Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Kingbird Farm pastured broiler hoop house.
Producers of organic eggs face additional challenges. Not only are they expected to get good
production on organic feed in a free-range system, consumers also want the product to look a
certain way: brown-shelled eggs with firm whites and that brilliant orange yolk, year round.
The farmer must work diligently to ensure this quality. Organic egg farmers cannot afford to
dump overproduction or low-quality eggs onto the conventional market; they have too much
invested in the organic hen. Eggs must be premium and command a premium price. Organic
free-range growers and, to a certain extent, non-pastured confinement organic growers tend to
face the following issues:
• Slightly lower production on pasture.
• Potentially dirtier eggs on range due to weather, pasture quality, and nest boxes.
• White-egg syndrome, which causes brown-egg layers to produce very pale-shelled
eggs when exposed to sunlight (see “Brown Shells” section below).
• Fading yolk color with birds off pasture in the winter.
Production and culling
