful of serious bidders were signed up and the auction commenced.

Being the couples first home, and one they poured a significant amount of time and effort into, selling it was filled with emotions. These emotions were magnified with the circus of an auction.  The auction was off to a steady start with 4 active bidders, the reserve was eventually met and the couple new it was official, their property was going to sell. Bidding continued well past the reserve and a lovely young couple ended up taking the final bid and were the new owners of the property. Celebrations were had all round.

After several days and many trips back and forth between properties, they relocated all their furniture and started to settle in. The previous farm owners were kind enough to provide a detailed explanation and walk through of all the farm infrastructure; which pipes fed where, what taps and levers did what, how the windmills and bores worked etc, this was all new to the couple so there was a lot to take in, but the property was well established and the handover went well.

Oliver & Chloë wasted no time establishing the new property. Oliver got to work helping out some of the new neighbours with sheep work, and was paid in return with sheep and grain which was perfect! The sheep provided a means to an end for keeping the pastures down and were also a nice little income come shearing time.

This was followed up with the purchase of a Jersey cow which was in milk and pregnant! A couple of YouTube videos later Oliver and Chloë were collecting their own fresh milk and trying their hand at cheese making.

Berkshire pigs were next on the list. The couple found a breeder and acquired 2 females and a male (3 little pigs) as foundation breeding stock. The Berkshire pigs were selected for their superior taste as a meat animal, although slower growing to traditional large white commercial breeds. The pigs were reproducing like rabbits soon enough, and the couple were quickly becoming frequent visitors of the local butcher shop who was able to prepare all their meat for them.
Between the cows, lambs and pigs, Oliver and Chloë had managed to establish a production line of self-sufficient home-grown meat for themselves. But there was one meat that they hadn’t had much luck with, and that was chicken.

After successfully growing lamb, pork and beef animals raised off their property, chicken was the next challenge. With Eggs a plenty, the couple had laying birds down pat, but meat chickens were still unknown. After some research, a few phone calls to other chicken enthusiasts and the construction of new chicken tractor style chook pen, a meat chicken production line was emerging.

The couple had experience raising all types of birds, from guineafowl to geese, turkeys & ducks. Oliver had several incubators and a strong interest in poultry already, so the progression to meat fowl was a logical next step. With the right equipment for chicken rearing already on hand, Oliver sourced his first batch of meat chicken hatchlings, and away they went.

The first batch of meat chickens were a roaring success. The meat quality was like nothing the couple had experienced from the shop, rich with flavour, moist and best of all, they knew what was in the meat. From hatchling to finisher, these birds were raised on local grains crushed corn, and from 4 weeks old once they are out of the brooder box the pasture that they were homed on.

The couple started to share the meat produce around with their friends and family, and the feedback was consistent, this chicken meat was unreal. It was official, the chicken meat was a success.
After a few seasons and experimenting with different chicken tractor models chicken production was in full swing. Things began to quickly expand, with local pubs and truck stops starting to buy the farm direct fresh pasture grown chicken meat from the Cartapo Creek Farm, and from here, the Cartapo Creek Meat & Livestock enterprise was born.

With Chicken production now running steady & a stable supply of Lambs, and Beef Cattle, Cartapo Creek Meat & Livestock are currently looking at releasing a grain fed heritage pork meat range. The current breeding stock are well and truly underway and we should have a heritage pork product to put out to market in the next 4 to 6 months. Ducks might also be on the menu soon with a recent purchase of a breeding flock of Pekin Ducks which is exciting!