When Sunshine Coast egg farmer Paul Heaton put the call out that he needed to urgently rehome 1,400 laying hens, he never imagined the response he'd get.
Mr Heaton had spent five years building up his business at Belli Park, but he said orders from cafes and restaurants had dramatically reduced because of the pandemic.
Combined with the stress of working 100 hours a week, he decided to close his operation and sell all his livestock and farm equipment.
The call went out on the ABC's social media yesterday and was quickly shared thousands of times.
"The phone started dinging about five minutes after the post went to Facebook … and it has not stopped."
Mr Heaton said he and a neighbour were up until 11 o'clock last night responding to messages.
"I've had to rope in a lady from down the road to help me out," he said.
"[And] she's been on my phone all day yesterday.
"I'm trying to deal with several hundred messages at the moment, and they just keep coming."
Mr Heaton said he was very grateful for the support but asked for patience as he worked through the messages over the next few days.
Call to 'buy local'
He said he hoped his situation would shine some light on the importance of supporting local farmers.
"I'm one of many, not just farmers but businesses that COVID has taken down and we need to support local, buy from your local farmer, from your farmers' market, the mum-and-dad stores on the corners, they're the ones that need the help," he said.
As for his own situation, Mr Heaton said he could now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
