Gathering eggs used to be a twice-a-day task at Hawkins Farm--that was the way Jeff’s grandmother did it, and that was the way he used to do it, too--but as Jeff will tell you, he is never one to shy away from learning something new. Since the daily to-do list is long, especially at this time of year, it's important to find ways to be more efficient and flexible on the farm. So now, you can find Jeff out in the chicken coops gathering eggs only once a day.
Hawkins Farm has around 400 chickens and on a good day Jeff will gather in the neighborhood of 330 eggs. The number of eggs that are laid per day depends on a numerous factors. If it is too hot or too cold, production will be down. Length of day also matters--daylight stimulates the retinas of a chicken's eye, along with the pineal gland (which runs a bird’s biological clock) and the pituitary gland (known as the master gland for its effect on the body’s systems and organs), with the cumulative effect of turning on the hormones and other functions needed to start the laying process.
As a chicken ages its production slows down. For this reason, a new flock of pullet (or adolescent) chickens arrives on the farm twice-a-year. The pullets start off by laying smaller eggs, which are marketed as "peewee eggs."
After the eggs are gathered they go to Seven Sons Farm, where they are custom washed, candled, graded, and packaged, and then return to our farm to be distributed through the CSA!
Well, MOST are distributed. Some stay on the farm for Jeff's breakfast. He starts nearly every day with three eggs and chopped seasonal veggies (whatever surplus he can find from the garden--his favorite is asparagus). His technique is simple, fast, and tasty: add all ingredients to a bowl and microwave at 30% power for 3 minutes and 33 seconds. It’s easy to remember and he even thinks that this may have helped his cholesterol count to go down this year due to the beneficial fats in pasture-raised eggs!
