Farmers and athletes are more alike than you may realize. They rise early to greet the day, break barriers, and push the limits to grow and excel in their crafts.

We spoke with Lachelle, one of over 300 family farmers in our network, and Former Pro Soccer Player Carli Lloyd (who tends to a backyard flock of her own!) about how they’re raising the standards to change the way the game is played.   

Q: Women are changing the game on every field. What’s your field?  

Lachelle: The agriculture industry. The female farmer is growing rapidly. A lot of men are working off the farm, and the ladies are at home taking care of everything, managing it on their own. I feel like the Ag. Industry is being taken by a storm by women right now; there are a lot of us.

Carli: The soccer field. We’re seeing this whole expansion of women’s sports right now—the WNBA, Women’s Soccer and Women’s Tennis…it’s here. It’s happening. And it’s because of the support, investment, broadcasting, and sponsors. All of that has to continue.

Q: How long have you been raising hens? 

Lachelle: We got our first flock in August of 2021. Before we built the farm, we had 20-30 backyard chickens that we raised for personal eggs, so we always had them around.

Carli: We started in April of ‘23 with 9 Rhode Island Reds! It’s been incredible. Not only do you get eggs, but there’s a therapeutic piece to it as well. It’s peaceful to watch them; they’re fascinating animals.

Q: What do farmers and athletes have in common? 

Lachelle: Our dedication. Our lives revolve around what we do. It doesn’t matter if it’s on or off-season—we must work to stay on top of our game.  

Carli: It never stops. It’s around the clock. It’s a constant thought of mind knowing you have the responsibility to train, sleep, eat well, be present and do the best job you can do.  

What do you wish people understood about your work? 

Lachelle: It’s a ton of work and it never shuts off. At the end of the day, it’s our job to make sure we’re providing food in the way we’ve promised.  

Carli: You have to take accountability yourself. You have to work when no one is watching and when no one is pushing you.

How do you raise the standards? 

Lachelle: I show up at the table, stay active in agriculture organizations, and don’t shy away from opportunities to put myself in a situation where I show the men in our industry that I’m here, I’m a woman, and I’m competing at the same level.  

Carli: Constantly trying to push yourself, put yourself in an uncomfortable position and get out of your comfort zone. That’s where you learn, grow and become better.  

Q: What advice would you give to a young, future farmer or athlete? 

Lachelle: Make sure you’re prepared for your life to revolve around what you do. There can’t be any second guessing or hesitation. If you’re a farmer you have to do it passionately, so make sure your heart is in it.

Carli: You’ve got to want it and you’ve got to believe in yourself. There are going to be people and coaches along the way who are going to help you create the environment for you, but ultimately you’ve got to be the one who believes in yourself and puts in the work.

Q: How do you like your eggs?

Lachelle: Over easy with homemade sourdough!

Carli: I do a mix—usually over easy, scrambled, or an omelette.

See how we’re changing the way the game is played on our field.

The post Changing the Game on Every Field appeared first on Vital Farms.

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How to Compost Your Vital Times

THIS JUST IN – Did you know your favorite little chicken newspaper is 100% biodegradable and fully compostable? Use your Vital Times as brown matter to give your compost the carbon boost it needs to thrive. Just shred it into small pieces, mix it in and let the microbes go to town.

Ingredients

• Compost pile
• Vital Times
• Scissors
• Green matter (such as vegetable scraps or grass clippings)

Instructions

• Shred your Vital Times into small pieces.
• Add to your compost with green waste (veggie scraps, grass clippings, etc.).
• Mix it together and let the microbes and/or worms do the work.

• Learn the basics of composting with our Composting 101!

The post How to Compost Your Vital Times appeared first on Vital Farms.

Are you an Egg Anatomy egg-spert? Well, if you weren’t already, you are now! Let’s go on a tour beyond the shell to learn about the fun and mysterious components of your all-time favorite breakfast food: eggs.

The post Egg Anatomy appeared first on Vital Farms.

