Chicken Eggs!

By Chris Walker

Sunshine in a Nutshell - er, uh... Eggshell.

Does your workday start at the same time, every day, all year? What if you met with your teammates every two weeks and agreed that you had to bump up your start time by 15 minutes? This time of year - to make the most of the morning light - my fellow apprentices and I have this discussion on-the-regular!

Roosters have a reputation for recognizing daybreak, but the fact is they're up and crowing long before dawn. Joel will tell you that chickens are the first of the farm animals up and active in the morning; if we're going to be good stewards, we can't miss that first-light appointment! The broilers need their fresh patch of the pasture salad bar, the Eggmobile needs to be moved to just the right spot behind the cows to find the best bugs, and the Feathernet nest boxes have to be open for business!

Chickens are Supremely Sensitive to Sunlight

With a little rain after a dry start, spring is finally rolling along. Most of us are now rejoicing in longer days, the flush of grass, and the return of bugs and birdsong - but here on the farm, our first hint that days are getting longer comes in January! Immediately after the December winter solstice - the shortest day of the year - our relatively relaxed winter egg operation begins to wake up. The hens are still comfortable in our hoophouses, but within a month egg production will double. In another month, it will double again.

Just behind a hen's eye, where sunlight can reach it, is her pineal gland. Like ours, it helps to regulate her circadian rhythm - but in chickens, more daylight means more eggs. It's a seasonal cycle, and it means in the spring months we have all the eggs we can handle!

Paid Time Off

Industrial egg operations use artificial lighting to stimulate egg production year-round. Without bodily rest, in an unnatural environment, and out-of-sync with a varied and nutrient-dense spring diet, the eggs are thin and weak - and so are the hens! At Polyface, we never use artificial lights. Our egg supply shrinks in the fall, but our hens are free to molt and rest through the shorter winter days, and they get our best second-cutting hay and scratch grains in addition to their usual excellent non-GMO ration.

Exceptional Eggs

As soon as they can, our hens leave their protective winter hoop structures and hit the pasture, and it's a joy to be out here moving them each daybreak. Our mobile infrastructure leaves trails in the dewy grass and the chickens are eager to come along and snatch the critters we stir up. Expressing their "chicken-ness" on the full buffet of our spring pastures means scratching through cow pies, catching grasshoppers, and fighting over worms. Out here the ladies have nothing to do all day but be chickens; they're able to take full advantage of the sunlight and the salad bar and deliver us nests heaping with the best eggs a farm can make.

Customers from home cooks and bakers to high-end chefs praise properly pastured eggs for their firmness, richness, color, and flavor. From a nutritional standpoint, the differences are astounding. Nothing beats eggs from a happy hen.

What do I do with them all?!

There's so much more to a real farm-fresh egg than over-easy and toast, as lovely as that can be! Make sure to try the difference pastured eggs can make in all your recipes - the richness and structure really shine in sauces and baked goods! Hollandaise anyone?!

With baskets and baskets stacking up, we have found a few new ways to celebrate all this abundance. Here are a couple of my favorites; one is an interesting new twist on breakfast, and one elevates simple picnic fair into a real meal!

Sheet-pan Simple; Pasture Perfect. "Balsamic Brussels Sprout Breakfast"

I've been making this for years - it's one of my wife Sandy's favorite breakfasts! I know Brussels sprouts aren't usually in the breakfast rotation, but cleverly combined with our Polyface bacon (or bacon ends!) and a drizzle of local honey and balsamic vinegar, they make an easy but intriguing sheet-pan breakfast that you'll come back to again and again.

Balsamic Brussels Sprout Breakfast

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Brussels Sprouts, halved

1 lb. Pastured Bacon, chopped

4 Tbsp. Olive (or Avocado) Oil

3-4 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tbsp. Honey

3-4 Cloves Garlic, diced

Salt and Pepper, to taste

6 Pastured Eggs

1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flake

2 Tbsp. Chives, optional, at serving

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 400˚

Halve or roughly chop Brussels sprouts. Place in large bowl.

Add bacon, oil, vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.

Spread on oiled sheet pan. Bake 15-20 min., until sprouts begin to brown.

Make six voids for eggs, crack eggs onto pan.

Sprinkle with parmesan and red pepper flakes.

Bake another 7-9 minutes until whites set.

The Ultimate Egg Salad - Soup up a classic summer lunch.

We recently discovered this egg salad recipe, and it's my new favorite! Alton Brown always delivers, and with the power of Polyface pastured eggs and bacon ends, this is the ultimate egg salad.

Check it out: https://altonbrown.com/recipes/breakfast-egg-salad/

Saving Spring for Someday:

Try as we might to get them to happy homes, we still sometimes have piles of perfectly fresh spring eggs on hand, and we know it's time to get cracking. We now offer freeze-dried spring eggs! They're great to have on hand in emergencies, even if that's just running out of fresh pastured eggs in the shell! Cracked fresh, and frozen in-season, these aren't just for backpackers and preppers; they have fantastic shelf-life, yes, but they are also a true kitchen convenience for dishes like egg bakes and quiche. I regularly use them for quick scrambled eggs to go along with our breakfast sausage links, a real farmhand staple around here!

Working with Nature

I've been at Polyface for a full year now, and learning to let nature lead the seasonal dance of regenerative farming has been a wonderful experience. It feels right to welcome the gifts certain seasons bring. We lean into the hard work of an abundant harvest, and to take a moment to step back, give thanks, and rest before things naturally shift to the next job. I think it's important to recognize our place in a seasonal cycle by embracing this variety in our diet. It's a beautiful spring, and we are so blessed to have a bounty of spring-fresh pastured eggs. Let's all find ways to celebrate and make good use of a great thing.

(Photo credits Chris Walker)