Producing Pasture Raised Eggs For Free!

On a recent trip to Whole Foods, I discovered pasture raised eggs selling for $10.99!!! This is insanity....So I decided why not share how we're raising pasture raised eggs for absolutely free and hopefully you can stop paying these ridiculous prices from the grocery stores!
Now I acknowledge that not all eggs are selling for that price but after a deeper dive, good quality eggs will still run you about $6-8. By putting forth just a little bit of effort and planning, you can easily produce comparable if not better eggs for far less of a cost.
Today we'll share our simple strategy - it is actually so simple it just requires some patience, asking around, and some other animals sure do help.
Thanks for watching and we appreciate your support. If you like what we're doing, please consider hitting that like and subscribe button to continue following along.
Please drop us some questions and comments and we'll be sure to get back to you!

[@petenelson8136]

We have 49 layers and 3 roosters. We free ranged them at first, then lost 9 to a weasel (he's now dead), and 3 to a fox. We ended up putting poultry fencing around them to protect them from the predators. We have a trailer that I converted to a chicken tractor using Joel Saladin's design ideas, and move that every week to new pasture. We found we have to mow the area they are free ranging in or they'll lay eggs in the high grass. We also raise about 90 meat chickens (usually Red Rangers, or a mix of American Bresse and Red Ranger, we incubate them ourselves) and process them ourselves. We raised 2 pigs last year and are currently raising 5 this year. Putting the chickens with the pigs might be something to consider, but with our setup (we live on 16 acres in IN), we'd need to find a way to get the chicken tractor over to where the pig are kept. Thanks for sharing, you got got a new subscriber here. Always interesting to learn how others are making a go of it on a small farm.

[@EvergreenFarm19]

Appreciate you following along and thanks for watching! Sounds like you have a very nice setup yourself. Knock on wood, we’ve had very little predator issues of late. I credit a lot of that to having the pigs right there as well. I agree it’s really cool to see how others operate and pull bits and pieces from various systems. My goal is to continue to integrate as much together as possible so that it all works as one, improves the land and continue to give us high quality meat, eggs, etc.

[@Aloha4You]

How do you find their eggs? Mine always lay on the neighbors property! Great video! Aloha

[@EvergreenFarm19]

I’ve had issues a few times where they “weren’t laying” or at least I thought. Turns out they were laying all over the place. Once I found a few I put them in the nest boxes and have never had an issue since. Not sure if that’ll work for all but believe that’s what solved my issues

[@Aloha4You]

@@EvergreenFarm19 I appreciate that. I’m still experimenting and finding out that chickens can be comedians. Aloha

[@EvergreenFarm19]

Yes haha certainly interesting!

[@alawabidingcitizen]

How can you protect them from crows, hawks and other land predators?

[@EvergreenFarm19]

There’s always going to be a little more risk when you let them completely free range but also believe the benefits outweigh the risk. In our case the coop is located inside our woven wire pasture so that serves as the first line of defense. If they go out of that fence to the north or the east they’re still in a larger tensile pasture with our sheep that’s electrified. If they go out to the west they’re in our yard which isn’t too bad due to us being frequently outside and our dog (although he tends to like to chase!). Only major concern is when they go out to the south they’re kind of in no man’s land and I’ve had a few issues with fox there. For aerial predators it helps to have trees/bushes for protection. This makes it much more difficult for a hawk to swoop down after them. Can also build a mobile shade cart if you don’t. Best way to keep them 100% safe is to secure them in a run but like I mentioned in the video, the more you confine them the more input you’ll need. Hope that helps! Oh and I almost forgot. Automatic coop doors are life savers! Inevitability I forget to shut the coop door at night which is when they’re most vulnerable. Have had some bad losses that way. This eliminates that risk as long as you check your batteries haha

[@christophermcnaughton8076]

He3y Bud, Maine here. Great vlog on the chickens. I have mentioned in the past I am a medium sized egg farmer. Have now about 270 hens (I do not sell at 10.99 a dz, probably could though). You were very spot on with your advice. We do range our girls and have multiple roosters for protection and to help replace hens as they get older (I don't need to go to a hatchery unless I want something different). We feed our hens a grower crumble, not a layer feed; because we have roosters and the very high calcium in layer feed will hurt there kidneys. We also supplement with a very high protein diet. I will tell you this, compare my eggs to store bought and you are a customer for life for my eggs haha. As always happiness and health to you and your family. Talk soon.

[@EvergreenFarm19]

Wow 270 is quite the flock! Certainly understand supplementing that many birds as they would need a ton of space! I’m sure the quality is outstanding though. You can’t beat that of which is raised on your own land. As always, appreciate the kind words, advice and your support!

[@Aloha4You]

Also how do you control them not eating their own eggs?

[@EvergreenFarm19]

Never had issues with them eating their own eggs. I’ve dropped some before and they’ll eat them if broken open but never cracking their own eggs. Would imagine as long as they have enough food/pasture to forage they’ll be good!

[@Aloha4You]

@@EvergreenFarm19 I recently built a coop with a large outdoor netted area but it’s probably due to not finding enough of what they need since they used to be completely free. Thanks for your time!

[@EvergreenFarm19]

Thank you for watching!! Happy to help. Yes that’s most likely the case. When we originally got chickens we fenced them in a small area and clipped their wings so they couldn’t fly over and they turned the ground bare in no time. Even if you can let them out for part of the day I’d imagine you’ll see that problem go away

[@Aloha4You]

@@EvergreenFarm19 I never actually saw them eating their own eggs but I have a chicken that laid eggs religiously almost every day and I haven’t seen one in 10 days. This chicken has a very distinct colored egg so I know it’s always hers when I see one.

[@EvergreenFarm19]

Ahhh got ya. Sounds like you may be right. They could be lacking some nutrition. If you can let them out like mentioned great. If not, try throwing fresh material in to them. Grasses, weeds, food scraps, etc.