An excerpt from Mother Earth News:
Eggs from hens allowed to peck on pasture are a heck of a lot better than those from chickens raised in cages! Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. That’s the conclusion we have reached following completion of the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project.
Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:
• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
I find that info believable. I'm one who frequently questions the validity of info but over the years this is one thing I no longer "debate". Mother Earth News ( http://www.motherearthnews.com/ ) has been around longer than my adult life and has continued to be a very good source of info and they are cautious to have accuracy in what they print. It's one magazine and website that I high recommend.
The egg photo above is my eggs, nesting on a "bed" of goatie granola that has shell corn mixed in. (That feed is coming up to the house for my bird feeder.) My poultry get to clean up the goatie granola that the goats waste and they seem to LOVE it! They also get hay and alfalfa pellets right now and fresh grass and dirt to explore and scratch around in for juicy bits in the Spring, Summer and Fall. They love the fresh grass clippings, weeds pulled from the garden with the root and dirt ball attached, etc. They get kitchen scraps and left overs which seem to be the highlight of their day. This coming year I want to try a "bait bucket" for them. Eggs are only as good as what we feed our hens. If they are lacking in a nutrient area, it only stands to reason their eggs will be lacking in that same nutrient area.
One other thing that makes me support that the nice deep color of egg yolks has to be somewhat like the fact that we are now told at every turn that we need to eat more fruit and vegetables. We need to eat from all the different colors of fruits and vegetables as they all have varying nutritional componets and we need them all. That being, should our eggs have the richest color possible to be the healthiest for us? I believe so!
If we feed them well, we will eat well. It only stands to reason! So, eat more eggs - the fresh ones, of course!
Shar, You're so lucky. Just in the past two weeks, alone - Dwayne and I have run off six dogs from our property. The only reason why I haven't put 'em down is because Dwayne says he doesn't wanna deal with frozen ground to dig for burying 'em. But come this spring...
ReplyDeleteWe've had bad luck over the years with neighboring dogs, coyotes, coons/possums, etc too. :( We have neighbors who still to this day remind us of how horrible it was we shot their dogs but they don't get it that they were killing goats and chickens. Our animals seem to not deserve to survive being on our own property but theirs should be allowed to run????? It's been over 30 years and they still simmer over it.
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