Free-Range Eggs

Happy Hens & Soy-Free Eggs on TK Ranch (Uninspected)

When it comes to raising happy hens and quality eggs on TK Ranch we pretty well have this down to an art form! Our daughter Jocelyn and her husband Andre completely renovated our old hip roofed barn and fitted it with nest boxes, roosts, windows, lights, access doors, ventilation and toys (like the cabbage picture). Inside the barn our free-range hens are given at least 3 square feet of room per bird to ensure they have adequate space to move around freely and scratch in the shavings and dirt, especially when it’s cold outside. They have free access to the outdoors year round on TK Ranch and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine to their hearts content.

We have both Lohmann Brown and Lohmann White hens. Our brown hens lay brown eggs and our white hens lay white eggs. Their age generally determines the size of egg they lay. When they're younger they lay small or medium eggs, and when they reach maturity they lay large or extra large eggs. Some people believe that brown eggs are healthier than white eggs, but this isn't true. Egg shell colour has nothing to do with nutritional content. It's what the hens are being fed that determines this and all of our hens are raised under the same management conditions.

Our hens are given a quality grain based feed ration that is enriched with vitamins and essential oils to keep them healthy. They're never fed soy, corn, GMOs, antibiotics or other growth stimulants. We've received a lot of positive feedback on the quality and freshness of our eggs. Many people have told us that our eggs are the best they've ever purchased. Some even say that while they are sensitive to eggs bought elsewhere, they can eat ours with no issues. It takes a lot of TLC to manage free-range hens this way because nothing in our operation is automated. We haul feed and water to them by-hand, clean out the barn and build movable fence all summer so they can have access to fresh grass. We also collect the eggs by hand three times a day, then clean, weigh, sort and carton them. Taking care of our hens is definitely a labour of love on TK Ranch and they give us excellent quality eggs in return.

Price

MEDIUM - $8/doz, LARGE - $9/doz, EXTRA LARGE - $10/doz

Government Regulations & Selling Eggs in Alberta

What makes our eggs different than grocery store eggs when it comes to government regulations? On TK Ranch we collect our eggs from clean nest boxes several times a day. Our eggs are washed, inspected for cracks, weighed and placed into egg cartons and refrigerated. At a licensed egg grading facility eggs are washed, inspected for cracks, candled through a light to inspect the insides, weighed and sized (graded), placed into egg cartons and refrigerated. To sell our eggs to stores or restaurants we'd have to take them to a licensed egg grading facility to be processed. Unfortunately there aren't any licensed egg grading facilities that offer custom services, they only buy eggs from producers and resell them. We don't want to sell our eggs to a third party so the government considers our eggs UNINSPECTED. For this reason we're only allowed to sell our eggs direct to our customers. Since they are uninspected we're also not allowed to add them to our online store. So if you want to purchase some eggs please tell us in the comments section of your order what size and how many dozen you'd like (limit of 4 dozen per week).

Why are our egg sales limited?

Another issue many people aren't aware of is supply management. To control the price of eggs, dairy, chicken and turkey in Alberta, laws have been passed that limit the amount a farm can produce unless they agree to purchase what's commonly referred to as quota. By law we're only allowed to raise up to 300 hens without having to buy this expensive quota. We only have 270 hens on TK Ranch which means we have a limited amount of eggs available every week. Our eggs are in very high demand so we often limit each customer to 4 dozen eggs a week to give as many families access to them as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

You’re welcome to pick up some eggs at our location east of Chestermere. Please call our office at 403-854-8532 before making a special trip out to get eggs to make sure we have some available! We can also add eggs onto your meat order and have them delivered to your home. But by law we have to box them separately which incurs a small $1.50 handling fee to cover the cost of the box and bubble wrap. If you only want eggs delivered we can do that too, but delivery fees apply. Thanks for your understanding.