Have you been getting outside this summer – walking trails, swimming in the lake, or working in the garden? It sounds like you have a lot in common with our girls! Let’s take a little peek into our hens’ favorite outdoor activities.

Frolicking in the Forest

Our girls are curious and playful at heart. To support these traits, our farmers provide plenty of forested pasture land for their hens to explore. Their daily “hikes” through these forests are filled with adventure. There are plenty of wild grasses to frolic in, tree trunks to hop across, and leafy canopies to roost in while basking in the summer breeze.

Dust Bathing

There’s nothing quite as enjoyable as a nice, shady dust bath on a hot summer day. Dust bathing is part of a hen’s self-care routine. Interestingly enough, it’s how our girls groom themselves to stay clean! Plus, burrowing down into the cool soil feels about as refreshing as a nice mid-summer swim at the lake.

Foraging

Foraging is one of our girls’ favorite pasture pastimes. Summer soils – rich with juicy insects and tasty grasses – are especially fun to dig and peck through! Foraging keeps the girls happy and healthy, giving them the freedom to express their natural hen selves.

The post Like to Roam Outside? So do Our Girls appeared first on Vital Farms.

June is National Dairy Month! As an ode of appreciation for the girls who produce cream for your butter, we’re churning out dairy facts and butter-inspired recipes all month long.

Let’s kick off Dairy Month with 4 fun facts about our four-legged ladies:

1. Did you know cows love a solid routine?

Our girls feel most content when they can flow through their daily rhythm of socializing with the herd, eating, drinking, and napping. Ah, what a life! 

2. You just spent the whole day playing with your herd of BFFs. Y’know what sounds great? A comfy spot to rest and recharge! Our girls are given groomed sand lots to ensure they have plenty of space to wind down and relax after a full day of socializing and eating whatever their hearts desire.

3. A cool cow is a happy cow!

Because cows are ruminants, meaning they digest their food in a segment of their stomach called the rumen, they tend to generate a lot of heat. Our farmers provide ample shade and ensure their milking facilities are equipped with fans and sprinklers. This practice keeps the ladies cool and content. Throw some sunnies over their soulful eyes, and you’re hanging with the coolest cows on the block.

4. A dairy cow who spends her day chewing cud is a sign that she is healthy and relaxed.

What is cud, you ask? Cud is a portion of food returned from a ruminant’s stomach to be re-chewed. Chewing cud allows the ladies to better digest their food. Plus, it’s the best way for them to absorb the nutrients needed for milk production! According to the University of Kentucky, dairy cows spend nearly 8 hours a day chewing their cuds, totaling about 30,000 chews daily! Imagine how strong those fuzzy jaws must be!

Looking to learn more about our four-legged ladies? Head over to our Dairy Farms page!

The post Four-Legged Lady Facts appeared first on Vital Farms.

How we’re working with family farms to get you more high-quality eggs 

There are two questions I get almost every day when people find out I work at a company that sells a lot of eggs: 

“Why aren’t there any eggs on the shelves in my grocery store?” 

“Why are eggs so expensive right now?”  

I don’t blame people for asking these questions, and in fact, I think you have a right to know the answers. It’s a fair expectation for any consumer good, and it feels especially relevant for eggs, which are a staple for most families.  

As you know, overall egg supply is down because avian influenza has led to tens of millions of egg-laying hens being killed. That’s a big reason there seems to be fewer eggs on the shelves at many stores. This isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with a surge in avian influenza, but the most recent variant is particularly contagious and harmful to the birds. This drop in supply and the inflation we’ve all experienced over the past year have been key drivers of egg prices.  

The most meaningful way we can impact this situation is by getting more eggs onto the market.  

As we have every year since we started in 2007, we’ve gradually added the best farmers around to our network. Our farmer support team works to help get their operations up and running so that we can get more high-quality eggs out to you. 

