Fresh Eggs

LAYING HENS: 

Our laying hens, “the ladies”, are fed local, organic, non-GMO grain as well as any unused organic vegetables not consumed by the family.  They love to roam free and are spoiled rotten,  To protect them from predators, yet keep them roaming our 80 acres, we had an “egg mobile” built for them.  It sits up on a trailer so they can crawl underneath when the chicken hawks come swooping down.  We made it mobile so we could pull them to a new spot every couple days and we stretch a huge electric poultry fence around their little “acre” to keep out dogs, coyotes, and other ground predators.  These ladies are as safe and free range as they can possibly be.  They reward us with some awesome eggs!!!

Their eggs are beautiful rich-orange yolks with delicious flavor.  We are dedicated to supporting the local economy and educating those around us to do the same.  We buy our organic/non-GMO mixture of feed from a local farmer.  The feed is specially formulated for layers and the eggs these ladies produce are rich, creamy and tasty.  The amazing thing to us is how different the eggs taste from season to season.  This occurs naturally when laying hens are allowed and encouraged to explore the farm’s season-changing foliage and bugs.  Even on the coldest of days, these gals are out digging through the dirt/snow for any brave insects.

Currently, eggs are selling for $4 per dozen, but the price is subject to change based on the fluctuating cost of feed.

Anyone who follows Mother Earth News will already know the findings concerning the nutrition of farm fresh eggs.  Their staff consulted a British study from 1974 and completed their own study testing eggs from four flocks raised on pasture and compared those results to supermarket eggs from cage raised hens.  The results found that the pasture eggs contain:

1.  50% less cholesterol

2.  twice as much vitamin E

3.  Two to six times the beta carotene (a form of vitamin A)

4.  four times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids (vital for optimal heart and brain function)

5.  50% more folic acid

6.  70% more vitamin B12

The American Egg Board, which is made up of seven physicians and professors and has a $20 million budget, should be dedicated to guiding the public toward health.  Instead, these are their opinions:

1.  “We know of no research on nutritional content of eggs laid by hens who ate exactly the same feed in cage, floor or freed-range operations.”

2.  “The nutritional content of eggs is affected by feed, not how birds are housed.”

3.  “The nutrient content of eggs is not affected by whether hens are raised free-range or in a cage operation.”

This board represents the producers who raise chickens in confinement.  Such producers keep their 300 million laying hens entirely indoors.  These ladies never get to see, feel or taste the grass.  These hens are raised in tiny cages where they can barely turn around.  A routine “debeaking” procedure is followed so these “happy” hens won’t peck each other to death.

Rejecting sub-par food by paying more for local quality products is one step you can take to send a message to producers who treat livestock inhumanely.  If you are unable to grow your own food, you should be connected with someone who does.

We choose to feed our family the way our grandmothers did….off our own land, growing and canning our own vegetables, raising our own animals and teaching our children to work the farm operation right along with us.