Saif Sarfani, Campus Carrier Staff Reporter

The Berry College Student Enterprises will be launching their new enterprise called Blue Hen Eggs this Saturday.

The enterprise will start out with 200 red-star chickens that will produce fresh cage-free brown eggs. The chickens will be allowed to forage freely. Blue Hen Eggs’ purpose is to provide students hands-on experience and insight into the agricultural and business aspects of egg farming. The enterprise believes that food should be fresh, delicious and available to the local community.

Dean of student work Rufus Massey supervises the Blue Hen Eggs.

“My role with Blue Hen Eggs is similar to the other (student) enterprises in that I assist with matters of governance and venture funding and connecting those enterprises to the institution where they need support,” Massey said. 

Massey said that the concept behind the enterprise came about when he and College President Stephen R. Briggs traveled to Bria, Ky. to visit a Berry alumnus doing a free-range operation with chickens and cattle. They saw that the operation was very natural and sustainable, and that the alumnus had created a customer base with local restaurants and farmers’ markets. Seeing this encouraged Massey and Briggs to start an egg business for Berry.

“Over the course of time, it was just one idea of several hundreds ideas we have for enterprises,” Massey said. “ (Sophomore) Greg Howard (Acting Director and Startups Coordinator) came to campus and Charlie’s here on campus, so that meant that students were interested in doing this type of business and that’s the basic component for how a student enterprise gets started…”

Sophomore Charlie Morgan, general manager of Blue Hen Eggs, is in charge of sales, training and building the trailers the chickens are going to be kept in.

Logo courtesy of Berry College Student Enterprises

“We’re having a chicken tractor that’s self-contained so it’s going to have solar panels, a watering system (and) a feeding system,” Morgan said. “We’re going to be able to move it all around campus and the chickens can serve as pest control for the Seasons Harvest enterprise, so they’ll eat bugs and be free-range in that aspect, although we will be supplementing feed.”

Morgan said he wants the Berry community to be the primary base of customers, and that anyone is welcome to come out to the Seasons Harvest fields and see the chickens. He said that he wants to engage the Rome community and the surrounding areas.

Morgan also said that there is nutritional value to cage-free eggs.

“When you look at the breakdown of the nutrition and quality of the egg, the yolk is a different color,” Morgan said. “It’s a deep orange just because of the wide array of nutrients you’re going to get and you can taste the difference.”

Massey also said that like most enterprises, Blue Hen Eggs, wants to be profit-driven. “Charlie’s going to be focused on learning a lot, but also turning a profit. … It’s more about what socially we can do to give back.” 

Freshman Karmin Mazzocchi said she was involved with making decisions regarding birds and their care. 

“I hope the enterprise will grow so that we can supply eggs for a majority of the community as a healthier alternative to store-bought eggs,” Mazzocchi said.

The student enterprise program continues to expand and appeal to a variety of majors.  Viking Math Tutoring, an enterprise that will be starting in the fall, will be an addition to the enterprise team.