Products & Services
Beginning in early April 2018, we will be selling free range, farm fresh eggs curbside at our little hobby homestead and in June 2018 we expect to have our first litters of Holland lops ready to go to their homes (with pedigree to show or start a 4-H rabbitry of your own or without pedigree as loving pets).
Free-range, fresh eggs $3/dozen or $5/2 dozen (standard hen eggs ~ mix of brown, speckled, and white [hopefully blue & green soon to come too]); $1.50/dozen (extra small bantam hen eggs ~ make excellent bite-sized deviled eggs!). Costs are set to help offset the cost of care, primarily the high-omega-3 layer feed our girls are fed and the sterile straw for deep bedding maintenance in the coop. In order to comply with PA regulations on small egg production (less than 300 hens) and curbside sales, we also must use new cartons that cost about $0.50/ea. and labels to provide them with safe storage and handling, contact info. and laid on dates. I know this is more than the thin-shelled factory-raised chicken eggs you can buy from the store, but here at Critter Colony, our hens have a good life and lay high-quality eggs that are worth the price and peace of mind you’ll get knowing your delicious eggs came from happy hens! If you ever want to meet the flock, Nugget, Diddy Chip, Emily, Harley Quinn, Darkstar, Kellogg, Presley, Captain (our little roo) and Tennille love to meet new people and love treats if you have them. ;) They are free ranged daily and with a holler of, “Here chick, chick!” they will probably come running down to the fence by the sidewalk where the egg cooler is placed.
Holland lop rabbit kits $30/with pedigree; $25/without pedigree. Pictures and available dates will be posted as litters arrive. This is our first venture in rabbit breeding and showing. We got our first trio of proven rabbits, Bixby (our buck) and Lilly & Lucy (our does) the day before Easter (2018) and introduced them to cage-free, colony living for the first time in their lives (they’re all about 2-3 years old). They were head over heals happy and there was a lot of love in the air, if you know what I mean. They have since settled in nicely and we expect our first two litters of kits around the end of April! These girls are veteran moms, so hopefully all will go well, and we’ll have bunnies ready to go to their new families 8 weeks later.
In the future, we may have other products and services available. At this time, we use up all the nutrient-rich fertilizer our chickens, guinea pigs, and bunnies create to grow our fabulous gardens; and when we clean out our coop/rabbitry, we use the straw to provide a thick, weed-blocking mulch on those gardens to reduce our need for pesticides and manual weed pulling. We practice square foot gardening in raised beds and will be trying cover crops of grains this fall/winter. We have a variety of fruit-bearing, native trees and shrubs planted all over the terraced hillsides of our backyard and the chickens devour the weeds and grass between and around them, so we don’t have as much to mow. We are always growing, learning and trying new things. We welcome your support, encouragement, advice and questions at any time!