Believe it or not, the abuses endured by conventionally grown chicken layers surpass even those of chickens raised for meat.  A chicken’s natural life span can easily exceed a decade, yet factory farms have great difficulty keeping their hens alive more than a year and a half!  Naturally the eggs they produce are as unhealthy and bland as the lives they have led. 

 

Our egg layers spend nearly all but their sleeping hours outdoors.  The hens only use their movable coop to lay eggs, roost at night, or provide shelter from severe elements.  Around the coop we set up movable electric netting, which not only keeps predators out, but also allows us to control the impact the chickens have on the pasture. This whole set-up is moved regularly ensuring fresh pasture and breaking any parasite cycles that could otherwise take hold, thus eliminating the need for any medications.  Even in the winter when snow covers the grass, our hens run around in a hoop house (similar to a green house) that keeps out the rain and predators, but not the sun and fresh air. 

 

Look at, taste, or cook an egg from the pasture and you’ll find it difficult to return to conventionally raised eggs.  Sunshine, exercise, and chlorophyll from the grass not only provide numerous nutritional benefits (particularly Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E), but also change the way the eggs look and feel and taste.  The shells are much stronger while the yolks are orange and not flat like what most people have become accustomed to from conventionally raised eggs.  Whipping the whites of a Weathertop egg will give you a consistency unattainable from conventional eggs and a rich flavor that is truly golden.

 

Not sure about the difference between "cage free,"

"free range" and "pasture raised" poultry?

Check out this video to learn more