While the rest of the industry is shipping fewer eggs this year, we are delivering more eggs than we did a year ago. That is a big deal in this environment, and it’s thanks to the over 300 family farms that produce your eggs.  

There’s no way around it — inflation and egg shortages are tough. While we’ve had some fun on social lately, we know this isn’t a laughing matter. We work hard every day to improve our corner of the food system and raise the standards across the entire industry. We’re grateful for your continued support.  

The post An Open Letter From Our CEO appeared first on Vital Farms.

We were recently notified that a farm producing Vital Farms eggs was impacted by Avian Influenza (AI). Our team is focused right now on supporting the impacted farmer and helping get their family farm back up and running. We’re working with them on all of the federally-mandated protocols and drawing on the expertise in our network of veterinary experts, farm support crew and regulatory officials.  

We work with over 300 farms to produce Vital Farms eggs. Our decentralized supplier base means that we don’t expect an individual case to create any significant disruption to our egg supply or our overall business. The positive case on this single farm represents less than 0.5% of our egg supply. 

As a reminder, Avian Influenza occurs when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. “Bird flu” does not normally infect humans, but it is a serious issue for chickens and typically spikes in the spring and fall. 

We will continue to communicate and share information about how AI impacts all of our stakeholders, and we’ll post any major developments on this page as the situation evolves. 

November 3, 2023

None of the 300+ family farms that Vital Farms works with in our decentralized supplier base have positive cases of Avian Influenza (AI) right now, but we’ve seen a seasonal spike in AI cases in states where we operate. A number of our farms are housing their birds in the barns, in line with the guidance that we get from state regulators.  

As a reminder, Avian Influenza (AI) spreads when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. AI cases typically happen in the spring and fall when wild birds migrate.   

Our Farm Support team works closely with regulatory agencies, animal welfare experts and farmers to track cases and provide support. While hens are inside the barn, our farmers continue to prioritize animal welfare, which includes carefully managing barn ventilation and providing high-quality foraging materials and enrichments.  

We are dedicated to staying transparent on the status of our farms. We regularly update the percentage of farms that are keeping their birds inside, which you can find here and we will continue to update this page with any significant developments.   

November 21, 2022

On November 19th, 2022, we were notified that a farm producing Vital Farms eggs was impacted by Avian Influenza (AI). This is the first time one of our farms has had a confirmed positive case of AI. 

Avian Influenza occurs when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. “Bird flu” does not normally infect humans, and the risk of transmission by consuming shell eggs is low, but it is a serious issue for chickens that typically spikes in the spring and fall during migration periods. Since early 2022, more than 49 million birds in 46 states have either died as a result of bird flu or have been culled (euthanized) because they were exposed to infected birds.  

We’re working directly with the one impacted farm in Vital Farms’ network to follow all of the state-mandated protocols and we’re committed to supporting them through this incredibly difficult time. Because we source our eggs from over 300 family farms and this is an isolated incident on one farm, there’s no anticipated material impact to our overall supply.  

We continue to track the issue closely. In addition to the work we’re doing with this single impacted farm, we’re working with our farmers, veterinary experts, state officials, and auditors to keep our girls as safe as possible. As you’d expect from us, we will be as transparent and proactive as possible about how this impacts all of our stakeholders, and we’ll post any major developments on this page as the situation evolves. 

March 28, 2022

We want to update our stakeholders on Avian Influenza, a virus that affects chickens and has been recently reported in the UK and U.S. For background, avian influenza occurs when migratory waterfowl pass over farm areas and leave droppings containing the virus. First and foremost, we’re thinking of any farmers and animals that have been affected by this virus. 

Our Farm Support crew has been following this virus since cases were first reported in Europe several months ago. We’ve been working with our farmers, veterinary partners, and government health officials to protect the health of our girls. We also sought guidance from our animal welfare auditors including Certified Humane® and Oregon Tilth to ensure any approach we take has their approval as it relates to animal welfare standards.    

