The Glaum Egg Ranch heritage started back in the early 1920's by John H. Glaum, in the small town or Alexandria, Nebraska. It was almost unheard of to support a family of six with only egg producing chickens. The gamble and risk was great. The first chicken house John built housed 400 white leghorns. Soon his "Model Poultry Farm" as newspapers were calling it, won recognition for his innovated techniques and expertise in the poultry business. As business grew, John added Glaum's Hatchery and Feed Mill, hatching baby chicks, along with grinding, mixing and manufacturing his own brand of feed to be used for his own ranch and selling to others. After many years of success as a chicken farmer, in 1946 John and his wife Pearl, along with his youngest son Marvin, moved to California to be near the rest of his children who had moved out earlier. This is where the next generation of the Glaum Egg Ranch continued in 1953 in the small town of Live Oak (Santa Cruz County), California. When John H. Glaum died in 1952, his son Marvin, serving in the Korean War, returned home to continue the family business.

In 1953 Marvin Glaum met his future wife, Dorothy, while shopping for chicken feed at the local Farmer's Co-op, where Dorothy worked as a bookkeeper. Marvin and Dorothy married six months later, which began the second generation of the Glaum Egg Ranch. Starting out with 1500 hens and rapidly feeling the need for expansion they added three more ranches leased nearby. As Santa Cruz Country grew with new homes and businesses, the local chicken and egg industry was fading fast. In 1957, Marvin and Dorothy were determined to keep their business local and competitive, so in order to compete with big ranches in the San Joaquin area, they bought land in Aptos to consolidate their operation. Marvin designed, constructed, updated and modernized their facility. Marvin's inventive ideas and natural mechanical abilities gained him wide recognition from the nations egg industry. As their ranch grew, so did their own "flock." This is where the third generation of the Glaum Egg Ranch begins...

Marvin and Dorothy's four children; Steve, Sherrie, Debbie and Doug, began helping out at the ranch at a very young age, whether it was hand gathering eggs or delivering fresh eggs door to door in a little red wagon to neighbors. From early on, Marvin and Dorothy taught their children the importance of commitment and dedication to their ranch, church and involvement in their community. Marvin maintained and created many of his own inventions on the farm, many of which have been used on modern day egg ranches. One of his most talked about inventions is the Egg Vending Machine. Customers can come up to the ranch, insert money and receive a flat of eggs. As the years progressed, so did the vending machine - today, when you insert the money you get to enjoy an animated chicken show as well. The costumes on the chicken show are created and changed seasonally. Every season/holiday is a different scene - the customers love to come and see what's new each time.

One of the greatest plans for continually "taking care of the community" was the idea of composting the chicken manure. In 1988, the Glaum Egg Ranch created a composting facility at the Aptos ranch and Glaum's Organic Composted Fertilizer was born. When most chicken farmers have the burden of trying to find a place for the manure, the Glaum Egg Ranch found a way to use this by-product and profit from it! It is an excellent product sold throughout the Western Region.

In 2004, Marvin Glaum passed away which left a huge void in the family, but a great legacy.

Today, the main goal of this family-owned and operated ranch is to make sure that the health and welfare of the chicken is being maintained at above-standard conditions. Producing the freshest eggs for our customers along with providing exceptional, personal, customer service is top priority. In 2005, the Glaum Egg Ranch expanded its business into the CAGE FREE and ORGANIC egg lines. We purchased land to accommodate for the expansion and committed to continuing the family legacy for many years to come. There are NINE 4th generation Glaums already involved in the business. Our customers can rest assured that we will be around for a very long time! Just recently we received the high honor of being the first egg ranch in California to be Certified Humane by Humane Farm Animal Care.

We currently deliver to over 500 restaurants and grocery stores throughout the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay and still believe that the freshest egg is a local egg!

There aren't any egg farmers that we know that can say; "Come by and say Hi, ANYTIME!"

Thanks for taking the time to read about our family business. Have an EGGCELLENT day!

Sincerely,
Dorothy, Steve, Janelle, Sherrie, Debbie, Robert, Doug, Ericka, Courtney, Chase, Aaron, Marli, Mikayla, Gunnar, Gavin, Mattison and Shane