Hens Raised With The Seasons
How We Raise Our Hens
In the spring, summer and fall all of our laying hens are pasture raised (pastured poultry). In late spring our laying hens are moved out onto pasture into outdoor movable shelters with attached ranges. These shelters are moved every day onto fresh grass. Moving them daily ensures that the birds always have access to clean ground, fresh pasture and a new supply of grasses, weeds, bugs and grubs to forage.
While on pasture our hens receive certified organic feed, clean water, nesting boxes and perches for resting. Their outdoor ranges are covered with tin roofs to protect them from birds of prey, heavy rain and the hot summer sun. This system allows the hens to express their natural behaviours such as, scratching, pecking, dust bathing and foraging, while still being protected and carefully managed.
In the fall to protect our hens from the cold and unpredictable Alberta winter weather, they are moved indoors into warm barns. These barns have plenty of windows so the birds receive natural sunlight. During the darkest months of the year we provide consistent lighting to match normal summer day length, but we do not use artificial lighting programs to try to increase egg production.
Inside the barns, wood shavings are spread by hand to provide clean bedding. The hens have plenty of nesting boxes and perches, and water and feed is spaced throughout the barn so it is always easily accessible. We work hard to ensure that even in winter our hens have space, comfort and a calm environment.
High Quality Nutritional Feed with No Yolk Colorants
Year round We pay careful attention to nutrition. Our hens are fed a balanced certified organic ration designed for health, not egg yolk appearance. We add dried organic alfalfa meal to their feed year round so they receive the nutritional benefits of greens even when fresh pasture is limited. Our goal is to nourish the hens properly so they can produce healthy eggs.
We do not add colourants to our hens’ feed to standardize the yolk colour. In large-scale production, additives are used to create a specific shade that consumers find appealing. This creates the expectation that every egg should look the same all year round. In a natural system like ours, uniform colour is neither realistic nor our goal.
You will notice brighter yellow yolks during the summer months and paler yolks in the winter when the hens are indoors without access to fresh grass. Sometimes, especially during seasonal transitions, there may be different shades of yellow within the same carton. These colour changes are normal and expected when hens are raised in a pasture-based system.
Yolk colour does not determine nutritional value, flavour, bird health or living conditions. Nutrition comes from the overall balance of the hen’s diet. Taste is influenced by what the hen eats, not how dark the yolk appears. Pale yolks can be just as nutritious and flavourful as darker ones.
Our focus is not on achieving a particular shade of yellow. Our focus is on raising hens in a way that supports their health and wellbeing, humanely and organically, with access to pasture when weather allows, warm shelter in winter, balanced organic feed and respectful daily care.
Your Farmers,
Ron, Sheila and Family
- Sunworks Farm
