At just 14 years old, Max Lye already runs his own successful business.
Max’s Cluckers on the outskirts of Tamworth boasts 95 free-range hens which lay about 50 eggs a day.
While it is a simple idea, it is one that has been embraced by the local business community.
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Max sells his fresh free-range eggs to local cafes and his list of supporters is growing.
He says the secret to success is having the guts to start.
“You’ve just got to be confident when you do it, that’s what I think,” he said.
“Confidence is key.”
Max has loved animals from a young age, harnessing that passion to start up his business when he was only 12.
“I had chickens when I was, like, three years old, and then it’s just got bigger and bigger and I started the business in 2024,” he said.
His mother Samantha Lye said Max has a natural gift with animals.
“The chickens love him,” she said.
“We can go out and they won’t follow us but they follow him everywhere.
“He’s a bit of a Pied Piper of the chickens.”
But success hasn’t come without challenges. Like any farming operation Max is facing rising costs, but bird flu is an extra fear for him.
Detection of the disease in his flock, or even nearby, would be devastating.
“They would have to be culled and taken away and every bird near this area would have to also be taken away or killed, which would basically be the end of the business,” Max said.
Only in Year 8, he’s got big plans for after high school and wants to continue growing his business.
“I want to finish school go to uni and become a vet, a livestock and equine vet, and own my own farm,” Max said.
“So, hopefully I can do it all myself.”
