Around the holidays, I had to buy some store bought eggs so that we had enough to do some Christmas baking. I buy “cage free” eggs when I have to buy them at the store. That doesn’t mean anything, though. Neither does “free range.” So what. They have a 1 foot by 1 foot space to roam? They’re still in stinky, cramped chicken houses with little to no outside lighting, no grass, and no bugs. They’re still fed a “vegetarian” diet of soy and corn, when chickens are not vegetarians and would never choose to eat soy or corn on their own.
I forgot about the store-bought eggs, and I made a bunch of hard boiled eggs for lunch. Unfortunately, store-bought eggs don’t look nearly as pretty or as taste nearly as good as home-grown eggs.
Do you see the dark, beautiful yellow yolks? When they are uncooked, some of them are almost orange in color. If you’re eating the darker eggs, you’re naturally protecting yourself from Macular Degeneration because of the Lutien and Zeaxanthin. No meds needed, this is an age-old home-remedy, folks!
And are you taking Vitamin D supplements? Eat eggs from chickens that are raised on pasture! Behind only cod liver oil, egg yolk is the second best way to take in Vitamin D from food. However, if a chicken is raised indoors, out of the sun (in an unnatural environment), the Vitamin D in the eggs is greatly reduced. I read that “Egg yolks from chickens kept under glass or in cages were so low in Vitamin D that the rats fed on them developed rickets” (Eat Fat, Lose Fat, page 81). A study showed that consuming Vitamin D has anti-cancer benefits. Eat your eggs, folks, and make sure they are from chickens who are allowed to leave their coop!
If you cannot have chickens in your own yard, find someone local who does. You ought to see them (the birds, not the people ;)) doing the chicken dance. Scratch, peck, walk backwards, peck…something like that. They ought to be grabbing meaty worms from the ground. They should have plenty of room to roam so that they always have green grass (a bare patch of dirt will not do). As Joel Salatin would say, the chicken should be expressing it’s chicken-ness. God made chickens wonderful and beautiful, and if they’re raised right, they provide amazing nutrition and can aid in a good, quality life. (Not to mention, just watching chickens out the back window will add to your quality of life! ;)).
yes! nothing beat pastured chicken eggs! there is a HUGE difference in color but also how sour body processes it. Pretty much my whole life i could not eat eggs until i found a farmer who raises his own chickens and feeds them his pond algae on top of their normal bugs and grass. i also don’t get the eggs very often because he is far away but when i get them i take out the yolks and freeze them for easy add in into my GAPS soups!
I would love to see a picture of your chickens expressing their chicken-ness!
hey Brenda! I just made my own blog! i want you to check it out at
http://gutsyhealth.blogspot.com/
thanks for all the inspiration!!
I can’t wait to get our chickens this Spring! I miss having my own eggs (nor do I enjoy the $4 + price tag of local healthy eggs). Question… I’m worried about all the cats in our neighborhood, should I be? I was thinking we may need to do a fully enclosed, moveable pin, but I’d love to let them roam in our yard!
Hi! Just found your blog…
The difference between the yolks is impressive, isn’t it? When I had eggs for the first time from backyard chickens, I freaked out. They were so orange, and I didn’t know that was NORMAL; I thought they had gone bad LOL. I didn’t know anything!
My parents started raising hens last spring, so now we get our eggs from them. I’d like to have my own laying hens some day. The flavor is so much better, not to mention the nutrition!
I love the taste of fresh eggs, but if the owner feeds them the usual chicken feed, doesn’t it contain gmo corn and other byproducts? Are their eggs still better?
Karen, yes, but I think the eggs are still better. They’ll have darker yolks & more vitamin D. They’re safer to eat raw (I wouldn’t eat grocery store eggs raw). Birds that are fed a soy free, corn free, organic feed would be ideal, but I think pastured birds on conventional feed are still better than grocery store eggs! 🙂
I know this is an old post but I have been perplexed by this lately. I spent $7 (!) on a dozen pastured eggs from the healthfood store from a semi-local farm & compared to the Veggie Fed grocery store eggs well…. it was reversed. The pastured eggs were pale yolked and the veggie fed were the most vibrant yellow/orangey colour. Weird. Anyone have any thoughts on why?