Our Farms
We strive to partner with farms who share our unwavering commitment to
honesty & integrity.
Hamilton Eggs has always been intentional about working with farms who share our values. Working with honesty and integrity are exactly what our partner farms, Zoet Poultry and DeWeerdt Poultry, demonstrate every day.
These two local farms pride themselves on being family-operated businesses, upholding the values passed down through generations. They believe that the quality of their product is directly connected to their hard work, dedication to excellence, and commitment to growth and innovation.
In addition to these two farms, Hamilton Eggs also works with other local farms to help clean, package, and distribute their eggs to their customers all over the world.
It all started when she told me I could keep the egg money.
Both Zoet Poultry and DeWeerdt Poultry have roots that date back to the early 1950s when John's parents / Vern’s in-laws, Jarvis and Hazel Zoet, put up their first chicken coop that housed 500 chickens. They joke that this all started as Hazel’s "project". A framed quote on the wall read, "It all started when she told me I could keep the egg money".
Over the course of the next 20 years, Jarvis delivered eggs to the Hamilton co-op along with a group of area egg producers that totaled around 200 farmers.
In 1974, after a couple of years working in the carpentry industry, Vern made the decision to build his first hen layer house with assistance from his father-in-law, Jarvis. Shortly after in 1977, John built his first hen layer coop.
As the years passed, both farms continued to expand while the number of area egg producers declined significantly. To date, DeWeerdt and Zoet Poultry farms are two of a total of seven egg producers in the state of Michigan. While the egg industry and market continues to evolve, both farms are currently undergoing building and remodeling transitions toward cage-free egg production in order to meet diverse consumer needs for years to come.
Now three generations later, DeWeerdt Poultry Farm is owned and operated by Vern DeWeerdt and his son, Steve, while Zoet Poultry Farm is owned and operated by John Zoet and his son, Bryan.
The quality and sustainability of both farm operations is also attributed to the many employees who have been dedicated to each farm’s success over the years.
Each farm maintains its own egg processing facility, which allows egg production and processing to be fully integrated. Continuing their commitment to family business, John’s son-in-law, Tim Zweering, manages Zoet Poultry’s egg processing facility while Vern’s nephew, Mike DeWeerdt, manages the egg processing facility at DeWeerdt Poultry Farm.
Vern DeWeerdt & son, Steve.
DeWeerdt
Poultry
John Zoet & son, Bryan
Zoet
Poultry
For these families, this is about more than producing good eggs.
Farming is their livelihood.
They continually strive to steward their resources in a way that cares for the land, upholds high standards for bird health and egg production, cares well for their trusted employees, and ultimately, provides for their community, both locally and abroad.
