Eggs

Where and When to Find them

You can find eggs at these locations:

At these Farmer’s Markets, $4 a dozen

RLF Garden Market - at the farm, Saturdays 10-noon

At these fine businesses

Wade’s Quality Meats - Shelbyville

Oakwood Apothecary - Sullivan

Chickens and Egg Mobile

Pasture-raised, farm-fresh, free-range, organic - there are lots of ways to describe eggs, but it all comes down to the quality of life for the chickens. Our 330 hens live in a large paddock that gets moved to fresh pasture every day. The paddock contains an egg mobile where they lay eggs in nest boxes during the day and roost in at night. The paddock provides many square feet for each to consume their feed, grass, bugs, worms, tics and anything else they find in the grass. Chickens are omnivores and their instincts guide them to what kind of food is most beneficial to them. If you drive by RLF regularly, you will see the egg mobile and the flock in a different spot every day. It’s important to us to make sure the chickens are living their best life because it improves the nutrition of the eggs we eat and share with our customers. Happy chickens also improve the quality of the soil, water and air we all share.

Our Egg Mobile is intended to house 400 chickens, but we are starting at half capacity.  It’s approximately 17ft x 9ft in the chickens’ area with a 3ft x 9ft room on the end for egg collection.  It is built on the running gear from an old single tank anhydrous rig.  The floor is expanded metal to allow manure to fall through, and has a trap door that we will use to release the girls each morning. We made four 4ft double sided roll away community nest boxes that have a hand powered conveyor down the middle.  The nest boxes have a 14 degree slope to the floor so that the eggs roll gently to the conveyor, and all the nest boxes will be able to pivot so that the angle can be maintained even when on un-level ground.  We also built them with closable doors to keep the chickens from sleeping in the nest boxes. All of these details should allow for easy collection and cleaner eggs.

Why Choose Local and Pasture-raised eggs

Giving chickens the freedom to choose their diet makes the best eggs! Pasture-raised hens who are able to eat a variety of foods have been found to produce twice as much omega-3 fat (the good kind), three times more vitamin D (important for immunity), four times more vitamin E (an antioxidant) and seven times more beta-carotene (also an antioxidant important in immunity. Plus they have strong shells and the most beautiful, golden yolks! You can feel great about choosing pasture-raised eggs. A varied diet and the absence of antibiotics and harmful chemicals make the eggs much more nutritious and beneficial than factory raised eggs. Now more than ever, buying local food is a smart move. You get a reliable source of nutrient dense food. Plus, by supporting local farmers you keep dollars in our community and help the farmers build infrastructure to make our community self sufficient!