At this time, our veterinary partners, certifying bodies, and state health officials have strongly recommended that we keep our hens indoors, and we are following this guidance. We’ve also implemented heightened biosecurity measures across our network of 275 farms. Because avian influenza is spread by wild migratory fowl, hens with outdoor access could be particularly vulnerable. We shared this decision with our auditors who agree with this approach. While the hens are inside the barn, our farmers continue to prioritize animal welfare which includes carefully managing barn ventilation and providing high-quality foraging materials and enrichments.    

While we hope the girls will be out on pasture again soon, we believe this is the best approach to keep them as safe as possible. 

The post An Update on Avian Influenza appeared first on Vital Farms.

Ever been curious why a hen has a little red crown or how the color of her eggs is determined? We’ve got the details and some of them may surprise you!

Comb

This helps regulate a hen’s body temperature! Chickens cannot sweat, so they have to control their body temperature by some other method. This is where their wattles and comb come into play! It is the heating and cooling center of the bird. In summertime when it is hot, the comb will diffuse some of the body heat to the air, thereby reducing the temperature of the bird and in the winter it helps to prevent heat loss.

Beak

A chicken uses its beak to tear off grass, open seeds and otherwise break foods into manageable pieces. 

Wattles

Wattles are two elongated, fleshy, thin lobes of skin that hang down from the lower side of a chicken‘s head. Both male and female chickens have wattles, which help them to stay cool during warmer weather.

Ear Lobes

Chickens do have ears, although they are hidden by the feathers on the side of the head. When the feathers are pushed aside, their ear openings appear. There is no outer ear, but chickens do have earlobes that can be clearly seen. The color of a hen’s earlobe actually determines what color her eggs’ shells will be!

The post Hen Anatomy appeared first on Vital Farms.

To give the land time to regenerate, and give our girls fresh greenery and critters to forage, we use a practice called pasture rotation.

So how does it work?

Each of our small family farms is divided into 8 paddocks (or parts of the pasture), and about every 21 days, our farmers move the girls to a new paddock.

Good for the land, good for the girls

This practice helps give the land time to regenerate. Once a paddock is tired, the girls move to a new paddock, and it will be about a little less than 5 months until girls are grazing on that paddock again. Much like us, the land needs time to rest! This is also beneficial for the girls. It gives them fresh grasses, critters, and foliage to explore about every 21 days.

The post What is Pasture Rotation? appeared first on Vital Farms.

Roaming the pastures is thirsty work! We make sure our girls are well hydrated for their frolicking and foraging. Read below to learn all about hen hydration!

Hens drink using a ‘sip & tip’ method

Have you ever seen a chicken drink water? She’ll take a tiny sip and then tip her head back to swallow. It may seem she’s hardly drinking anything at all, but those sips add up! A laying hen can drink 1 pint of water per day. If it gets warmer outside, she may drink double that!

We keep our girls hydrated

We make sure the girls always have access to plenty of fresh drinking water. Pictured above, you can see the water line at Lone Pine Farms.

If the farm doesn’t have one of these water lines out on pasture, they have fresh water stations scattered throughout the paddock the girls can drink from. (Pictured below!)

Hens hydrate when they forage

Our girls are lucky – not only do they have access to fresh water out on pasture, with every blade of grass and leafy green they eat, they ingest a little water!

The post Hen Hydration appeared first on Vital Farms.

So you found a double yolk?! To us, that’s like finding a four-leaf clover, but tastier! But it’s not just luck, there’s some science behind this marvel. Read below to get the story behind these egg miracles!

1 – Double Yolks Are Typically Made By Younger Hens

When younger flocks first start laying, it can take them a while to perfect the process! So oftentimes, double yolks come from younger hens!

2 – Double Yolks can Often be Found in the Same Carton

If you find multiple double yolks in the same carton, they most likely came from the same young flock!

3 – Double Yolks are Like Two Eggs in One

A double yolk happens when two eggs merge together and one large egg is produced!

The post 3 Things You Didn’t Know About Double Yolks appeared first on Vital Farms.