Not all eggs are created equal
One of the things about our farm that seems to generate the most conversation is our chickens, and their eggs, specifically. I always tell people that our hens are the happiest girls on the earth, and that shows up in the quality of our eggs. All of our chickens truly free-range from the morning when the coop doors are opened until the evening when they put themselves up for the night. Free-ranging is a rather murky term. Technically, an egg producer can claim "free-ranging" so long as the bird is not confined to a small cage.
"Free-range" birds may still be enclosed in an area that does not allow access to outdoors and is still very restrictive, over-crowded and unsanitary. That is because free-ranging is a risky and time-consuming process. The birds at Persimmon Farm are truly free-range: they can go anywhere on our 30 acres (although we do discourage them from going in the dogs' area for obvious reasons). With that freedom comes the risk that a predator will take one or more of our chickens, but we provide enough run in "safe" spaces for them that we have only lost 1 chicken over 4 years, and we have over 60 chickens! Some of our chickens stay close to the barn or the trees, while others run for the farthest reaches of our pastures. We do enclose them at night so they can sleep safely and undisturbed, but beyond that, they are unconfined, protected mostly but their wits and watchful roosters.
An unconfined hen is one who has less disease and a varied diet from day to day and season to season. This makes a huge difference in the quality of our eggs. The yolks of our eggs are much darker and richer than those of most eggs you will find in the store. After tasting our eggs, many of our customers refuse to eggs from any other source. Aside from the taste difference, our eggs are also free of antibiotics. In the majority of large chicken farms, the close quarters and lack of time to pay attention to so many hens and still get high production numbers means that many producers supplement with antibiotics whether their laying hens are sick or healthy.
Some of this antibiotic is then passed along to the egg, which many experts think has led to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. Our girls are not preemptively treated with antibiotics. When a hen does take ill, we do our best to treat her with natural remedies unless the only choice is an antibiotic. Fortunately, our hens are very healthy, so there have only been a couple of times when that has been necessary, and during that time, the hen's eggs were not collected for sale.
Another reason to choose to buy from a small farm like ours is that not only are our hens and eggs generally healthier, they are treated less like livestock and more like pets.
By investing in our farm, you are choosing to encourage and support the humane treatment of these beautiful and entertaining animals. Each of our chickens has a name and is treated as an individual. They are raised with care from the moment they hatch. They are not de-beaked or over-crowded. We raise chickens they have various colors and sizes of eggs, and when they want to have a break from laying, they can take one. This results in a higher price for eggs, but they are eggs you can feel good about serving your family.
If you are in the Nashville area and are interested in purchasing our eggs, contact us at: info@persimmonfarm.com. If you aren't in our area, find a local farmer near you and taste the difference in a "farm fresh" egg!
