Willis Poultry Farm
Joe Willis has an EGG-ibition of a household stape, eggs! He'll also CRACK you up with his YOLKS as he has a new one weekly!
A third-generation farmer, Joe has been coming to the Market since he was just a boy, helping his family vend fruit, grapes, and of course, eggs! His legacy goes all the way back to his grandmother who started their family farm in 1937. She was actually one of the original vendors at the CNY Regional Market when it opened in 1938. Today he continues on his family's legacy, focusing solely on chickens. Farming animals, Joe explained, is an enormous commitment. “You need to be there for the chickens every day and you have to be very diligent. We take care of the chickens before we take care of ourselves because if you don’t, it can become expensive really quickly.”
You'll find his game-changing double-yolked eggs a must. That's right, each one of these eggs has 2 yolks in them. Since they're so large the cartons actually only fit 6 eggs per box, but his customers see it as getting two dozen eggs for the price of one! Joe explained, this type of egg only comes from younger birds because of their egg supply. And according to @bonapetit, “When a hen is hatched, they come into the world with a certain number of ova—it’s like a bunch of grapes that hangs from the backbone.” Once mature enough to lay eggs, the ova grows one at a time until it’s the size of a yolk. Then it breaks away from the ovary, travels through the oviduct, and leaves the ovaries. As the yolk moves through the oviduct, glands secrete the egg white, and the substance to form the shell. And then, an egg is laid. The working theory of a double yolker is that they are forged when ovulation occurs too rapidly or when one yolk catches up with another slow-moving yolk in a hen’s oviduct. Notably, the greatest number of yolks found in a single chicken egg is rumored to be nine -- quite the omelet. The younger the bird, Joe also shared, the smoother the eggshell. This is because the younger chickens utilize calcium more. Bumpier or rougher eggshells come from older birds.
The hard work is rewarding for Joe and he loves to educate their customers, offering a fresher selection of eggs than can be found in a corporate grocery store. It can take up to two weeks for eggs to finally hit the shelves at the grocery store, whereas at the Market, eggs that are only a day or two old are available. Once customers start buying from him, they can tell the difference in freshness, and then they’re hooked. Another bonus is the shorter supply chain. When shopping with farmers, there are fewer people handling the product. An advocate for farmers markets at large, he's aware that it goes for all produce down here at the Market.
As at least 60% of customers are regulars, he attributes his profitability to their commitment to shop local and support small on a weekly basis. Besides the fact that Joe has a FRESH joke each week, customers love shopping with eggs produced by chickens that are raised without antibiotics or steroids.
