Veg of the Month: Eggs!

One of our most popular offerings are organic eggs. This month, we visited Bella and Andrew Walker at Home Farm in Lower South Wraxall, Wiltshire, to shell-ebrate the idyllic existence of their 640 birds that lay an incredible 11,000 dozen eggs per year.

The Walkers farm 260 acres of organic arable land and began raising chickens in 1991. They currently rotate three flocks of hens through five paddocks, the empty paddocks being left to rest for nine months at a time. Each paddock provides their hens with fencing against predators, ample food and fresh water, and a huge grassy area in which they can scratch and frolic.

Bella, a former environmental health officer, introduced me to some lovely ladies in one of their mobile hen houses: about 200 Rhode Rocks and Pied Ranger hens, iconic with their iridescent black-green feathers! Our visit prompted a wealth of curiosity and noise, including the tell-tale “cluck cluck cluck” of a recently laid egg.

Since 2010 the Walkers have reared their chicks from one-day old; older hens are sold to local hobbyists as pets. Unusually, the Walkers keep many of their birds for longer than two years to ensure that they always have well-sized eggs to offer their customers (young, small hens lay small eggs – delightful for children but not so for parents!).

Their hens’ organic feed is supplemented with homegrown organic barley, crushed oyster shells (to provide calcium for strong eggshells) and flint grit (necessary for digestion).

Besides The Community Farm, the Walkers provide eggs to health food shops in Corsham and Bradford-on-Avon, a local B&B, and Luscious, the award-winning organic ice cream and custard maker based in the Neston Park Estate – not to mention farm gate sales to a large number of loyal customers who, like us, value knowing exactly where their eggs come from.