On Eggs

I've been doing a little research here and there on chickens and the benefits of farm fresh eggs and I thought I would share them with you. First though a quote from my brother-in-law "I don't really like store bought eggs, but I can't get enough of yours!"

From Williams Sonoma:

"What should you look for when buying farm fresh eggs?

You should look for pasture-raised, if possible.  The grass diet helps give the yolk a deep, beautiful orange color. They should be free of cracks and fresh (eggs can be sold as “Fresh” for up to 30 days from the time they are placed in cartons–or 45 days if a “use by” date is applied).   If you can get them within a few days of being laid, they are even better – another reason to develop a trusted relationship with a farmer or farm. Interestingly, it’s actually better to have eggs that are a week old or so for hard boiling.  The pH changes, allowing the egg to peel much more easily.  Hard boiled eggs with a dash of salt are a perfect snack food!  "

An interesting video on store-bought organic chicken eggs

From simple bites:

"You may be thinking, “I buy organic, free-range eggs from the grocery store”.  This is a great start, however, with the demand of “organic” and “naturally” raised products, more companies are jumping on board to sell you what you want.

This is great.  Our demand of good nourishing food is being met.  However,many standards are truly not what you may expect.

In order for eggs to be labeled “free-range” a chicken needs to have access to the outdoors.  This usually means hundreds of chicken confined to an industrial chicken house with a small slab of concrete to walk outdoors if they’d like.

Your “free-range egg” chickens are really spending their lives indoors in a ventilated area and will not have the nutrient levels as described above.  If you’re buying “vegetarian-fed eggs”, this is a sure sign that they do not have access to pasture as real chickens are not vegetarians.

Chickens live and thrive on a variety of worms and bugs outdoors which only a pasture can provide. "

 Some notes on our chickens and their eggs.

1) In the winter our chickens are kept inside and grain fed.  However, in the spring-fall our chickens live outside in a large fenced in area where they have access to grass, worms, bugs, and dirt to scratch in.

2) Our chickens have lots of space and light. If you would like to see where they live in the winter, please ask! We don't mind giving a tour! In the spring-fall in addition to their yard; they also have a coop large enough to sleep and lay in.

3) Due to cost our eggs are not organic or non-gmo. If we were to raise chickens on organic feed the price increase of buying organic feed would be passed on to you, our customer. If this is something you'd be interested in us doing, let us know.

4) During the winter we do expect our chickens to lay (some farmers don't) and provide them with adequate light to "trick" their normal rhythms into laying an egg daily. [For some additional reading check out this article by backyard chickens] Our reasons for doing this (as outlined in the article) is because our chickens are not pets.

5) When you purchase a dozen of our eggs you will find some are "funny" colors. That is because we have "Easter Eggers" in our flock and the shells of their eggs are blue!

6) Our chickens are laying about a dozen eggs a day, so if you need some eggs let us know!