Flax seed and eggs

[Beekissed]

I make bread every week for my family and add ground flax seed each time. Its not real expensive at the bulk food stores but I wouldn't want to feed it to chickens just to get the second hand benefits. I agree with a previous poster....eat it yourself! Gives the bread a nutty flavor and makes it very moist...

 

[jnetster]

Re Flax... I've always felt that the "Omega-3 Rich Eggs" sold in the stores for an exorbitant price was really a gimmick. An egg on its own is full of Omega 3s... It just feels like saying "Transfat Free Lettuce" $5.99/head. Maybe I'm out in left field. So much hype these days.... I'm all for simplification.

 

[poltroon]

The nutritional content of an egg is highly dependent upon what the chicken was fed. Pastured poultry lay eggs high in Omega-3, because the grass they forage on is higher in Omega-3 than grains are. (The same is true for cattle, BTW: grass fed cattle is high in Omega-3; grain-fed high in Omega-6.) There can't be nutrients in the eggs that aren't present in the chicken's diet.

Mother Earth News did a testing project in 2007 comparing nutritional values and found:

• 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

They also have a detailed chart breaking out values for each farm (and noting what breeds they use).​

 

[robinaggie]

I have just discovered how easy and inexpensive it is to sprout wheat grass for my chicks. Is feeding them chopped wheat grass as good as letting them forage? I have an urban yard with St. Augustine grass. They eat it, but yuck!

 

[zgrower]

ok, now for my .02 cents. This is a very important topic, not just for our chickens eggs but our own health. There are many ways we can boost the omega 3 contents of the eggs, but the bigger issue is balancing your omega 3/omega 6 intake. This is all dependent on the quality protein you or your chickens consume. Remember grass feed is best. Beef thats grain feed has a 4 to 1 ratio. Grass feed its more like 2:1. You give your chickens a more complete protein source, you get a more balanced egg. I hope to see this post grow, this is one of the more interesting ideas i've come across as a wanna-be chicken farmer.

 

[pips&peeps]

I've heard that it is too difficult to monitor the amount of flax you give to your chickens and it can reak havoc on their reproductive organs.

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I bought the $6 flax seed for myself but didn't like it so I planted it Now I have pretty little blue flowers and when it seeds the wild birds and chickens have a snack They seem to like it even if I didn't.

 

[ravenfeathers]

the only reason i can think of to feed hens flax for higher omega-3 eggs is to charge more for the eggs ($4.99/doz at my local supermarket). as others have said, you can just eat the silly flax seeds yourself if you're worried about your omega-3 intake!

flax seeds are yummy, but feed them to the hens if you want to add a premium to your product. otherwise, don't bother with the expense.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

For larger scale, caged commercial hens, I can see where flax might be a good way to go if they want to sell a specialty product. It's something they can just dump in the feed, while the hens are packed in tight.

For home raised pets, grass and green feed do the same thing for the eggs and it's a lot healthier, because there are other good things like beta-carotene and phyto-nutrients in green feed, for the hens.