Farm Academy market - valuable feedback on the eggs

From the stall at the Farm Academy market in December we were able to source some wonderful eggs and have a good time talking chickens. Thanks to all and this part of the feedback on the quality of the eggs.

Hello and thanks to everyone who gave us valuable feedback on the eggs from Orchard Farms. The exercise in sourcing commercially available produce that meets the criteria we have set out was very rewarding. To provide laying hens with a varied and stimulating environment is a tough issue for any commercial farm enterprise and to produce a good product - fresh, appealing, affordable and tasty - at the end is, believe me, very hard indeed. Orchard Farms and all their hard work deserve the credit due to them, their system and their unique attitude.

On specific questions raised I shall outline a few facts and a few opinions:

• The quality of the egg 'white' is directly related to the 'scratch' or foraged items and the bought-in 'layers ration' consumed. see comments on 'egg yolk' below Overall there was some fascinating feedback from people on the texture and taste of the albumen (egg white) and all but one said it was superior to their usual eggs. 
• The price of eggs in the supermarket is determined by a few large producers (one in particular has a huge influence) who control the supply of the majority of eggs to the multiple supermarkets. It is very hard, very nearly impossible, for any independent producer to establish any form of premium over the price eggs are bought for from the major supermarkets. Hence such eggs as produced by Orchard Farm represent great value for money.
• Currently most producers are in 'protest' over the price they are paid for their eggs. Wholesale prices are not much more than the cost of production in many cases.
• Eggs produced under extensive systems such as Biodynamic criteria will inevitably require more work but, very interestingly, fewer manufactured inputs. A larger proportion of a hens food is either whole grain and foraged 'things'. Minimal concrete and electricity. There is a balance of higher fuels in vehicles to access though this need not be prohibitive. 
• Yolk colour and other specifics of the appearance, taste and quality of an egg is maintained in a balanced ration. The high standard and consistency of the yolks from Orchard Farms indicate a truly wonderful care given over their production. From our research this would seem to be due to the extraordinary lengths to create a balance through Biodynamic methods. I intend to research this in more detail.  The more whole grain fed would normally result in a dilution and so a poorer colour. However this, and many other factors regarding appearance, taste and nutrient content, varies through the seasons and is directly related to the available 'things' a hen will find through foraging. That is why most farmers would regard any 'scratch' feed or foraged item as being a burden rather than an asset. They require a constant product to satisfy the supermarkets and 'modern' consumers.
• The same applies to the inclusion of cockerels. Any system that includes them does so at great cost. Not only do they consume food but they would be considered an unnecessary burden to a commercial producer. Few commercially producers would ever consider it, most cockerels are deemed as undesirable and are mass exterminated on hatching. However on balance hens benefit from an 'improved' flock through the added social interaction. The cockerels 'guide' the hens.
• Direct marketing of such products as 'Extensive', 'High Welfare', and even 'Biodynamic' is normally essential for the producer as they are deemed too whacky or pricy for the general consumer. Also there are too few produced to satisfy the likely demand.
• Progress towards 'Sustainable' production should include serious questioning of all statements, especially regarding emissions for transportation. 
• Sourcing is never easy. The stall at the Farm Academy's market was great fun and rewarding on so many levels. We look forward to developing the content and quantity of our educational materials and for a improved supply of eggs such as those produced by the hens at Orchard Farm. 
• Orchard Farm sell their Biodynamic eggs through several distributors. In London this is mainly several farmers markets and we have found them at Franklins on Lordship lane. I have also tried their Organic eggs which are produced near Brighton but would suggest insisting on Biodynamic due to their superior appearance and taste and the higher welfare system they employ in their production.

Orchard Farm welcome visitors by arrangement. Contact them direct at
info@myorchardseggs.co.uk

Thanks

Laurence

Thank you for buying these eggs. We hope you enjoy them; they are probably the best eggs available.

Please email me or text scoring these eggs out of 7.  (1  being low  and 7 high) for the following:

a) Appearance (yolk colour etc)
b) Taste
c)  Freshness
d) Animal Welfare
e) Sustainability
f) Source (Corelli College Farmer's market)

Laurence@EggsfromScratch.com or text to 07954389676

_{Eggs from Scratch}

Facebook: eggsfromscratch                www.eggsfromscratch.com

A campaign for real pastured eggs, allowing hens to scratch

Battery cages may be gone from Europe but millions of hens, most of them in fact, are still kept in conditions far remote from the natural life they are really good at, scratching around for their food in a varied and stimulating environment.

These are known as Pastured hens

ü  Care for the land, hens reduce pests. They are the ‘Dyson’ of the farming world.

ü  add manure in a balanced way.

ü  Tasty eggs related to the supplementary diet the hens find, foraged nutrients usually result in a varied, and usually higher quality, healthier egg.

Cages do still exist, now called ‘Enhanced’ which is an excuse to constrict their ability to roam anywhere to maximise production, increase stocking density and fully control their environment.

Barn eggs come from a big shed without cages. Free Range are mostly the same with holes cut in the side of the house and a certain amount of land for the hens to roam, if they want to.

