Our chickens are providing some beautiful eggs! We collect between 2 to 5 eggs per day, which isn’t a bad number considering they are newly laying and the days are nearly as short as they get right now (this matters in egg production). I’m really enjoying the chickens and loving the eggs. I can’t wait until my 12 hens are all laying reliably and frequently next spring.
So, today my chickens bring you an experiment. Well, actually this former fifth grade teacher brings you an experiment. You can take the teacher out of the school, but…
Here, we have two pretty eggs.
The egg on the left, from the store……..The egg on the right, from my hens.
Rather a striking difference, wouldn’t you say?
A little stir, a little salt.
And into the frying pay they go. Vivid, isn’t it?!
Which egg do you want with your sausage?
The difference in taste is just as vivid. I used to beg my kids to eat their eggs. Now that we are eating our own home-grown eggs, the kids ask for more eggs. Amazing.
The following statistics came from the Mother Earth News website.
Pastured or free-range eggs have
• 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
Amazing, isn’t it!
Not everyone can keep chickens, but I do think they are worth their feed. If you have a few acres, I highly recommend keeping chickens. They need a place to sleep at night, safe from predators. They need a place to lay their eggs. They will forage wherever you let them. You will need a good corn broom if you plan to let them have complete freedom on your place, as they will leave messes on your sidewalk and/or porch. Let ‘em out in the morning, give ‘em a bit of feed. Collect some eggs as needed. Close the door to the hen house at night. Enjoy breakfast like never before. Oh, and they eat bugs. Definite bonus, by the way.
If you don’t have room for chickens or the inclination to mess with them, try some free range eggs at least once. Drive out through the country and don’t be afraid to stop at that house with the “Eggs for Sale” sign at the edge of the road. I bet you’ll meet some nice folks. Visit the local food co-op, too. They probably have eggs on the shelves just waiting for you to take them home and fry them up. They’ll cost more, but they are also worth more.
Which leads me to my little ramble… If eggs can be this good, what else are we missing out on for the sake of mass produced cheap stuff?
Oh, and I like butter.
And I want to try some raw-milk.
I think that’s all for now.
Thanks for dropping by!
Fatima
Wow, Fatima! The stats are not what I'd have expected. And the visual difference - very interesting.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! How neat to actually see the difference between the two when placed side by side. Kinda scary though to think what else we might be blindly ingesting for the sake of convenience...
ReplyDeleteI love this experiment! We've never done it before but we've only been eating organic, free-range eggs for the last 7 or 8 years. The scariest statistic for me, that made me go all organic, was how the ratio of Omega 3's & 6's were so upside down with the non-organic eggs. Plus, when you learn about the actual process... let me not go there! Eeew!
ReplyDeleteI would love to have enough land to do that, but for now, we get ours at our market!
This is great - I'm going to get a conventional egg from our neighbors and see if this experiment comes out the same...
I'm stopping by from The Little List's {inhabit}. I hope you'll do the same! You can find mine @ http://sofiasideas.com/2010/12/04/anything-ragged-or-rotten-or-rusty/
Sofia's Ideas
I love farm fresh eggs. I buy free range from the grocery store now, but there is just something about knowing where your came from that makes them taste better, too.
ReplyDeleteLove the comments. Thanks so much for stopping by!
ReplyDelete