Wild Notion Egg FAQs
FAQs
We have absolutely loved all the questions y’all have had about how we raise our chickens, so we whipped up an FAQ with transparent details on the practices you’ve asked us about the most.
Where can I buy Wild Notion eggs?
In the winter and early spring, eggs are available via our online shop for pickup at our farmstand in Falls, PA. You can also message us on Facebook or Instagram if you’d like to schedule egg pickup and prefer to pay with cash or Venmo at the farmstand.
During the market season, we sell eggs at the Tunkhannock Farmers Market every Saturday, rain or shine, from 10am - 2pm (Mid-June through the end of October).
What do you feed your chickens?
Chickens are a big part of the sustainability puzzle for us and we’re working to grow as much of their food on the farm as possible. They feast on the stems and roots left behind when we harvest microgreens and also eat mushroom trimmings, garden scraps, kitchen scraps, fresh herbs, veggies, and grasses.
We also serve them a non-GMO Kalmback feed (purchased locally from Montrose Feed & Supply), spent beer grains, sunflower seeds, and an Icelandic kelp meal.
When it’s cold outside we like to roast squash and pumpkins for them or whip up a nice warm oatmeal to add to the top of their feed bowl.
How orange are your yolks?
Our egg yolks tend to be pretty gosh darn orange. Orange egg yolks are a sign that a hen ate a healthy diet rich in carotenoids. Carotenoids are all-natural dietary pigments known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties*, support heart health*, reduce risk of some cancers*, and promote eye health*.
A few carotenoid-rich foods that contribute to our yolks’ orange color include: microgreens, calendula, spinach, alfalfa, comfrey, broccoli, kale, bell peppers, pumpkins, and carrots.
How fresh are your eggs?
Our eggs are 5 days old or less when sold (for context, most eggs at the grocery store are about 45 days old or older when purchased). You’ll find a “laid on” date on the side of each carton of Wild Notion eggs, which will indicate the date of the oldest egg in the carton.
How much space do your chickens have?
Every day our cage-free birds have all-day access to an outdoor run that provides 11.5 sq. ft. of ground space per bird. Our chickens sleep in a very spacious coop inside the barn at night so they’re warm, dry, and safe from predators without being cramped.
Do our chickens free-range?
Short answer: No.
Due to our chickens’ beloved enthusiasm for scratching up compost, our affinity for growing crops in no-dig deep-compost beds, and the number of hawks and occasional eagles that fly over the farm each week, we don’t give our chickens unlimited access to roam about. While we don’t consider our birds free-range, we do significantly exceed the criteria set by the USDA and the HFAC’s Certified Humane® label for “Free Range” claims on egg packaging, and you can read more about that here.
How much are our eggs?
$5/dozen.
Adding fresh nutritious eggs, laid by super happy hens, at an affordable price to the farmers’ market is one of the ways we’re working to make it easier to shop local and help sustain a thriving local food system.
Do you accept SNAP?
No, not yet. But we’re working on it and hope to be able to accept SNAP in the near future.
What are pullet eggs?
Our flock currently includes chickens of 2 different ages. The oldest chickens are laying beautiful full-sized rainbow eggs. The youngest chickens are brand new to laying and produce much smaller and richer eggs, known as pullet eggs. Pullet eggs are incredibly rich, are far more likely to have double yolks, and hold together really well when cooked- making them ideal for poaching and excellent for frying. We absolutely LOVE pullet eggs.
Because pullet eggs are smaller we sell them for $3/dozen instead of $5/dozen. We’re not expecting to have pullet eggs again for several years, so if you’d like to give them a try this summer is a great time to do so. You can read more about the delicious wonders of pullet eggs here.
What breed of chickens do we raise?
Our chicken flock is a mix of rainbow layers including Buff Orpingtons, Olive Eggers, Cockoo Marans, Barred Plymoth Rocks, Novogens, Rhode Island Reds, Whiting True Blues, and Whiting True Greens.
Why did we decide to raise chickens?
We LOVE eggs, but knowing how commercial chickens are raised totally grossed us out, both ethically and culinarily. And, once we’d gotten used to eating farm fresh eggs from truly well-fed chickens, there was no going back to grocery store eggs for us. Chickens also fit right into this crazy wild notion that set us on our farming journey and they’re helping us get another step closer to a closed-loop system where nothing goes to waste.
Citations:
*Cleveland Clinic, “Eat the Rainbow: Health Benefits of Carotenoids”, July 12 2023. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/carotenoids