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Jeanne MORCELLET
Published on
Dec 2 2024 at 5:34 p.m.
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They have not found the goose that lays the golden eggs but their life in La Chapelle-Viel (Orne) since March 2023 among the flying foxes suits them very well.
Sandrine and Ben started with 50 chickens, and then as they had real success at the market, they increased to 80 birds up to the current figure of 250 chickens.
Every morning 180 eggs to collect
Every morning they pick up 180 eggs by hand. “We are counting on a laying rate of 70%” explains Ben, a tall guy with a tender smile.
The chickens are happy at home. They live outside, in a very large space, much larger than the usual range of free-range chickens.
The place is family-friendly and the chickens live peacefully, without stress, without overcrowding.
In a word, they evolve with each other, free and well fed.
So obviously their eggs are of quality.
Laying dates
Eggs can be fresh or extra fresh. The term “fresh” means that the egg can be consumed up to 28 days after laying. The words “extra-fresh” or “extra” may be used as an additional indication on packaging. The egg is considered extra-fresh until the 9th day after the laying date. Virginie and Ben's eggs are a maximum of 3 days after the laying date.
“At the last market in L'Aigle (Orne), I ran out of eggs at 11:15 a.m. This is not always the case but it's true, we sell really well. We don't have enough to sell,” continues the blonde Sandrine.
What to do? Increase livestock? “That would be the solution but going beyond 250 hens involves large loans because buildings have to be built to meet new standards. We are thinking about possibilities but we certainly don't have strong enough shoulders to meet tough deadlines, unless we win the lottery! » emphasizes Ben.
A way of life
And then what’s the point? The couple wants to continue living simply, not richly. “We chose a way of life and not a career. We are not all-out consumers, and even if our choice is not committed but selfish, we do not harm the planet”
If the lifestyle choices made are not selfish…
Sandrine and Ben come from Burgundy, from the Côte d'Or, near Saulieu, in Morvan, where life is rough and friendly, people are wholesome and helpful.
“We had a budget and a project ; find a farm to do some market gardening, raise chickens, produce honey and run a lodge. We had no region in our sights and we were open to any proposal” continues Sandrine.
Two houses, 4 ha and two donkeys
In 2023, they find their happiness in Normandy, an old farm and a small independent house, four hectares of land and two donkeys! They are renovating the large house which they are transforming into a gîte.
“Chez Sandrine” opens in July and since its launch has welcomed Parisians, families or friends, who come to breathe the fresh air of the countryside and help, if they wish, to collect eggs and strawberries in the summer. Generally, children love to participate “even if some are afraid of chickens”.
« A cozy family retreat »
Ben also likes to take them with him on his tractor and show them the joys of driving, under control.
Sandrine and Ben like to welcome people to the gîte, “a cozy and cocooning family refuge, to introduce them “if and only if, they want to” to the pleasures of the countryside and work on a very small farm.
Next to the thirteen production hives“door and window bees” which give two honeys, the first in spring and the other in summer, the hens frolic, scratch, peck, snort, cackle, run and communicate.
In the evening as soon as it gets dark, they return to their henhouse; the farm has two of them.
“Our producers do a good job”
And in the morning, at daybreak, Sandrine opens the door for them so that they can experience their free-range chicken life. To be delivered organic wheat and organic food, they would have had to carry out polluting and costly transportation by truck, anti-ecological actions, etc.
Our eggs are not organic, this is not possible in a short circuit. We have favored proximity and we work with wheat and food producers close to us and who we know. And none were organic. But they do a good job
Besides, it's always the same story. When customers asked them why they weren't organic and Ben gave all his reasons, “everyone was won over.” Necessarily.
On the market, it’s a hit!
And then organic tends to go out of fashion all the same, at least in the countryside where we prefer to buy from a producer in whom we have full confidence rather than from an organic whose work we do not know. So on the market with their superb Nemo, a young German shepherd, Sandrine and Ben are a hit.
The eggs come from well-raised hens. Sandrine and Ben clean and evacuate the two henhouses once a week, which takes them about two days of work.
When we open the doors for them after cleaning and mulching, we give them a lot of extra fresh straw, they rush forward like ninjas and throw themselves into their new litter, giggling with pleasure. It's the reward for a really unpleasant chore
As for the eggs, they have at most three days after the laying datewhich is just exceptional.
Twelve vines
Besides, as the proverb says, “he who wants to eat eggs, must put up with chickens”. However, the couple does not put all their eggs in one basket.
“We have planted twelve vines and we are waiting two or three years to see what they produce and if we can sell our grapes on the market and we are planning to create an orchard of 100 to 200 fruit trees” concludes Ben. Always be one step ahead. But very gently.
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