About Us

Shakespeare Hills Eggs is named after The Shakespeare Hills that surround and divide our farms. The brand name was born of the love we harbour for these hills, they are such a dominant feature in our lives. As a family we have worked beneath these hills for twenty years. We are fortunate to occupy such a magnificent swathe of beautiful rich farmland situated along the edge of the Tarkine and feel that it is fitting to have this significant landmark represent our business.

Gunningham Family Farms owns and operates Shakespeare Hills Eggs. Built by Matthew and Pippa Gunningham and starting in 2001 after migrating from the UK to Tasmania in 2000. Alongside building a business, Matthew and Pippa had a family: Henry, Amelia, Olivia, Elsa and William.

Originally the business operated  purely as a dairying enterprise and as time went on various pursuits were tagged onto the business, one of which were the hens. 

Organic dairy farming remains at the heart of Gunningham Family Farms. The business currently owns and operates two organic dairy farms: Mawbanna Dairy, Mawbanna and Seamont Dairy, Montumana; each milking ~700 cows. 

Shakespeare Hills Eggs has been a more recent addition to the business. We have always had hens but at the end of 2019 the hens became a commercial enterprise. Initially the flock was made up of one hundred hens, housed in an old horse float that had been converted into a mobile coop. The amount of eggs being laid was manageable given we had opened a roadside stall with an honesty box. 

As demand increased and our interest in egg production grew, Shakespeare Hills Eggs expanded. Our clever friends and neighbours at The Rocky Cape Christian Community were on hand to help build a mobile coop with a capacity to house five hundred more hens. This coop currently holds two hundred and fifty hens and is moved daily across the Mawbanna farm, following the dairy cows, so that the girls always have access to fresh pasture. 

The most recent addition to the Shakespeare Hills Eggs business is a mobile coop purchased from mainland Australia. This coop has a capacity of one thousand hens though it currently holds four hundred. This coop is also moved daily following the dairy cows across the farm at Montumana.

Shakepseare Hills Eggs is currently awaiting the arrival of their third coop with a thousand hen capacity. This coop will also be situated on the Seamont Farm. 

We have very much enjoyed our evolving family farming enterprise so far and we have plans to continue to build and develop, we would love you to accompany us as we continue our journey and invite you to follow us on social media to see how.

We thank you for the support. Warm wishes xxx