5 Eggs per Chicken per Week

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

An Egg a Day is the Laying Way.

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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]In an ideal world, each of our laying hens lays 1 egg per day. But the best laid plans (and eggs) can sometimes go astray. Sometimes the eggs are lost or damaged: when chickens are allowed to roam as freely as ours are, they might decide to lay their eggs in odd places (think the passenger seat of Trevor’s truck, under an overturned wheelbarrow, in a flower garden), and not in their lovely coops where it’s much easier to collect them, of course. So for our production estimates, we count on 5 eggs per week per laying hen– give em the weekend off their count. For most commercial egg operations, this would be unacceptably low, but as you probably could guess by now, we are more concerned about the quality of the egg and the health of the hen than her numbers.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

“Pasture Raised” vs. “Free Range”

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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”16799″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]We’re often asked if the hens are “Free Range.” The answer is Yes and No. Yes in the sense that they are certainly free range, but No in the sense that the term “Free Range” doesn’t say enough. “Free range” is not a regulated term by any government agency or even industry group. It’s pretty vague in actual meaning, but carries a lot of marketing weight. In the most basic sense, it means that the laying hens are not caged up and they are free to roam. This does not specify that they are roaming outside. Often, free range eggs are from hens that are in large barns with access to go outside for a portion of the day. Some more accurately call this “open yarding,” which better reflects that there is a yard next to the barn to which the chickens have access. Our issue with that model is that chickens won’t go very far from their home and where the food and water source is. Further, because the barn is a stationary structure, the area the birds have access to around their barn is likely pretty well pecked over. There is likely no grass or fresh grub; instead, it is often a concrete slab or a dusty piece of ground. Sure– the birds get outside, but they aren’t really getting any benefits from pasture.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

A “Special Treat” only a chicken would appreciate.

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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”16801″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Our birds are “Pasture Raised,” which means they live outside on green pastures all the live-long day. On that pasture, they provide another invaluable service: these ladies clean up after the other grazers.  In a good pasture program, one of the farmer’s main concerns is controlling parasites, such as tapeworms, which could infect grazers like sheep and beef. Our hens are rotated onto the pasture where the beef were recently grazing, and they dig in to what they have left behind. The birds get exercise walking around, scratching to find seeds, insects, and green grass, and also clean up shop. Their coop is mobile, and is moved around daily for fresh pasture.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

Teachable moments: take em where you find em. 

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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”16802″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]This “Clean Up” job of a laying hen is my favorite discussion to have with elementary school kids – they like it because we get to talk about poop.  The cattle leave behind large piles of dung – cow patties – which become home to fly larvae. The hens come through and break the cow patties apart by pecking and scratching at them to get the larvae out. This reduces the insect population on the farm and essentially sterilizes the pasture. Further, by breaking the cow pies into smaller pieces, they are more easily dissolved by rain and dung beetles that take the nitrogen rich manure back into the soil. This along with the chicken manure fertilize the pasture to create healthier grasses for the cattle to graze on the next time they are rotated into that paddock.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

Good as gold.

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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”16803″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text] Notice the darker, more golden color in the yolk on the bottom left? That’s from one of our hens raised at Wholesome Valley. The other egg, top right, is from a hen on another local farm that doesn’t have nearly the same quality and access to pasture, but is still technically “pasture raised.” The color, and therefore the nutrients, comes from their foraged diet. The better the hen eats, the better we do. Again, we’re focused on health and quality here, and place a high value on doing things the “right” way, as we see it. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]We know you guys love these eggs, and we know why: they taste so flippin’ good. The rich golden yolk is filled with good-for-you Omega 3s, vitamin E, vitamin D and is much healthier compared to “regular” eggs.   Notice the darker, more golden color in the yolk on the bottom left? That’s from one of our hens raised at Wholesome Valley. The other egg, top right, is from a hen on another local farm that doesn’t have nearly the same access to quality pasture, but is still technically “pasture-raised.” The color, and therefore the nutrients, comes from their foraged diet. This is an age old Chicken & the Egg question, but not the one typically asked: how does the hen eat, what does she like, how can we help her live a happier, less stressed life? How can we provide her with better access to better food and make the optimal laying conditions? The one question we’re not asking is how can we get her to produce beyond her means. To us, one egg per day is okay, and the weekend’s free. Better than okay: it’s delicious.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]

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