Our belief is that hens should have constantly varied and unsoiled land to roam, free to forage for some part of their diet. This system is best called ‘Pasture’ hens. It is not new. Tradition, and nature, indicates it is the best way.

Pastured chicken eggs, meaning from actual free roaming, bug/worm/compost/grass/dirt pecking hens and chickens have five times the nutrient value of commercial organic eggs. Below are the latest findings from MotherEarth News.
Pastured compared to Commercial Eggs Have:

ü  third less cholesterol

ü  25% less saturated fat

ü  2 thirds more vitamin A

ü  twice the omega-3 fatty acids

ü  3 times more vitamin E

ü  7 times more beta carotene 

ü  http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx#ixzz2EVWW2FFS

In 1974, the British Journal of Nutrition found that pastured eggs had 50% more folic acid and 70% more vitamin B12 than eggs from factory farm hens.

BACKGROUND

If one allows "free range" to include "herding", free range was a typical husbandry method at least until the development of barbed wire and chicken wire. The generally poor understanding of nutrition and diseases before the Twentieth Century made it difficult to raise many livestock species without giving them access to a varied diet, and the labour of keeping livestock in confinement and carrying all their feed to them was prohibitive.
In the case of poultry, free range was the dominant system until the discovery of vitamins A and D in the 1920s allowed confinement to be practiced successfully on a commercial scale. Before that, green feed and sunshine (for the vitamin D) were necessary to provide the necessary vitamin content. Some large commercial breeding flocks were reared on pasture into the 1950s. Nutritional science resulted in the increased use of confinement for other livestock species in much the same way.

This was the ‘battery’ system. Rows of cages stacked in columns within giant houses providing totally ‘control environment’. Awareness of the poor welfare led to consumer pressure when some alternatives started to be provided in volume in the late 70’s. This directly gives us the combined market we see today of Battery intensive and free range alternatives. The future will be a continuation  with the immanent 2012 ban on cages as we know them with the changeover to ‘enhanced’ cage systems – a larger cage with certain welfare improvements such as lower density and a scratch area provided. Less eggs will be produced in this manner, though caged birds will still exist.

Free Range systems have progressed from the small houses scattered throughout a field and are now large, semi controlled environment houses strategically positioned to give access to whatever land is available to fulfil the requirements. They are getting more intensive, certainly on the use of  land resources! As an idea of what this really means, using available literature, estimates of the proportion of birds ranging at any one time vary greatly, typically less than 10% but sometimes in excess of 50%. Even when many birds are outside, most generally stay close to available housing unless there is extensive external cover or feeding provided.

 

Biodynamic.
Biodynamic farming is widely acknowledged to be one of the most sustainable forms of farming in existence. Fundamental to it is the recognition that all life is interconnected and that every piece of land, however small, can be considered a microcosm of a greater whole. As for our ancestors for whom agriculture was equated with culture, the biodynamic grower or farmer seeks to work creatively within this context.

At the heart of the biodynamic farm lies the farm animals. Their manure, in conjunction with well rotted farm compost, is used to help intensify soil and plant health and vitality. More significantly, when mixed together they form the basis of the unique biodynamic ‘preparations’ - essentially homeopathic tonics which are sprayed on to the land and plants in minute quantities.

Biodynamic farmers pay attention to what is known as the ‘planting calendar’. An awareness of the influences coming from the moon and planets is considered useful when appraising farming operations ie when to sow and plant or harvest. Again this was an approach practiced by our ancestors.

Biodynamic farming is a method of farming developed in the 1920s that is simply organic farming taken to its highest level. Farmers view the entire farm as a living organism, avoiding outside inputs as much as possible.

Biodynamics also incorporates a form of spiritualism into its practice and uses preparations in a similar way to homeopathic medicine, which was also founded in the 1920s by the German philosopher Rudolph Steiner.

These eggs are from...

Orchard Eggs - Forest row - biodynamic eggs, organic/free range

Email: info@myorchardseggs.co.uk

When thinking of on-farm diversifications, most famers probably wouldn't consider biodynamic farming as an option. But with the right business attitude and a passion for the style of farming, it can be a profitable endeavour.

Egg producer Daniel Hoeberichts, who keeps 1,700 laying hens inside a 30-acre apple, pear and soft fruit orchard, came from outside farming and studied biodynamics in his native Netherlands. "I wanted to work closely to nature and with biodynamic farming you bring all those connections back," he said.

The birds are kept in 12 moveable sheds, which are provided primarily for shelter at night, laying and for storing their feed. But mostly they roam within the orchard.

The sheds are moved up and down the hill upon which the orchard is built on a weekly basis, about 10m each time, in an effort to spread the manure from the birds and the associated nutrients as far afield as possible.

Each shed has a small flock of 130 hens and these are paired with five cockerels which, Mr Hoeberichts says, allows the chickens to live a more natural existence.

"Cockerels do a great job. They guard the hens throughout the orchard, they look for food and if they find anything they will call the chickens and let them eat it," he said.

"During the night they bring the birds back to the house and they protect them against predators. You can really see their social interaction working. There is no feather pecking, no cannibalism, none of the problems you get in intensive poultry."

Source: http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/18/12/2011/130544/Biodynamic-farm-aims-for-a-back-to-nature-approach.htm