Free-Range Eggs
At Bertha’s Bounty we raise a variety of heritage chickens such as Chantecler, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Speckled Sussex, all of which lay brown eggs. We also raise Ameraucanas which lay a blue, green, or bluish-green egg.
Our chickens are truly free-range, able to wander anywhere within a five acre radius from sunrise to sunset. For protection from predators and because chickens are night blind, they are kept safely and securely housed at night.
Because our chickens are free to wander, they spend the better part of their day foraging for grasses, bugs and worms. Along with a diet of chicken feed, this results in delicious, farm-fresh eggs with high, deep orange yolks which sit in a compact, densely formed egg white.
Why Heritage Chickens?
We believe that when it comes to good, healthy food, the old ways are usually the best ways.
Heritage variety chickens are the same breeds of chickens your great-grandparents or maybe even your grandparents kept. They are often, (but not always), classified as "dual-purpose" meaning they are both good egg layers and good meat birds.
In commercial breeding, there are usually one or two characteristics which are favoured among all others, ie. quick growth and excess meat for broilers or increased egg production for layers, often to the detriment of all other characteristics. Because heritage variety chickens are bred to keep their old-world characteristics intact, they tend to be better all-purpose birds.
Heritage chickens want to spend time out-doors foraging for food and are generally healthier. Depending on their living conditions, this means they are more disease resistent and don't automatically require antibiotics and vaccinations. They also tend to have more of their instincts intact, often recognizing danger more quickly and alerting the rest of the flock.
If you’d like to try good-for-you farm fresh eggs from happy chickens, just give Bertha’s Bounty a call at 905-682-3084, or click here to contact us.