Eggs: Pastured Free Range (700g) dozen - Kapsali Farm

Direct from the egg producers of Kapsali Farm -

About Kapsali Farm

As the tagline on the cartons suggest, we live in a shed, our hens do not!! Instead, our hens live on pasture &/or in our forested areas 24/7 (protected by their fearless Livestock Guardian Dog, Kawa). Production area is approximately 35 acres which is bound by a Clipex predator fence. Within these 35 acres, the hens are contained within an electric fence at a stocking density of less than 1500 birds per hectare. This movable ‘cell’ is typically moved onto fresh pasture every four weeks and the van is moved within the cell weekly to ensure a good spread of the manure. The hens are not locked in their van at night, instead they have the freedom to put themselves to bed and get up as they wish.

What are pasture raised free range eggs?

Free-range v. Pasture raised – Firstly, the Australian standard for free range is up to 10,000 birds per hectare. Pastured operations have a stocking density of up to 1500 per hectare. Another big difference between commercial "free range" and our pasture based system is mobility. All of our infrastructure is mobile, meaning we can keep the birds on fresh pastures 24/7. This is good for the hens and great for our soils, pastures, and forests. Compare this to a commercial "free range" system, which is permitted to be a fixed shed with doors that open to a paddock. All the hens feed and water is in these sheds....the Australian Standard refers to these doors as "meaningful access" to the outdoors. You cannot maintain ground cover in that model, damaging soils and not providing the hens with a mixed forage diet. We encourage people to ask their "free range" supplier for videos showing their production systems. In most cases they are little more than "cage free" models with a few hens outside on dirt.

1. We’re local! Roughly 60kms from Newcastle
2. As the tagline on the cartons suggest, we live in a shed, our hens do not!! Instead, our hens live on pasture and/or in our forested areas 24/7 (protected by their fearless Livestock Guardian Dog, Kawa – an Anatolian Shepherd). Our production area is approximately 35 acres which is bound by a Clipex predator fence. If anything were to ever get through the predator fence (fingers crossed it won’t!) Kawa will be waiting for it on the other side ;) Within these 35 acres, the hens are contained within an electric fence at a stocking density of less than 1500 birds per hectare. This movable ‘cell’ is typically moved onto fresh pasture every four weeks and the van is moved within the cell weekly to ensure a good spread of the manure. The hens are not locked in their van at night, instead they have the freedom to put themselves to bed and get up as they wish.
3. Free-range v. Pasture raised – Firstly, the Australian standard for free range is up to 10,000 birds per hectare. Pastured operations have a stocking density of up to 1500 per hectare.  Another big difference between commercial "free range" and our pasture based system is mobility. All of our infrastructure is mobile, meaning we can keep the birds on fresh pastures 24/7. This is good for the hens and great for our soils, pastures,  and forests. Compare this to a commercial "free range" system,  which is permitted to be a fixed shed with doors that open to a paddock. All the hens feed and water is in these sheds....the Australian Standard refers to these doors as "meaningful access" to the outdoors. You cannot maintain ground cover in that model, damaging soils and not providing the hens with a mixed forage diet. We encourage people to ask their "free range" supplier for videos showing their production systems. In most cases they are little more than "cage free" models with a few hens outside on dirt.
4. We use a very high quality (and expensive) supplemental feed. It’s made specifically to our specification and has no chemical additives or yolk colourants (we use marigold petals instead). We source this from a company in Tamworth who makes the feed with grain from local farmers. It pretty much has the shortest supply chain we could find
5. We’re chemical free – we use no chemicals or hormones anywhere on the farm
6. We’re NOT certified organic. Organic feed comes from 1,500kms away, costs twice as much as our feed and the hens do not do as well on it (protein levels are too low for optimum health). Bird health and happiness is our number 1 priority. It’s also important to highlight that certified organic birds/eggs can still be shed-based.
7. The eggs poach beautifully. They also fry very well as they sit on and up in the pan, not spread around like water. Baked goods are typically “fluffier” – better quality and fresher proteins achieve this. A few of our commercial customers are JERF The Wholefood Café at Lorn, Mr O Kitchen Grocer and Espresso Bar at Cessnock, Coquun in Maitland, The Deck at Lovedale and The Wood Restaurant at Pokolbin.
8. We’re regularly asked about the picture of the double yolkers. The customer who sent us this photo actually had 11 double yolkers in the one carton! Double yolkers were quite common when the girls first started laying as their hormones were naturally regulating. Such a score doesn’t happen anymore – instead our BIG eggs generally just have one BIG yolk!

To enjoy Kapsali Farm eggs, order yours today through Lebanese Food Emporium.

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