the happy egg co., building a free-range brand one farm at a time

In 2012, Noble Foods introduced the happy egg co. brand to U.S. consumers marketing eggs from free-range hens produced on farms under contract to the Arkansas Egg Company. Egg Industry recently visited a farm producing eggs for the happy egg co, Tree Line Layers Farm outside of Buffalo, Missouri.

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Noble Foods has brought its the happy egg co. brand of egg produced by pasture-raised hens to the U.S. to see if it can replicate the remarkable success the brand has had in the UK.
Noble Foods has brought its the happy egg co. brand of egg produced by pasture-raised hens to the U.S. to see if it can replicate the remarkable success the brand has had in the UK.

Noble Foods is the largest egg producer in the U.K., and its the happy egg co. brand, which markets eggs from free-range hens based on an image of enhanced welfare, has enjoyed rapid growth since its introduction to the U.K. market in 2009. About two-thirds of all eggs sold in the U.K. come from cage-free hens, with many of these hens kept in free-range settings.

In 2012, Noble Foods introduced the happy egg co. brand to U.S. consumers marketing eggs from free-range hens produced on farms under contract to the Arkansas Egg Company. The Arkansas Egg Company started moving its hens out of cages in 2007 and completed the transition in 2008. Egg Industry recently visited a farm producing eggs for the happy egg co, Tree Line Layers Farm outside of Buffalo, Missouri.

All the comforts of home

My experience with free-range poultry is with range turkeys which were raised in standard brooder houses until five to seven weeks of age at which time they went outdoors on range, and stayed there until reaching market weight. This type of free-range husbandry was kind of like camping out under the stars without a roof over your head of any kind, not even the canvas of a tent. Free-range husbandry of layers, at least the happy egg co. way, is more like spending the day outdoors and sleeping in a cabin at night.

Tree Line Layers, owned and operated by Sydney and Shari Hostetler, has one purpose -- built layer house which serves as the feeding, nesting and nighttime roosting spot for 16,000 hens. The house has Vencomatic nests and it resembles a curtain-sided, tunnel-ventilated, broiler-breeder house with cool cells for use on hot days. Unlike a broiler breeder house, you don’t need special feeding equipment for the roosters, and the house has doors along the sides which can be opened to let the birds out in the morning. The doors are closed at dusk when the hens all come in to roost and also when the weather is particularly hot.

The house is divided with chicken wire into four quadrants or “pens,” by chicken wire which runs down the middle, across the length and width of the house. Each pen houses 4,000 hens and has its own outdoor fenced pasture area.

The hens are provided 14 square feet per bird in the pasture during the day and two square feet per bird inside the house at night. The grass in the pastures tends to be a mix of Bermuda and fescue. The growing program the happy egg co. employs calls for trees to be present in the pasture areas as well as what the company calls “play kits.” The play kits consists of small roofed areas which look a little like smaller versions of range shelters that were used for turkeys years ago. The hens can rest in the shade under the roofs of the play kits, roost on top, or scratch around in the dirt under the roof. All of these behaviors were on display during my visit.

Inside the house

The hens at Tree Line Layers were a 40-week-old Bovans Browns during my visit. As with operations where hens are not confined to cages, walking the house the first few weeks plays a critical role in preventing floor eggs. Also, keeping the grass cut short in the pasture areas serves to prevent hens from laying eggs outside.

When asked how he would characterize bird performance on farms producing for the happy egg co., Michael Cox, president Arkansas Egg Company, said: “Our lay rates and feed conversions on these farms are in line with other cage-free farms.” He said that what the hens eat on pasture (bugs) offsets some of the calories burned by the extra activity. He said grit is fed to help the grass that is consumed pass through the birds’ intestines. One side benefit of pasture foraging, according to Cox, is that it helps produce yolks that are darker in color.

The cumulative flock mortality rates are 6.5 to 7.0 percent when the hens are taken out of production lay at 76-78 weeks of ages, which he said is similar to Arkansas Egg Company’s cage-free hen performance. This is a couple of percent higher mortality than would be expected from a cage-housed flock.

Outdoor living and bird health

The walls and roof of the house are usually the bedrock of a biosecurity program for poultry, but if your birds spend time outside, you have to look at things differently.

“Some people might think we are reckless for letting our birds go outdoors, but we put a lot of thought and training into our biosecurity program,” Cox said.

The farms are single-age and undergo complete house cleanouts between flocks. The birds are laser beak trimmed at day of hatch to help prevent pecking damage. Hens are vaccinated for fowl cholera as a precaution. Cox said they vaccinate to help control coccidiosis. He said birds get the health advantage of breathing lots of fresh air.

The husbandry program for the happy egg co. doesn’t call for netting over the top of the outdoor pasture areas. Cox said that netting attracts wild birds, by providing perching areas. He said predation has not been an issue on their farms, because the perimeter fence keeps out the varmints and the hens go in the house at night.

Ashley Swaffar, director of special projects, Arkansas Egg Company, said the happy egg co.’s Salmonella enteritidis (SE) control plan, which meets all FDA requirements, calls for all environmental sampling to be conducted inside the house every 15 weeks.

Less capital, but more labor

Arkansas and Missouri, where the happy egg co. produces its eggs, are states with long traditions of raising poultry and large broiler and turkey operations. Arkansas Egg Company’s competition for contract producers comes from broiler and turkey integrators looking for meat bird and breeder growers. So far, Cox said they have not had any trouble signing producers and have a waiting list.

With all of the automation and technology now employed in broiler growing houses, a lot of capital is required to build and equip the number of houses it takes to be a “full-time” job, in labor required and compensation returned to the grower. Cox said that one 16,000 hen free-range operation can be the primary activity for the grower and his family, in labor expended and compensation. The drastically lower capital investment and the relatively small footprint required, as few as five acres, have been attractive to growers.

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