Local Vendor Spotlight: Shirttail Creek Farm
PASTURE RAISED EGGS
Shirttail Creek Farm happy hens live out in the pastures, eating bugs and seeds and leafy green plants along with a custom milled supplemental feed, roosting in their mobile pasture coops at night, and enjoying fresh air and sunshine everyday! They plant forage crops for their hens (and cattle) and rotate them around their pastures regularly to ensure fresh forage and a clean environment for them, and an evenly fertilized pasture. We believe that by allowing our hens to live a natural life, with the freedom to do what chickens instinctively do they'll be happier and healthier than confinement raised or 'free range' hens, and that matters to us! The extra bonus? The BEST EGGS YOU'VE EVER HAD!
WHAT ARE Y'ALL FEEDING THOSE BIRDS??
Good question! A large part of what their hens eat comes from the pastures. Bugs, worms, grasses, other plants (think turnips, clover, vetch, rye grass, oats), you name it! They NEVER spray the pastures with herbicides or pesticides and NEVER use antibiotics or hormones! To ensure that the birds always have the proper nutrition they also supplement them with custom milled feeds. Shirttail Creek has two flocks separated by feed type. One flock is on a regular CORN AND SOY based feed ration and the other flock is on a SOY FREE/CORN FREE/NON GMO ration. Both of our feed rations also include a mix of vitamins/minerals and probiotics to keep the birds feeling great! Both options are equal in quality and yolk color! If this is important to you be sure to look at our labels to make sure you're getting the variety that you want!
ABOUT THE FARM
In the mid 1800s, Wilhelm and Mina Kramer emigrated to the US from what was then Prussia. They built a sturdy wood frame house, worked the land, and raised a family at a time when Texas was still very much a wild frontier.Today, Shirttail Creek Farm continues that tradition with the goal of bringing local and wholesome beef, chicken, and eggs to people in South Central Texas (and beyond!), while raising their own family in the very same house built by the Kramers so long ago.Shirttail Creek Farm remains completely intact after more than 150 years and sits on the rolling Blackland Prairie just outside Brenham, TX, about halfway between Austin and Houston.The farm is a vibrant and busy place! When they're not working the cattle or collecting eggs from the hens, you can typically find the family repairing fences or other infrastructure on the farm, stacking hay, or shredding the pastures. They endeavor to run the farm in the most simple, environmentally friendly manner possible. As such, they do not spray the pastures with chemical herbicides or pesticides. No hormones, preventative antibiotics, or steroids are used on the animals.