What is it about Farmer Brown’s Pastured Eggs that feels so right?
We believe these four key principles are the answer; best practice hen welfare, superior egg quality, land stewardship and product integrity.
1 Hen Welfare
With a stocking rate of only 3 hens per hectare Farmer Brown’s happy hens at “Gillinghall” have more room to roam than most. It’s this space, access to sunshine and total freedom to express their hen-ness that leads to our best practice animal welfare standards. The infographic below shows you the difference between free range standards, and pasture raised at Gillinghall.
Maremma’s are a very special breed of dog, whose protective nature makes them ideal guardians of the flock. Each of our flocks of hens has a pair of Maremmas living with them allowing the hens to truly roam freely, protected from predators, with no fences or restrictions needed.
Our hens graze freely all day and put themselves to roost in their caravans by night. The caravans are moved every few days so they are always on fresh pasture.
2 Egg Quality
Access to fresh pasture and insects supplemented by home grown and home milled grains, results in a healthy, balanced and diverse diet for our hens. It’s proven that pastured eggs have a higher nutritional value, A study done by the Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems journal, tested the nutritional value of pastured eggs versus caged eggs.
Pastured eggs were found to be more nutritious than caged eggs, presenting twice as much Vitamin E, 38% more Vitamin A, twice as much long-chain Omega-3 fats, 2.5 times total Omega 3 fatty acids and importantly less than half the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3, you can read more here.
Freshness is also critical to good egg quality, so our regular deliveries fresh from the farm ensure the highest quality egg is delivered every time.
3 Product Integrity
We stand behind our product and practices and we are proud of the regenerative philosophies that have been handed down through the generations on Gillinghall.
We believe in transparency and knowing both your farmer and where your food comes from. We host many tours to the farm ranging from school children to farming groups because we think it is important to show exactly what is happening on the farm and connecting the produce to the people consuming it.
You may meet us as we hand deliver our produce direct from the farm to you. We are not part of a long supply chain with multiple warehouses and weeks in storage. Our produce is delivered fresh and direct. We enjoy the interaction we have with our customers each week and we are always up for a chat about what’s happening on the farm.
4 Land Stewaredship
Since Rick Maurice began researching soil biology in the 70’s soil health and biology has informed all decisions on Gillinghall. Through continued learning and years of improving the soil we aim to leave the land in better shape then when we began our role as steward.
Like all enterprises on Gillinghall, Farmer Brown’s Pastured Eggs operates under a regenerative philosophy. The regular moving of the chicken caravans not only ensures fresh pasture for the hens, but also results in improved pasture where the hens have been fertilising the soil they were temporarily camped on. We close the loop by growing and using our own feed for the hens, minimising our environmental footprint.
