Check out the fancy eggs in the store now

[feathersnuggles]

Scrambled Egg video, tell some of the story.
http://www.cornucopia.org/2010/10/video-scrambled-eggs/

Anecdotally, I recently compared some of our farmers market eggs with eggs from our backyard free ranging birds. Actually, a number of us who have small backyard flocks in the city. What did we find? Our yolks are richer and darker. The more chickens the farmer has, the lighter yellow the yolks (unless he has LOTS of pasture for them to free-range). And even when the farmer tosses in weeds and greens for the hens, their yolks are still lighter than ours. Seems like the hens really need to eat the extra proteins and fats from insects.

 

[maizey]

that was a great video! Thanks for that! I just don't think you can do it right with the numbers of chickens the factory farms have... smaller is better. Its not even the organic lable, its just a different bottom line and a different set of priorities.

 

[Firemenlovechicks]

Yes! Thanks for the video, it was very eye-opening!

Jeff

 

[nanawendy]

Wow, great piece. Thanks for sharing

 

[greenSearcher]

I wish it was just a matter of more pasture for my girls to roam. They are traveling over nearly 2 acres right now, sneaking over to the neighbors land in their search for live bugs. We are getting freezing night time temps that has crisped the grasses and killed the bugs. Will stay that way until mid Feb, when the early spring growth will returns. My yolks are getting lighter, even with protein rich snacks. I am hoping that I can keep the richer colored yolks by feeding them squash and pumpkin next winter. It was just too hot and I couldn't force myself to "plant and protect" last summer. This year I will make it a habit so that I can feed them veges other than what the market lets me have. Right now all I have is about 40lbs of sweet potatoes that are being rationed out. If you live in a climate with long enough summers, sweet potatoes are a great food source- planted my slips, 9 thrived and at the end of summer I harvested almost 150 lbs. I dehydrated half of them before I was worn out. I should have tried canning some since I have a pressure canner for when I am in a hurry. The girls don't consider dehydrated crumbles worthy of their attention and it takes about half an hour to simmer the dried ones into nummy treats.

 

[the_great_snag]

Quote:
Well in fairness, most of the people I know who raise meat birds at home keep them indoors for at least 4 weeks too.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
I am in the same boat, right now. The ground is frozen solid and my hens make their attempts, but they can't forage very much. I heap up big piles of leaves during the fall, and those heaps keep some ground unfrozen below, allowing them to dig in the soft dirt for worms, if they can dig down to it. However, it's not like their normal insect buffet.

Try sprouting & growing wheat grass for them. Hens love it. I also grow & keep a large bin of mealworms, especially good insect feed during the deep freeze winter days. Protein from insects is huge, way more, per volume, than our usually-consumed meats such as beef, pork, chicken, fish. And lipids (fats) from insects, as well as amino acids, minerals, and vitamins are very rich... for example, vitamin D found in insects can be more than 10x the vitamin D in cod liver oil!

 

[BWKatz]

Thankfully our ground hasn't frozen solid yet and I have been supplementing their feed with collards, greens, and lettuce as well as leftovers. They seem to appreciate it and I still have nice orange yolks.

 

[grandmaof5]

Just a thought, (I don't want to start a controversy), but I thought I read somewhere that in order to be considered 'free range' the hens have to be allowed access to outside all the time 24/7. I know most people 'coop' their hens at night, to keep them safe from predators; would these birds be considered free range, if all other considerations were met?

 

[donrae]

Free-Range: While the USDA has defined the meaning of "free-range" for some poultry products, there are no standards in "free-range" egg production. Typically, free-range hens are uncaged inside barns or warehouses and have some degree of outdoor access, but there are no requirements for the amount, duration or quality of outdoor access. Since they are not caged, they can engage in many natural behaviors such as nesting and foraging. There are no restrictions regarding what the birds can be fed. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing.

This is from the humane society site. I've read it's quite common for the outside access doors to be closed due to potential bad weather and potential predators. In truth, those hens don't get out much, if at all.