Farmers at a Happy Egg Company farm have been given the go ahead to bring another 16,000 new hens to their Alyth croft.
Perth and Kinross Council planners chose to grant permission to the free range farmers at Polcalk Farm under delegated powers after receiving no objections.
In October, the farm owners asked to double their number of birds at the farm, also known as George King Farm, between Alyth and Blairgowrie.
The site is home to 16,000 birds already, which supply eggs for The Happy Egg Co through parent firm Noble Foods.
The existing henhouse was built in 2009, but bosses say the demand for free-range eggs is continuing to grow and the time is right to expand their production at the site.
Council planners have now approved the farms plans for another barn to be constructed, complete with tiered roosting areas.
This barn will be complete with an egg packing area and office. Hens will still be free to leave the building through “popholes” which will be open from 9am until dusk.
No more hens are allowed to be brought in, however, until a plan to tackle potential nuisances including noise, odour, dust, flies and other pests.
Noise restrictions will be in place at the new shed, where a new part-time job is to be created, between 11pm and 7am.
The farm will need to relocate a handful of its hundreds of the apple, plum, pear and cherry trees in its orchard. The trees primarily provide cover for the birds but will also acts to screen the shed.
The only extra traffic created will be one shipment of 27 tonnes of feed every two weeks. The existing cargo vehicles which take eggs away from the farm will be sufficient.
Manure will be removed using conveyor belts and ploughed into nearby fields as quickly as possible to control the smell.
The free range farmers say now is the perfect time to expand as many supermarkets have stated an intention to cease selling battery eggs by 2025.
In addition to the hens the farm grows cereals, lets ground for potatoes and has a
small sheep flock.