Tamworth teenager Max Lye might be the one to answer the age-old question: what came first, the chicken or the egg?

The 14-year-old’s passion for chooks began at the tender age of two, and the youngster now has dreams of owning his own egg farm.

On his family’s property near Tamworth, in northern New South Wales, the young entrepreneur already has a growing egg business called Max’s Cluckers.

A little biy holds a chicken in his arms.

Max Lye as a toddler, with one of his very first chickens. (Supplied: Sam Lye)

“It all started when I was about two when Mum and Dad got me some chickens when we were just on a little farm and we had five chickens,” Max said.

“As I got older I got more … and now I’ve got about 70 [chooks].”

Now 12 years down the track, the teenager has a good idea of how to look after his hens.

He does the feeding and caring himself, and any pocket money or income from his eggs is ploughed back into the business.

A chicken looks into the camera.

Max Lye has been growing his passion for chickens since he was two. (ABC New England: Lara Webster)

“I know lots about the chooks and how to care for them and what they need when they’re sick or if they’re happy or not,” Max said.

“They’re such a small animal and they’re so quiet and they’re easy to handle.

“I think that’s what I enjoy about them.”

Eggs and more eggs

While he studies hard at school with dreams of becoming a vet, Max has steadily been building his egg production.

A wooden bucket of eggs.

At the moment Max Lye’s chooks lay about 30 eggs a day, and he has a growing customer base. (Supplied: Sam Lye)

In 2024, when he sold his first carton of eggs, Max had just 24 chooks. 

Two years later and with 70 chickens now in his coop, Max gets about 35 eggs a day and is struggling to keep up with demand. 

“Every day more and more people are wanting eggs,” he said. 

One of those customers is MasterChef Australia winner Julie Goodwin, who met Max while hosting a cooking show in Tamworth at his aunty’s place of work.

A teenage boy and woman stand with a carton of eggs.

Max Lye supplied Julie Goodwin with eggs at a recent cooking event near his home town. (Supplied: Sam Lye)

The celebrity chef needed some eggs, and Max was in the right place at the right time.

“My aunty got me on to giving her eggs and then she came around again,” he said.

“Mum reached out to her manager and she wanted eggs again … she got another dozen and used them in [another] show.”

Proud as punch

Watching on behind the scenes is Max’s proud mum, Sam Lye. 

A woman in a pink shirt and a boy in a red shirt kneel down with chickens.

Sam Lye is proud of Max and his love of chickens. (ABC New England: Lara Webster)

“He just fell in love with them [the chooks] … he’s just got a real passion for it,” Ms Lye said.

“It makes us very, very proud because he puts in all of the work, we really don’t do anything.

“It makes us very proud to see it growing from such a small … side hobby.”

Two chickens being held by a person.

Max Lye dreams of having his own farm one day. (ABC New England: Lara Webster)

As for the future, Max has big dreams, for his chickens and himself.

“I want to work towards owning a farm so hopefully [egg production] is another enterprise on my farm when I grow up,” he said.

“I think being outside and working with animals is what I love the most … I want to be a vet when I grow up.

“I think it’s fascinating to learn about them [animals] and how they grow.”