Frequently Asked Questions
At Petaluma Egg Farm we want to help educate and make sure you know you’re getting a fresh, high quality product. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any additional questions about eggs!
Antibiotic-free
Eggs can be labeled as antibiotic-free if egg farmers choose not to use any antibiotics in feed or water, when the pullets (young hens) are growing or when hens are laying eggs. Certified organic eggs must be antibiotic-free by regulation.
Are Your hens fed soy?
Unless otherwise noted on the carton, almost all hens in the United States are fed soy as a part of their diet. This includes all of our hens who eat soy as a part of our specially formulated rations to give them all the essential vitamins and nutrients they need to be healthy hens.
Brown eggs
Shell color comes from pigments in the outer layer of the shell and, in eggs from various commercial breeds, may range from white to deep brown. The breed of hen determines the color of the shell. Among commercial breeds, hens with white feathers and ear lobes lay white-shelled eggs; hens with red/brown feathers and ear lobes lay brown eggs.
Cage Free
Cage-free eggs are laid by hens that are able to roam vertically and horizontally in indoor houses, and have access to fresh food and water. Cage-free systems vary from farm-to-farm, and can include multi-tier aviaries. They must allow hens to exhibit natural behaviors and include enrichments such as scratch areas, perches and nests. Hens must have access to litter, protection from predators and be able to move in a barn in a manner that promotes bird welfare.
Color
(egg shell)
Shell color comes from pigments in the outer layer of the shell and may range from white to deep brown. The shell color has no relationship to egg quality, flavor, nutritive value, cooking characteristics or shell thickness. The color is determined by the breed of hen that laid the egg. Among commercial breeds, hens with white feathers and ear lobes lay white-shelled eggs; hens with red feathers and ear lobes lay brown eggs. Since brown-egg layers are slightly larger birds and require more food, brown eggs are usually more expensive than white.
Do you bleach your eggs?
Eggs are not bleached, though this is a common misconception about white eggs. Different types of chickens lay different colored eggs, so we have one breed of chicken that lays brown eggs and another breed of chicken that lays white eggs. However, most egg farms use chlorine to sanitize their eggs as a part of their egg-washing process while we use a proprietary natural sanitizing process that does not use chlorine.
Do you offer tours of your farm?
At this time, we are unable to offer tours of our farm due to biosecurity and safety concerns. It is something we are exploring for the future. However, we do have an mobile “egg-ucational” trailer with a video demonstration that shows how eggs get from our farm to the grocery store and contains an educational exhibit on how to “candle eggs”. If you would like us to bring it to your next event, including a school, please email hello@petalumaeggfarm.com with your request.
We’d love to be a part of your next event!
Learn more about where your eggs come from straight from us, the farmers.
Fertilized eggs can be found at specialty foods stores. Commercially-raised eggs are laid by hens who have not mated with a rooster so are not fertilized.
Fertile Eggs
On these farms, hens have some access to the outdoors. There are not specific guidelines for free-range egg production, and farms are not required to use third-party audits.
Free-Range
In the U.S., by federal law passed more than 50 years ago, neither laying hens nor any other type of poultry can be fed hormones. However, eggs contain natural hormones. Therefore, the statement “no hormones” is considered misleading to the consumer. The egg industry does not use added hormones in the production of shell eggs. The FDA requires a qualifying statement on the label for shell eggs, which is “Hormones are not used in the production of shell eggs.”
Hormones
Our egg wash process is quite simple and follows USDA requirements and food safety best practices. We have an egg washer that presoaks the eggs, then washes the eggs with food-grade soap. After that, the eggs are rinsed with fresh water and the outside of the egg shell using a natural food-grade process.
How do you wash your eggs?
My eggs seem to be a different size than normal
Egg size is determined by weight and there is a weight range for each of the sizes. As you can see in the chart below, there is a 3-ounce range between the different sizes of eggs. That means an extra large egg can be .01 ounces from being a large egg or .01 ounces from being a jumbo egg. Both eggs are extra large but they are going to feel very different in the hand and might even look different.
Our quality control process regularly checks our eggs to make sure they are sized correctly. In addition, these weight ranges are regulated and inspected by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the CDFA (California Department of Food and Agriculture) so they also check our eggs regularly to ensure they are in compliance.
All eggs labeled organic must meet the USDA National Organic Program standards and be inspected by a USDA certified inspection agency. Our Judy’s Family Farm eggs are Certified Organic and inspected by Oregon Tilth.
Among other requirements, organic eggs are produced by hens fed rations having ingredients that were grown without most conventional pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or commercial fertilizers. While growth hormones are also prohibited, no commercial laying hen rations (whether organic or not) ever contain added hormones.
Organic eggs
Hens in this type of management system have access to the outdoors and graze primarily by eating grass and bugs. There are not specific guidelines for pasture-raised egg production, and farms are not required to use third-party audits.
Pasture-raised
What breed of chicken do you use?
For our brown eggs, we use a Rhode Island Red/Leghorn cross and for our white eggs, we use Leghorns.
Did you recently get some double yolks in a carton of our eggs? Don’t worry, it’s perfectly natural and even considered lucky in some cultures! Double yolks typically come from younger hens who are just starting to lay eggs while their reproductive system is still figuring things out.
What causes double yolks?
Proper storage of eggs can affect both quality and safety. Proper refrigeration helps prevent food borne illnesses. Here are the FDA's recommendations for storing eggs:
- Store promptly in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40° F or below. Use a refrigerator thermometer to check.
- Store eggs in their original carton and use them within 3 weeks for best quality.
- Use or eat hard-cooked eggs (in the shell or peeled) within 1 week after cooking.
- Use frozen eggs within 1 year. Eggs should not be frozen in their shells. To freeze whole eggs, beat yolks and whites together. Egg whites can also be frozen by themselves.
- Refrigerate leftover cooked egg dishes and use within 3 to 4 days. When refrigerating a large amount of a hot egg-containing leftover, divide it into several shallow containers so it will cool quickly.