Lately around Standing Stone we’re talking a lot about eggs.
Actually, we’ve been talking a lot about chickens, our very own flock.
In late June, Standing Stone purchased 44 chickens from Heritage Meadow Farms in the Applegate Valley. We’ve had a cooperative relationship for years, trading spent grain as feed for chickens in return for eggs for our menu. When we heard that Heritage Meadows was selling their flock, we jumped on the opportunity to keep this cycle going closer to home.
We purchased the chickens, built a coop and leased land for their new home, less than 4 miles from our restaurant. In less than one week, Standing Stone completed all this and set up an in-house egg-producing operation! We now raise a large enough flock to supply all of our eggs on the menu, offering you healthy, local and truly delicious eggs.
Dave Westerberg, owner of Valley View Farms, was also excited about this opportunity and offered his land as home for the chickens. Valley View is the supplier for all of the beef used at Standing Stone. Allowing the chickens to co-exist with the cattle was a no-brainer. The two species thrive in a symbiotic relationship, with the chickens and cattle grazing in a rotation across several pastures on the property.
The chickens eat exclusively Standing Stone compost, as well as grass and insects from the land. Their spacious coop features lot of nesting boxes and is a mobile unit that we move around the land to help the pasture rejuvenate and provide fresh grazing space. Our employees deliver fresh feed daily, including the spent grain from our brewing tanks, vegetable scraps, and bread crusts. And, they’re antibiotic and hormone free – we wouldn’t have them any other way.
KTVL featured a story on the coop and how the eggs are used in the restaurant. Click here to view the video and get up close and personal with flock. You can also check out an article from the Daily Tidings and a video from KTVL for a sneak peek at our next venture in localizing our food - leasing land to raise more chickens and livestock.
p.s. Come check out our window display in the front of the restaurant! Employee, Melza Quinn, spent a day at the farm taking pictures of the cows and chickens so everyone walking by can enjoy their happy faces!
