AgriCommunity.com Poultry Info

My eggs come from Heritage breed chickens kept in outdoor facilities and receiving a natural diet of GMO-free grains, alfalfa, fresh greens like Lamb’s Quarters, and other good things.

At this time, it is impossible for me to find certified organic chicken feed in my area, but an organic feed mill is scheduled to open in Texas in 2007. In the meantime, I’m using carefully selected GMO-free feed grains, and other high quality ingredients. As soon as I can get organic feed, I will be offering both organic eggs and conventional eggs. However, ALL eggs will be from chickens kept outside in the fresh air and sunshine, and the non-organic eggs will continue to be produced from hens fed a natural, top quality diet.

Table egg prices: 

Table eggs are sold in mixed shades of brown and blue/green (no white).

Introductory price for the first order for new customers: $2 per dozen.

This gives you a chance to try my eggs out at a good price. I am confident you will love these eggs that are so much better quality and have a better flavor than supermarket eggs.

After the first order, prices are as follows:
$3.00 per dozen for less than 4 dozen.
4 dozen for $10
10 dozen for $20

If you are a member of Earthworks Organic Buying Club, you can pick the eggs up on delivery day for $2 per dozen, no minimum required for that price. If you are not a member and would like to be one, ask me for further details.

(Note to those confused by the organic claim on my business card: at the time the cards were printed, I had organic feed for the chickens. I have since lost that source).

 

DELIVERY ROUTES

WICHITA FALLS AREA: 

I am currently delivering eggs on Tuesdays in Wichita Falls and trying to develop a route in Henrietta. Ask me about delivering eggs to your door.

DFW METROPLEX: 

I am getting a large number of requests for eggs from the metroplex, both from individuals, and dealers. 

I don’t have a big enough supply to justify trips to that area *yet*. But I am working on increasing my flock size. As soon as I have enough eggs to meet the demand, I will make arrangements to deliver eggs to the plex.

I will probably meet individuals at a specified place and time, such as, perhaps, at a park.

I will deliver directly to dealers placing a large enough order.

Until that time, my mother makes trips to the Weatherford/Mineral Wells area, and is willing to meet people in that area.

If you want on the waiting list for the plex, or if you want to pick up eggs in Weatherford/Mineral Wells, let me know.

 

PET FOOD

Eggs for pet consumption are $1 per dozen, no discounts. These are GREAT for raw food diets (BARF). Or you can cook them for your pets, if you prefer.

These are eggs that are stained, cracked, thin shelled, undersized, funny shapes, or in any way questionable for human consumption. (Believe it or not, the commercial egg producers crack these into buckets and sell them to bakeries as “liquid eggs” for use in baking products for human consumption).

Pet grade eggs may also at times include duck, turkey, or guinea hen eggs, but will usually be all or mostly chicken eggs. (Don’t worry; table eggs sold for human consumption are 100% chicken eggs)

If you are buying pet food eggs only (without table eggs also in the order), minimum delivery is 5 dozen. They may or may not be packed in used egg cartons, depending on whether I have extra cartons. If I don’t have extra used or damaged cartons, they will be in a box.

 

MORE ABOUT MY HENS’ DIET

I feed a natural diet of GMO-free grains, alfalfa, and supplemented with fresh grass, lamb’s quarters, and various green weeds. In the summer, the hens catch a few bugs, as well.

Alfalfa is the number one best feed ingredient that can be fed to poultry, yet not very many people use it. Alfalfa is one of the most nutrient-dense foods known to science.

It’s a far better protein source than soy because of the abundant macro-minerals, micro-minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients in addition to the high quality protein it contains.

The alfalfa plant sends it’s roots over a hundred feet beneath the surface of the ground and brings up tremendous amounts of minerals which then go into it’s leaves, which the chickens eat. Minerals, especially trace minerals, are probably the most seriously deficient group of nutrients in the American diet.

The other green plant which is so rich in minerals is seaweed. But the problem with seaweed is, it must be severely limited in the chicken’s diet due to the very high sodium and iodine content.

Alfalfa does not have this limitation, so I am able to feed it in abundance to my poultry, and they have it freely available 24/7. Between the alfalfa and fresh green grass and other fresh greens, I am able to produce eggs which are unusually rich in Omega 3’s, Zeaxanthin, Lutein, trace minerals, antioxidants, and other critical nutrients.

Many people are giving flax seed to their hens to produce Omega 3 eggs. Here are some links showing why flax seed is a poor choice for chickens, and alfalfa is an excellent choice:

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/pfs21.htm

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/pou9813

In spring, summer, and fall, when it’s growing, I supplement with lots of fresh Lamb’s Quarters. This is one of the top rated “greens”, which is an abundant source of anti-oxidants, phyto-nutrients, and is an overall tonic, system cleanser, and immune booster.

I also supplement their diet with granite grit, which is another naturally rich source of minerals. Almost nobody feeds granite grit to poultry because it’s expensive. Most people only use cheap oystershell, which is a fine calcium source for birds. I use oysershell, too. But it lacks most other minerals. So  I make the granite grit available for that additional natural, multi-mineral source.

 MORE ABOUT THEIR LIVING CONDITIONS

My poultry are in outdoor pens on the ground, where they can engage in all their natural behaviors. They love to dust bathe, stretch out in the sun, scratch the ground, fly onto their swinging perches, and practice their natural, complex, social behaviors.

They have low nesting boxes filled with fresh hay, which they arrange to their liking.

I have a nursery wagon, which I fill with fresh grass and lamb’s quarters, and distribute amongst the pens.

In the summer time, there is a constant influx of grasshoppers and other insects into the pens, which the hens chase and catch.

Contrast my setup to so-called “cage free” or “free-range” eggs found in the supermarket and most natural/health food stores. Those hens are factory farmed, inside buildings with litter on the floor, very, very crowded, and have plastic nest boxes with no hay inside. Hay would hinder the eggs rolling onto the conveyor belt that runs underneath the banks of nests.

Factory farmed “cage free” eggs are from hens which are permanently housed inside crowded, enclosed buildings.

Factory farmed “free range” eggs are from hens which are also crowded and in a building, but they have access to bare dirt yard. What the food industry doesn’t tell you is, there are no strict regulations for the term “free range”, and these hens often go for weeks at a time without going outside.

Another point to make, is, unless these factory farmed eggs are labelled organic or GMO-free, their diet is composed of genetically modified corn and soy, and synthetic vitamins.

MORE ABOUT MY BREEDS

I raise several heritage breeds, some of them critically endangered. Some of these are the breeds your grandmother raised. I have Delawares, Old-style Rhode Island Reds (not the hatchery “production” red), Buff Orpingtons, and I also have French Marans, Dutch Welsumers, Easter Eggers, Brahmas, and several others.

With this wide variety of breeds, I get a rainbow assortment of eggs. The brown eggs range from light brown to dark brown, many with speckles. I also get cream, pinkish, blue, green, and olive eggs. My cartons of eggs are very pretty!

(This post last updated Feb. 17, 2007)

 

 

This is all about my poultry. This will be under construction for a while.