Know egg-xactly what you're getting...

Erin, of RAD Growers, gives a pep talk to two of her young Bungowannah babes.

A few months ago, the Victorian Government made it more difficult for consumers to know whether the eggs they were buying were really “free-range”. To our minds, "free-range" means that chooks should be able to freely roam pasture, with plenty of space to move, the ability to peck and scratch and dust-bath and behave the way that chooks do and always have. The CSIRO has a voluntary model code for free-range eggs – which is endorsed by animal welfare groups - recommending no more than 1,500 birds per hectare. The state government, however, in its recent decision, determined that “free-range” eggs could be those that came from farms with a stocking density of 10,000 chooks per hectare. That’s one chook per square metre. Or seven times the CSIRO’s voluntary standard. By the Victorian Government’s definition, the birds require adequate access to ventilation and light, but are not strictly required to have access to outside ranging. Confused about how this constitutes “free range”? So are we.

Since we opened Saint Monday, we’ve been pernickety about the eggs we purchase and serve to our customers. Like most people who have owned backyard chooks, we have seen, firsthand via our own lovely girls, how important it is for chickens to be able to live their lives like real chooks, rather than as cogs in an industrial machine. Fortunately for us, it has been easy to be picky – there are a plethora of local egg producers around us, who more than adhere to these CSIRO standards, and whose practices ensure their hens are happy and healthy. We have, since day one, purchased eggs from both Kay Panton at Dey Sorormin, whose girls are fed organic fed and are free to roam the pastures of the farm, located in Bruarong, as well as the awesome team of Erin and Bel at RAD Growers, located in Bungowannah.

Both Dey Sorormin and RAD produce seriously good eggs. Eggs that have perky yolks, whose colours change with the seasons and the range of feed available to the girls. Eggs that poach beautifully, and taste creamy and fresh. Eggs that are not just delicious, but also come with the added benefit of giving us “warm and fuzzy feelings” at knowing that we can support and promote the hard work of two local producers (and their beautiful chooks!), whose ethics and values are so central to the way they do business. And so, two weeks ago, we decided that we wanted to make sure other Yackandandah locals could buy these eggs for themselves. You can now buy RAD eggs by the dozen from Saint Monday!

We were super glad to have a chat to Erin, from RAD Growers, about her eggs, to learn more about the values behind them, the chickens’ “nomadic” lifestyles as true free-rangers, and to give you confidence that these are eggs produced according to extremely high standards and with the utmost transparency when it comes to animal welfare and ecological standards.
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Saint Monday: So, how do you describe the eggs you produce, given that the waters have been so muddied when it comes to defining “free range”?
RAD Growers: At RAD growers we have gone with a CYO (certify your own) approach, attempting to provide complete transparency as to how we grow Real And Delicious produce. Our chickens are true free rangers with a stocking density of 22 birds per hectare.

SM:That’s great – sounds like those girls really have space to spread out and be themselves! Can you tell us about a day in the life of your chooks?
RAD: They lay their eggs during the day and perch on roosts overnight in a restored Road Transport Authority smoko-van. They spend their days foraging in our paddocks and leaf litter for bugs and grubs, and are rotated through different areas of our market garden, pasture and woodland every few days.
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The RAD chooks have pretty cushy digs, spending their nights in a restored Road Transport Authority vehicle.

SM: Sounds like your girls are pretty self-sufficient and healthy, then? What else does their diet generally consist of?
RAD: High rotations through fresh fields in order to forage are important to the chickens’ health. It ensures our chickens have access to a diet high in the proteins, vitamins and minerals from nature, so that the eggs they lay are naturally rich in these nutrients. Their diet is supplemented with excess vegetables from our market garden and grains from local farmers – wheat, oats and canola seed. Recently we have been trialling the introduction of fermented lupins to maximise their nutritional intake.

The alternate feeding system commonly used in commercial poultry operations is a pelletised feed, which became a big industry once caged birds where introduced. Exact energy requirements could be calculated and dietary requirements formulated, with the addition of antibiotics, growth hormones and additives for consistent egg yolk colouring.

​Without this additive to colour our yolks, our yolks change with the season. Over the winter months, when the chickens are foraging through lush pastures, yolk colour tend to be lighter. Through the drier summer months, when the chickens are foraging through the leaf litter of shady trees, the yolk tends to darken.

​SM: It has been interesting to see the colours of the yolks changing as we’re heading into winter. What else are you feeding them?
RAD: Reducing food miles is a big part of what we aim to achieve at RAD Growers. The farmers we currently source grain from are local and we respect their growing practices. The only certified organic poultry feed comes from a mill in Queensland. With demand for organic grain for human consumption so high, demand is outstripping supply, which means at a price point, our eggs would be much more expensive, unless we were able to grow our own organic grain… stay tuned, this is currently in a trial phase!

SM: Exciting stuff! Obviously, the RAD farm produces all kinds of goodies – we’ve been really fortunate to use some of your veggies in our dishes at the cafe, for example. How do chickens fit into the overall scheme of things on your farm?
RAD: 

'We keep chickens because they are soil enhancers when cared for appropriately.''

As food producers we are in the industry of growing great soil. By growing great soil, we grow strong plants. We grow strong plants to grow nutrient dense produce. We grow nutrient-dense produce to feed strong hearts and minds.Our aim at RAD Growers is to grow using as little off farm inputs as possible, and minimising any waste – creating a closed loop system. Our chickens are very close to the definition of closed loop farming! When rotated through the market garden, they feed on weed seed, pest insects and spent crops, and in return they organically fertilise the soil and feed us with nutrient dense eggs, much better for us than any ‘super food’.

RAD eggs are in stock at Saint Monday right now - duck in (excuse the pun) and check 'em out for yourself! And also, don't forget to have a peek at the great work of RAD Growers online at www.radgrowers.com