The Rooster Crows, but the Hen Delivers

A Message from our Founder

My childhood passion for free-range chickens started in 1966 and in 1993 my wife Lynn and I went all organic as Canada’s first farm producing certified organic free-range eggs. Along the way my mother-in-law Janet has been inspirational and stalwart in advancing the farm by extending unfaltering hard work ethics and an amazing spirit begotten from her rustic Prairie farm upbringing. Every day since our decision in 1993 to start an organic egg farm has been challenging and rewarding. After years of experimenting, mistakes and a few successes we used our knowledge to co-write the BC organic poultry production standards that were adopted by COABC and eventually used to develop the national Canadian Organic Standards (known as COR).

A life long love of birds and animals has been core to our advocacy of providing a good quality of life for our livestock. We farm with an emphasis on quality inputs, human health, sustainability, and the environment. We do not seek out the lowest cost feeds or cage our livestock to minimize space and labour. Our hen feed is made of certified organic and all vegetarian grains and legumes. We house our animals in accordance with uncompromising organic standards and are proud to also be an SPCA Certified Farm reflecting our ongoing commitment to advancing farm animal welfare.

Three generations of family along with dedicated staff care for the farm’s free-ranging chickens, some heritage breed hens, a small organic market garden and our egg grading plant. The journey from pioneering organic egg production through to a robust and growing market has evolved to a rewarding community partnership with a handful of local organic family farms. Through collaboration and dedication our farming partners produce eggs of the highest quality for the Rabbit River Farms brand.

In today’s society agriculture has often evolved to a point where the ‘be all-end all’ is low cost food, regardless of the compromises we make in quality, health and environment. At Rabbit River Farms we do our best to strike a balance between animal welfare, health, the environment and the real cost of food. We know our customers appreciate these options and it is their feed back that fuels our passion. Who could ask for anything more!

Stephen Easterbrook
Founder, Rabbit River Farms