Free Range Eggs
About Our Laying Hens
Our hens are important to the farm’s operations long before they lay any eggs. Just like in nature where birds follow herbivores our layers cycle in a rotation behind the cows. These hens act as our pasture sanitation crew scratching cow patties into the soil, adding their own fertilizer, eating all the bugs and weed seeds they can find and breaking the single-species pathogen cycle on the ground. You couldn’t ask for a better system. When they’re not working these hens take shelter in a portable chicken house to lay their eggs and avoid predators.
As a result of the free-range exercise, sunshine, bugs, grass and other critters these layers eat in addition to natural food supplements such as oyster shell and kelp meal we are able to produce an egg like nothing you’ve ever seen in the supermarket. The shells are strong, the yolks dark and rich, the whites are firm and, like other naturally produced products, the taste and nutritional value are exemplary. This article from Mother Earth News does a good job comparing pasture produced eggs to the USDA standard.
Because these birds aren’t raised in climate controlled confinement seasonal changes will affect the eggs resulting in better yolks during some periods and better whites in others. If you’ve ever seen an old recipe that called for April eggs, August eggs or December eggs you know what we mean.
How to Buy Our Eggs
Eggs are probably the most versatile and least expensive animal protein you can buy. Eggs are always in high demand and we are raising a new batch of hens to help satisfy customer requests. As of spring 2010 most eggs are spoken for but we’ll keep our customers posted when there are extras available or when our pullets start laying. We hope to have some in reserve for customers to purchase when they are picking up other meats at the farm and are contemplating a subscription CSA for eggs in the future if there is enough interest.
