Scrambled and Egg-hausted Efforts…

It’s been almost a month since we brought home 306 chickens to add to our egg ranch, The Cartier. And this month has been full of learning curves. Recently, we have been shell-shocked (pun intended) about how much our egg production has decreased.

You see, a chicken at peek production will be laying approximately .85 eggs every day on average. So, with having 300 birds, we should be collecting ~255 eggs every day. The first week of having them, that stat proved itself to be correct with us collecting around 250 eggs per day. There is an adjustment period that usually spans for 2-3 weeks with all new things in the chickens’ lives (new home, new food, etc.); however, when you’re two weeks in and you’ve only been collecting around 10 eggs everyday for a week straight, you start questioning some things.

At first, we thought it may have been a predator of some sort, because the electric netting surrounding the hoop house had been down due to battery malfunction, and we had seen some hawks in the area. We resorted to counting all 300 chickens, to see if we had any missing. But finding no evidence (ie. half-eaten chickens, missing chickens, or finding dead chickens with snapped necks), we figured the problem lay with the new feed we were giving them. We tried switching their feed by buying some from Be Whole Again Farm, a local raw dairy we are partnered with, who uses a similar blend of non-gmo feed. The nutritionist at our feed store said that if the feed was the problem, that we would see an increase of production 3-4 days after we started them on the different feed.

Four days later…nothing changed. Finally, we decided to visit the prairie schooner at night time to see if it’d help us get to the bottom of this mysterious egg drought we were in. We showed up to all the chickens attempting to roost on their roll-away nest box and some huddled together on the ground surrounding one of the feeders.

As you can see, they looked quite uncomfortable.

Trev decided they may need a bigger area to roost upon and hypothesized that maybe they were too stressed out to lay eggs. Chickens are very temperamental… He built a giant roost the very next day. While our egg count actually increased afterwards (we’re now collecting around 20 eggs per day, yay!!), it is still much slower than normal… Our plans are to switch their feed up once again, possibly install a game trail camera, in tandem with their new roost and hope for the best…

I will make note, that during this time of uncertainty, Trev and I still feel a sense of peace. This has been an absolutely crazy season of our lives, and God has blessed us in so many ways, and we’ve had to learn how to trust him and each other (I’m convinced that farming makes for the BEST marriage counseling, but that’ll be a different newsletter 😉). Our biggest lesson during this time is with farming, and with life, you do your best and let God take care of the rest!

What we are requesting of our customers, family, and friends: KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS! And bare with us while we get through this egg drought. We’ll keep you posted as to when egg production starts to increase and we’re able to supply our regular customers with eggs.

Love your favorite egg dealers,

Trev & Viv

Shipped From Our Farm to Your Porch

We’re ecstatic to announce that this winter we’ll start shipping to the lower 48 states! Yes, you heard that right… From sea to shining sea (except you Alaska and Hawaii, sorry)

The best thing about Home Delivery is you can get our farm's pasture raised goodness anywhere in the country! We have a special box that keeps everything super cold and we even have a super special box for delivering eggs! Free delivery on orders of $150 or more!

Join the wait list here

How in the heck can you ship frozen meats across the country?!

Check out this video from our friend and farming compatriot, David. He’ll explain how your order shows up on your porch still cold.

How will ordering work?

It’s easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Check out our “What’s in Stock” section of the newsletter below for what we’re currently offering and pricing.

2. Until our website is up and running order by calling or texting Trevor at (816) 310-9631 or by emailing him at [email protected]. During this step Trevor will coordinate payment with you.

3. Your order is on the way! As long as you’ve placed your order by Sunday night, your order will ship on Monday. Check out the map below to see how quick you’ll get your order!

Farm Events & Important Dates

• Farm Tour - Saturday, September 28th from 11am-12pm - Rayville - Free

  • Join us for an afternoon of fun for the whole family! We’ll meet at the Van Till Family Farm Winery (13986 Highway C Rayville, MO 64084) at 11 am, take a hay wagon over to the farm (about a mile away), meet the pigs and chickens, and teach on a couple of our favorite stewardship practices. Around 11:30 we’ll take the hay wagon back to the winery and anyone who wants to stay for lunch is welcome. They have to-die-for pizza cooked in a wood fired oven! - Please RSVP by replying to this email or texting Trevor @ (816) 310-9631

• From our farm, shipped fresh to your doorstep - shipping pork, chicken, and eggs to the lower 48 states, coming this winter!

What’s in Stock

• Eggs - Our hens are pasture raised, rotationally grazed, and non-gmo - $5/dozen

• Chicken - Like our hens, our chicken is pasture raised, rotationally grazed, and non-gmo - click here for price sheet 

• Pork - Pigs were butchered on 7/18 - Our pigs are forest raised, rotationally grazed, non-gmo, and heritage breed (Red Wattle)

  • Whole hogs (120 lbs of meat), half hogs (60 lbs of meat), and custom cuts (bacon, pork chops, ribs, sausage) available.

  • Price sheet will be coming soon.

How It Works

• How do I order? Text Trevor @ (816) 310-9631 your order by Tuesday night

• When do I get it? Delivery day is every Wednesday - home delivery available or pickup in parking lot at 8:15 pm @ Zion KC (1800 W 69 Hwy Excelsior Springs, MO 64024)

• How do I pay? Payment is collected upon delivery. Usually folks pay with cash, Venmo, CashApp, Zelle, check, Grateful Dead vinyl record, or spicy ranch dressing. Okay, well maybe not the last two;)

-Blessings

Your Farmer,

Trevor

Thank you for supporting regenerative agriculture and transforming the land future generations will inherit - one bite at a time!

How You Can Help In The World of Tech - Please Don't Skip This

#1 Add [email protected] to your email contacts. - This prevents our emails from going to spam and makes sure you get important information.

#2 Open Every Email - Even If You Don't Read Them :)
So this may seem small but it really really matters. Why?

Basically Google and other email providers track how often an email is opened to guess if it is important or not. If you don't open an email often enough than your inbox may stop showing it altogether. But it has a cumulative effect so if enough other people don't open theirs you might not see it too. 

We are trying to walk back this trend and we could really use your help. Even if you don't have time to read the email ( I totally get it - no hurt feelings) would you please open it first and then delete it?  Thank you for keeping our small farm from being erased by big tech email filters!

#3 Share about our farm with your friends!
It really really makes a huge difference when you share with others about where you get your pasture raised bounty from! Plus it can make a huge difference in their life as well.

#4 Like us on Facebook + Instagram and share kitchen creations, unboxing pics, and all things Simple Living Farms
When you share about our farm we try to repost if too our page. It's really pretty cool to see!

Thank you for going the extra mile to support our family farm and regenerative agriculture! It is an honor to be your farmers!