Circle Star Ranch
  • Home
  • Our Products
    • Pork
    • Beef
    • Lamb
    • Eggs
  • Orders
    • Storefront Instructions
  • Halves and Wholes
    • Pork Halves and Wholes
    • Beef Halves and Wholes
    • Whole Lambs
  • Gift Certificates
  • Weekly Specials
  • Nitrate Info
  • Contact Us

GMO-free, Antibiotic-free, Hormone-free Pasture-raised Eggs
​with AWA certification

How we have developed the best possible eggs:
First, we start with a top-notch breed - Black Australorps.  Australorp chickens deliver plenty of eggs year-round.  The breed holds the world record for egg laying at 364 eggs in a year.  They also lay a consistent size egg and are very adept to being raised on pasture.

Next, all chickens need some supplemental food to lay year round.  Ours get organic peas & beans, barley, locally grown hard red wheat and minerals.  All day, every day, they are allowed to roam free on our 136 acre ranch.  That is where they find the fruitful bounty that nature provides which also results in an extremely healthy and long lived flock.  In addition, they have ground oyster shell available to keep their shells nice and hard.

To have our chickens produce the healthiest possible egg, we also sprout the same hard red wheat into fodder.  They are supplemented with fodder twice a day and produce the brightest orange yolks you have ever seen.  They are chock full of beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin D and other healthy nutrients that the human body craves.
From Dr. Mercola's website:
Testing has confirmed that true free-range eggs are far more nutritious than commercially raised eggs. The dramatically superior nutrient levels are most likely the result of the differences in diet between free ranging, pastured hens and commercially farmed hens. In a 2007 egg-testing project, Mother Earth News compared the official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs with eggs from hens raised on pasture and found that the latter typically contains the following:
2/3 more vitamin A
3 times more vitamin E
2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
7 times more beta carotene

To view Dr. Mercola's data on Pasture raised eggs, follow this link:
In addition to being on a GMO-free diet, our chickens are raised to the most humane standards possible.  We have been certified by Animal Welfare Approved for 5 years now.  If you want to read about the standards required for this certification, follow this link.
Here is a brief excerpt from the AWA standards:
​
The Animal Welfare Approved seal is a hard earned badge of difference and demonstrates the farmer’s commitment to the care of their animals, the land and the local community. Farmers in this program will be distinguished by a humane and conscientious attitude towards the animals in their care as evidenced by physical audit and development of detailed plans and records of farm practices.
Picture
Along with our AWA certification, we have been granted an “Egg Handler’s” License by the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA).  This allows our eggs to go into stores and restaurants as well as being sold directly to consumers.  The license means that we have been inspected and conform to all ODA regulations regarding the safety and cleanliness of our entire egg handling operation.
Another well written website is located at Small Footprint Family.  Dawn Gifford does a great job describing the difference between all of the different labels used on eggs.  Here is a brief excerpt and the graphic below that summarizes the differences.
If you’ve never eaten an egg from a hen raised on sunshine, bugs and grass, then you are in for quite a treat. Deep orange, gooey yolks stand up tall within their thick, milky whites unlike any store-bought egg you’ve ever seen.
Their color, flavor and texture are made distinctive by high amounts of Vitamin A, D, E, K2, B-12, folate, riboflavin, zinc, calcium, beta carotene, choline, and tons of omega 3 fatty acids, including DHA, EPA, ALA, and AA. A pasture-raised egg is a true superfood.
Place an Order
Picture

Commercial Egg Production
Vs.
Our Egg Production

We understand that many companies have tried to find a way to produce eggs in sufficient quantities to fulfill the needs of the growing population.  What we don't understand is why they sacrifice both how they treat their chickens and the overall quality of the eggs to do so.  Commercial egg layers are housed by the thousands in large barns with little or no access to sunlight or any outdoor spaces.  The overall affect is that commercial eggs are nutritionally deficient and when you add in the harmful results of feeding commercial egg layers Genetically Modified Feed (corn and soy) you compound the problems.
Picture
Typical Commercial Facility
Pasture Raised Black Australorps
Picture