Pasture Raised Eggs

Always outside on grass, with fresh air, sunshine, room to roam, and bugs to eat - like a chicken should live their life.

egg mobile

In the fall of 2020, we completed the construction of our infamous egg mobile. The winter before, we purchased an old hay-wagon from a farm outside of Spokane, WA with the intent of building this mobile coop on the foundation of that wagon. It turned out better than expected and now holds about 75 chickens, ranging in various breeds, but all living their best life right here on our farm. In turn, they provide our grounds with their nitrogen rich manure and eggs for us to consume on a daily basis.

What is an Egg Mobile?

An Egg Mobile is a movable chicken house designed to house laying hens at night, who by day cluck around on open pasture. Joel Salatin made them famous at Polyface Farms. Egg mobiles are different from chicken tractors in that they are designed as part of a free-range chicken system where the hens can venture well beyond their house to the limits of whatever fences them in (electric netting here at Dalkena Highlands) .

Our highland cattle are grass fed on rotated pasture and we send the chickens behind the cattle (within 4 days) to scratch the cow paddies. The chickens spread the manure and eat any fly larvae or parasites. In this way, worming the cattle has become a non-issue and the cow pies are incorporated into the soil very thoroughly.

During the winter, our chickens return “back” to the garden in their mobile coop to live. They are fenced in and safe here from the harsh winter weather we sometimes experience, but in addition are leaving their own manure for future use in the spring when it comes planting time. This is a perfect example of our farm working in harmony together.