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Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman

Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman - Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman are ranchers in Northern California. Nicolette is also an attorney and writer, and Bill is the founder of the natural meat company Niman Ranch, Inc. More

Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman are owners and operators of BN RANCH, a seaside ranch in Bolinas, California, where they raise their son Miles, grass-fed cattle, heritage turkeys, and goats. They were featured in an August 2009 cover story in TIME about the crisis in America's food system. 

 

Nicolette is a rancher, attorney, and writer. Much of her time is spent speaking and writing about the problems of industrialized livestock production, including the book Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms (HarperCollins, 2009) and four essays she has written on the subject for the New York Times. She has written for Huffington Post, CHOW, and Earth Island Journal.  Previously, she was the senior attorney for the environmental organization Waterkeeper Alliance, where she was in charge of the organization's campaign to reform the concentrated livestock and poultry industry, and, before that, an attorney for National Wildlife Federation. Nicolette served two terms on the city council for the City of Kalamazoo, Michigan. She received her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Michigan and her B.A. in Biology and French from Kalamazoo College.  

 

Bill is a cattle rancher  and founder of the natural meat company Niman Ranch, Inc. He was a member of Pew's National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, which released recommendations for reform of the nation's livestock industry in April 2008. Niman has been named "Food Artisan of the Year" by Bon Appetit and has been called the "Master of Meat" by Wine Spectator, the "Guru of Happy Cows" by the Los Angeles Times, "a pioneer of the good meat movement" by the New York Times, "the Steve Jobs of Meat" by Men's Journal, and a "Pork Pioneer" by Food & Wine. The Southern Foodways Alliance named him its Scholar in Residence for 2009, stating that he was "this country's most provocative and persistent champion of sustainably and humanely raised livestock." Vanity Fair magazine has featured him in its "Green Issue," and Plenty magazine selected him as among the nation's five leading "green entrepreneurs." He has been honored with the Glynwood Harvest Good Neighbor Award. Bill co-authored The Niman Ranch Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 2005), which was selected as one of the year's best cookbooks by the New York Times, Newsweek, and the San Jose Mercury News.

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What Do Fresh Turkey Eggs Taste Like?

By Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman

May 4 2009, 8:16 AM ET Comment



niman mar12 turkeyeggs.jpg

Photo by Nicolette Hahn Niman


As budding turkey farmers, we are often asked these questions: "What do turkey eggs look like?" and "What do turkey eggs taste like?" In outward appearance, they are quite distinct from chicken eggs. They're notably larger and are generally speckled with a deep reddish pattern.

Before the breeding started, we got the occasional (unfertilized) egg from our turkey hens. We'd crack them open and fry them up. To us, they tasted very much like chicken eggs. In fact, we confess that neither of us could tell a difference.

As spring approaches and the days lengthen, our turkey hens are really starting to produce eggs--they are "coming into lay," as turkey farmers say. The hens are again with the turkey toms and our breeding season is underway. Thus, we are saving all of our turkey eggs in hopes that they are fertilized and will mature into baby turkeys ("poults"). We promise to keep you up to date on this new venture.

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