As the man behind the World’s Best Eggs, Jeremiah Cunningham understands the unending search for excellence in all things poultry. Less than a year after going into business as Coyote Creek Farm, Jeremiah’s eggs appeared at Whole Foods, then disappeared into shopping carts.

But all was not well. “How,” he asks, “can you make the World’s Best Eggs in Texas by raising them on chicken feed from Wisconsin?”

That’s the nearest place Jeremiah could find organic feed—a situation he found intolerable. And so, in February 2007, he opened the Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill at his Elgin farm. There’s no other organic meal mill anywhere in Texas, and backyard organic chicken enthusiasts who’ve been paying as much for shipping as for feed itself will be delighted by Coyote Creek feed—assuming they know it exists.

“No, I never thought I’d be selling organic anything,” says Ken Bushong, who’s owned Buck Moore Feed & Supply on North Lamar for 35 years, and now carries several types of Coyote Creek feed. “Economically, it don’t make sense—organic feed costs twice as much as regular. But people who want it would pay 10 times as much and not complain. They’re that adamant.”

The feed wholesalers whom Bushong’s known for years concur—saying sales of organic feed, and not just for chickens, will double this year. Bushong agrees, especially now that he has a local supplier.

“The freshness is the best thing,” he says. “Jerry makes it, I go get it, and the customer buys it, all in about two days.”

Coyote Creek Farm, 13431 Klaus Ln., Elgin,
512-940-5663, coyotecreekfarm.org