edible notables
NEST EGG
Three young brothers hatch Fallon business.
WRITTEN BY JEANNE LAUF WALPOLE
PHOTO BY CANDICE NYANDO
As descendants of six generations of farmers and ranchers, the Behimer brothers (Nick, 9; Bob, 6; and Ethan, 3) unquestionably are chips off the old family block. At their tender ages, the three already have embarked on their agricultural careers by launching 3B Egg Co. in Fallon.
Although their mother, Erica Hybarger, has lent support along the way, the boys are responsible for the lion’s share of the work.
“We took out a $50 loan from Mom to start,” Nick says. “This was to buy the chickens and some feed.”
The day-to-day chores are split among the three, as they all are cross-trained in feeding, watering, cleaning, and gathering eggs.
“They do it themselves,” Hybarger says. “I help, but they are 75 percent of it.”
When the boys began thinking about ways to make money about a year ago, it was natural for them to embrace some kind of agricultural enterprise. They live half the time with their father, Bryant Behimer, along with his parents, on a 200-acre working ranch where mules and horses still provide much of the horsepower.
“The boys took over the poultry side,” Hybarger says.
Since starting the business, the boys have spent part of their earnings on school field trips while saving some for future expenditures.
“The most important thing is the money because you can buy stuff with it,” Bob says. “I want to buy a saddle.”
Nick views their burgeoning egg venture as only a step along the way to bigger business down the road.
“We need the money so we can buy our own livestock because we’re going to eventually expand into that,” he says.
From a starter group of 10 egg-laying chickens, including Rhode Island Reds and Plymouth Rocks, the boys have increased the flock to 16. Some of the chickens are housed at the ranch and others at their mother’s home in Fallon, where they live part-time. To continue their program of healthy expansion, they plan to buy six or seven chicks about every four months. Current production is about seven natural, cage-free, farm-fresh eggs a day, which are sold for $4 a dozen to regular customers.
“We sell eggs every Thursday at our house and we just go around the neighborhood and knock on doors,” Nick says.
When asked why customers buy his eggs, Nick is the consummate salesperson.
“We’re farm-fresh, we’ll sell to you regularly, and you’re buying from a local farmer,” he says. “Store-bought eggs might come from chickens with steroids. We don’t put anything in our feed. And ours taste better.”
To be able to sell their eggs to commercial establishments, the boys are in the process of applying for certification from the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
Aside from making money, the boys view their agricultural involvement as an important extension of their family’s history.
“The thing I like best is the family getting together and working together,” Nick says. “I think we should have a business together.”
For details on where to buy 3B eggs, contact the family on Facebook and at 3beggco@gmail.com.
Jeanne Lauf Walpole is a Reno-based freelance writer who can attest to the fresh taste of 3B eggs from a cheese omelet she enjoyed.
