Nine West Farms

Have some spare time this week? I’d highly recommend reading The Land Ethic by Aldo Leopold. In this essay Leopold discusses the idea that as humans we have ethics applied to how we interact with society but seemingly there are no ethics for how we are to interact with the land - meaning the soil, the water, the animals. This essay was written in 1948, so there certainly has been some improvements since then on how land is viewed. I had to read it for a school assignment and ...found it to be very thought provoking. There are a few points he makes that I do not agree with (such as the necessity to dictate how a farmer is to treat their land. Yes good land ethics should be encouraged and promoted, but I think greater land management comes when it’s a personal choice, not a mandate), but overall this essay is spot on. I definitely recommend reading it. Here is a free link I was able to find if you want to give it a read https://www.uky.edu/~rsand1/china2017/library/Leopold1.pdf See more

Roosters are one of the most misunderstood parts of the laying hen industry. Over the past few months I’ve noticed many people asking questions on other farm pages and have been asked myself in the past about if we have roosters in with the hens. There are two main misconceptions I’ve taken note of. 1) The belief that a rooster is needed for a chicken to lay an egg. This simply is not so. There are many factors that influence if and how often a hen lays an egg, but a rooster... has nothing to do with it. The only time one is needed is if you are hoping to hatch some eggs. His only role is to fertilize the eggs. Some factors that do influence if and how often a laying hen will produce an egg are: feed quality, hours of sunlight per day, stress levels, age of the hen and breed of the hen. 2) That roosters are responsible for blood spots in eggs. If you read our post from a couple days ago then you’ll know what the real reason for blood spots is. If you haven’t yet, then scroll down and give it a read. If a rooster is in with the hens and the farmer collects the eggs everyday then there will be no problems for the consumer. A fertilized egg that was collected that day it was laid will be no different then eating an unfertilized egg. The problem comes in if the farmer is negligent on how often they collect eggs or if some hens are hiding eggs (which some sneaky hens who really want a baby will do!). Once a fertilized egg has been incubated for a few days that is not an egg you want to crack into your pan . While good management will 99% of the time avoid issues with fertilized eggs, we choose not to have a rooster with our hens anymore as we don’t want any risk. Also the last rooster we had was a jerk and I love my hens way more when I don’t need to worry about being attacked! P.S. pretend the rooster (my old jerk rooster) pictured here has a beak my photo editor decided he didn’t need one See more

Chances are if you’ve ever bought farm eggs you have come across some blood spots. If you are used to store bought eggs, these may cause you some concern. I’ve recently had a couple people ask me if the egg is safe to eat if there is a blood spot in them, so I figured there may be more of you wondering the same thing. The best article I have come across that discusses this topic can be found at https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bloody-egg#causes Here is a little bit from t...he article: Blood spots are droplets of blood sometimes found on the surface of egg yolks. Although egg producers consider them a defect, blood spots form naturally during the egg-laying cycle in some hens. Contrary to popular belief, they do not indicate that an egg has been fertilized.. Another type of spot found in egg yolks and whites are meat spots. Unlike blood spots, meat spots appear on the egg white as brown, red, or white deposits according to agencies like the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Egg Safety Board, eggs with blood spots are safe to eat as long as the egg is properly cooked. If this is something you’d like to learn more about I’d highly recommend reading the full article.

Sold out! Delivering orders this morning and have a few extra 18 packs available. Shoot us a message if you need any.

Update time. As many of you heard in our stories a month or so ago we have been toying with the idea of partnering with a friend to open a coffee shop and local market place. We’ve spent a ton of time researching, creating a business plan, looking at buildings, pricing things out, and dreaming of all the possibilities. While we would so love this dream to come true, it has become very evident to both us and our friend over the past week that this is not the right time for it to be so. There has certainly been a couple tears over that choice, but we are confident it is what is best for us right now. Maybe one day when the world is a little less crazy and our kids are a little bit older we’ll pull these plans out again and know that it was worth the wait.

Warm weather is for building snow forts and some less exciting adventures such as cleaning out the nesting boxes. Yesterday we mentioned we’d be raising our egg prices. You’ve likely noticed the cost of eggs has increased everywhere (not to mention every other grocery item as well!). We’ve tried to put it off as long as possible. We really don’t like having to change our prices. But the reality is prices have changed for us as well. The cost of feed this year has gone up lik...e crazy - the painful aftermath of a year with next to no rain. Starting today our prices will be as follows $4.25/dozen $6.00/18 pack. If you are looking for a deal you can order bulk 6 dozen or 4 18 packs for $20. Thank you for your understanding. See more