Where can I buy Butler’s Organic Eggs?
You will find our certified organic, free range eggs in choice retailers and food stores all around Ireland. As more consumers become passionate about food quality and humane, organic farming, we’re partnering with more and more retailers every month. Please check our store locator for a store near you, or contact us if you are a retailer who would like our organic eggs on your shelves!
I can’t find your organic eggs in my supermarket! What do I do?
We love to hear from our customers, so please let us know where you like to shop and we’ll do everything in our power to get our delicious organic eggs from our happy hens on a shelf near you!
Is your packaging sustainable?
Yes – our eggs are packaged here on the farm by our own team. We control every aspect of our egg production, and our packaging is no exception! We use compostable, environmentally friendly egg boxes. Your eggs can be shipped safely, and just like the shells, the boxes can be added to your compost bin where they will degrade naturally without harming the environment. We use no plastic in our packaging or farming methods.
With a strong commitment to sustainable farming methods, we see this as another way for us to care for the planet.
Are your eggs 100% organic?
YES.
No IFS, ANDS or BUTS.
100% organic, 100% of the time.
What does Organic Eggs mean?
To produce eggs of the highest quality, we use a rigorous set of production and processing standards. Our farm, our hens and our eggs are inspected regularly by IOA (Irish Organic Association) and the Department of Agriculture to ensure that we comply with their organic production and processing standards – ensuring there’s never any chemicals or antibiotics used in chickens’ diet or pastures while providing them with natural feed instead.
Our family works hard each day to ensure you and your family can enjoy eggs that are free from artificial fertilizers, pesticides, hormones – and have peace of mind about the conditions in which those eggs were produced. Delicious, organic eggs come from healthy, happy hens – just as it should be.
What’s the difference between Free Range and Organic Eggs?
In Ireland, organic certification means that your hens are also free range, but organic egg certification is much more tightly regulated than the free range certification.
Our hens are organic and they are also free range. They have an abundance of space indoors and outdoors to roam around in while they enjoy a chemical-free life that includes plenty of exercise on grassy pastures. They get to wander around, pecking and foraging to their heart’s content!
Why are your Egg Yolks such a bright colour?
Just like people, hens, egg shells and egg yolks come in a wonderful array of colours. Our hens tend to produce egg shells that light brown in colour, with a rich, yellow yolk. Shells and yolks can vary due to the age of the hen, the weather, the time of year, and even the natural foliage and insects that the hens peck at on a given day! Each hen is unique and their eggs are too.
Do you give your hens hormones to help them grow or produce more eggs?
We do not. The use of hormones is illegal for anyone raising organic hens, and we wish this were the case for all hens!
Do you give your hens antibiotics?
We do not.
Our barns are airy, specious, spotlessly clean and safe and Butler’s Hens – like people – stay well by eating well. Their diet is nutritious and healthy. In the (very rare) circumstance a Butler’s hen is discovered to have a health issue, she will be segregated from the main flock and treated by a farm vet. Her eggs will not go into our cartons until she is fully recovered and off any medications.
Why does organic food cost more?
Organic food costs more to produce because animals are reared at lower stocking densities, for their well-being. The careful controls placed on it is more labour intensive and the feed our hens are fed is organic, which is more expensive than non-organic feed used by free-range, barn-fed and caged systems.
Nutritional Value of Egg and Egg White
An egg is one of the most nutritious food items in our diet. It is rich in minerals, proteins, and vitamins, all of which are easily absorbed by the body. Organic eggs are power packed with significant quantities of healthy nutrients. Full of Vitamins A, D, B12, B2, Niacin, and Folic Acid, organic eggs constitute a vital energy food.
How can I tell if my egg is fresh?
One simple test of freshness is to place an egg in water: generally, if the egg is stale it will float and, if it sinks, it is fresh. Butler’s Organic Eggs are delivered fresh to farmer’s markets and stores with a three week sell by date. Our organic eggs are sold out each week! This ensures that all of our eggs are fresh, fresh, fresh.
What is a double yolk?
Double yolk eggs can happen with new layers who systems haven’t quite adjusted to producing eggs, so they release two ovum together.
In these cases, the hen’s body usually adjusts to the new influx of hormones quickly, and she then starts laying eggs with a single yolk, never to lay another double yolker again.
Because of there are two yolks in them, double yolk eggs tend to be larger than their normal counterparts. (Ducks can lay double yolk eggs too, by the way).
Egg Size
Several factors influence the size of an egg. The major factor is the age of the hen. As the hen ages – her eggs increase in size.
What is the red spot in the yoke
This is called a ‘blood spot’, which comes from a ruptured blood vessel. It is relatively common and very safe to eat.
Why are some egg shells brown and some eggs white?
The colour of the egg shell is dependent on the breed of the hen. In general, white hens produce white eggs and brown hens brown eggs. There is no nutritional difference between white and brown shelled eggs. Our hens are brown!
Why is Organic certification necessary?
Before any organic product can be sold in the EC (and most other countries), it has to be certified to show that it has been produced in accordance with organic Regulations.
Certification works on a “cascade” system. The land on which the produce is grown, or livestock reared, must have undergone an appropriate period of conversion to organic status and be certified as such. The processor who converts the raw material into a product or an ingredient must operate from registered premises and his products must be certified. The manufacturer of an end product must be registered and his production must be certified… in fact if the product is altered in any way, even by sub-dividing, the operation has to be registered and certified.
In effect the description Organic can be regarded as a brand. So, consumers should be able to rely on the fact that the product complies with organic standards and has been produced or processed by approved operators. Certification provides assurance that this is the case. Butler’s Organics Ltd. is certified by Irish Organic Association IOA.
What does the code printed on eggs mean?
Whether you buy cage, barn, free range or organic, a code is printed on the egg. The first number refers to the farming method; 0 = organic, 1 = free range, 2 = barn, 3 = cage. Followed by country of origin then farm where eggs were produced
What ink is used on eggs?
It is a food-grade ink
Butler’s Birds
We purchase organic laying hens at 17 weeks old. We do not rear hens from chicks. Once production reduces, after about 14 months, our hens are re-homed.
Health
“We Are What We Eat” is a well-known phrase; the food scares of recent years have reinforced this, and have contributed to the increase in demand for organic produce; organic standards seek to prevent the incidence of artificial chemicals and other toxins from the food we eat
Organic Feed Ingredients?
Regularly we are asked by our loyal customers what we feed our hens so here is a list of the ingredients in our organic feed which is supplied by Morrin E & Son Ltd, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow.
PEDIGREE POULTRY LAYERS
Manufactured under Approval aNL20119. Organic Certificate IE-ORG-02 WCS
Pedigree Feeds LTD Baltinglass; IOFGA 989.
Cr.Protein 18.3%; Cr.Oil(AH) 4,5%; Cr.Fibre 5,0%; Cr.Ash 13,4%; Methionin 0,34%. Added/kg Vit.A 10000 IU;Vit.D3 3000 IU; Alpha toco- pherol20mg; Copper(Cupricsulphate)15mg; Selen. (sodiumselenite)0,35mg.
INGREDIENTS, by descending order of fresh weight: Organic Wheat; Organic Maize; Organic Soya, exp.; Organic Sunflower, exp; Limestones, grits; Prairiemeal; Calciumcarbonate; Potato protein; Premix/Min/Vit; Monocalciumphosphate; Organic Soya-oil; Betaine.
