Petra Mayböck-Froschauer, egg farmer, Taufkirchen an den Pram (Austria)
In the quiet Austrian countryside near the border with Germany, we find the tiny upper Austrian village of Taufkirchen an den Pram. The village counts approximately 2000 inhabitants and… 6000 chickens. Petra Mayböck-Froschauer is the head of egg farm Reiterer. The daughter of farmers, taking over the family farm was the natural thing to do and even though Petra is supported by husband Karl, it is clear who’s in charge.
Raised on her parents’ egg farm, Petra never really questioned about her future. She would be a farmer, like her parents. An only daughter, the now 46 year old Austrian has worked alongside her family on the farm for as long as she can remember. “I never really thought about doing anything but taking over the farm”, Petra says. “I am an only child, my parents were already 39 when they had me and the matter of who would take over the farm was never an issue. I helped my parents, pursued a degree in agriculture at a Rabenau school (a technical high school, red.) until I was 19, and then I came back home because my parents could not manage the farm on their own anymore. So I started working with them and eventually took over. I had grown up hearing that I was the next generation. It was natural.” So natural in fact that Petra does not even stop to think whether she is perceived differently as a woman. She’s in charge and anyone who comes to the farm knows, or learns soon enough: they have to deal with her.
Automation for more autonomy
When Petra met Karl, it was already clear that she would work on the farm full time. Karl, who also comes from a farming family and has a degree in agriculture and in automation engineering, has a full time job in agriculture outside of the farm. His extensive knowledge of agriculture, technology and automation comes in handy on the farm, where he can be found helping Petra after hours.
The farm’s 6000 brown chickens are kept indoors. A conscious decision, even though Petra and Karl have discussed the possibility of letting their chickens roam outside not so long ago. “In 2003, the European prohibition on keeping chickens in cages came into effect. Until then, the chickens were kept in cages on my parents’ farm, so it meant we needed to think hard about the future of the farm and how we would do things from then on”, Petra explains. “We then decided to let them roam free indoors. During the covid period, we had been discussing the possibility of changing again to outside roaming, but the post covid reality put a stop to those plans: the inflation had made everything so expensive that it was simply not possible to make such a huge investment without being able to see it reflected in the egg prices.”
Petra’s farm did decide to invest heavily in automation on the farm after getting rid of the cages. Not the cheapest investment, but one that absolutely feels right to the family. “Thanks to the high level of automation, I am able to manage the farm on my own, without needing additional manpower”, Petra comments. “The eggs are collected and sorted automatically in the egg room. They come to me, and I just have to pick out the dirty or broken eggs. After that, the eggs go to the packer and are stamped, all automatically. It makes my job so much more manageable!”
Petra’s main job is the care of the chickens, egg collection and managing the farm’s finances. “The mornings are for taking care of the chickens. I start with a walk through the stables, check on their feed and water, spot sick or dead chickens and confine those for treatment or remove them. It’s like managing a village. When I am finished around noon, I start work in the egg room.”
