Today I had the luxury of traveling 60 miles north of Missoula and visit the organic egg farm of John and Crystal Walkup of Mission Mountain Organic Eggs outside Ronan.  Besides meeting two wonderful people in John and Crystal and their daughter Autumn, I was fortunate enough to take a tour of the farm and learn about the process of raising organically fed chicken.  They showed me the different types of feed that the chickens eat and the feeding machines that help feed them, which the Walkups bought used from other farms in the community.

All the hens have the freedom to roam wherever, whenever they like.  They naturally come into their heated shelters to roost at night and have enough space to live without being overcrowded.  When I entered the shelter, I was surprised to see that the chickens did not run at the sight of my presence.  They felt completely secure and safe with visitors.  I think it speaks wonders on the manner in which the Walkups respectfully raise their birds.

After visiting the shelter, they also showed me the machine that “candle” the eggs.  It illuminates the newly hatched eggs to look for cracks, blemishes, or irregularities on eggs that they cannot sell.  These eggs are perfectly fine to eat, though, and the Walkups chose to donate these eggs to lower income families in the area.  Big props for that!!!

After the eggs are “candled”, they go through another machine that thoroughly washes the eggs and then distinguishes the grade/weight.  Mission Mountain produces medium, large, and x-large eggs.

It was a true pleasure meeting the Walkups and we are very excited to ONLY use Mission Mountain Organic Eggs in our recipes.

Thank you John, Crystal, & Autumn