No difference between pasture raised chicken eggs and caged chicken eggs.

[RWBP]

"Eggs from the range production environment had more total fat (P < 0.05), monounsaturated fat (P < 0.05), and polyunsaturated fat (P < 0.001) than eggs produced by caged hens. Levels of n-3 fatty acids were also higher (P < 0.05), at 0.17% in range eggs vs. 0.14% in cage eggs.

....

Yolk color was not measured, but higher
β-carotene levels in the range eggs may have contrib-uted to the observed darker yolks. Even though the range environment did not contribute to the vitamin content, the increased β-carotene may have contributed
to increases in lycopene, lutein, or zeaxanthin, none of which were measured in this study."


Ummmm ..... I think that is a difference. . . Did you read the article? Where did you get there is no difference from the article?

No difference in cholesterol levels, but there are differences, which the article linked clearly states.

Edit: they concluded that no health advantages were present, but they are going off older, poor science, that fat and cholesterol are bad for you, not the newer science findings that fats and cholesterols aren't as bad as hyped in the 50's.

 

[Mosey2003]

Besides SBE and BYC eggs don't have the same color yolks. I've only had one egg some days and have cracked a SBE and can definitely see a color difference. So how was the study done? Where did they get SBE with vibrant orange colored yolks. They have washed out yellow yolks. SBE that is.

It's quite easy to have vibrant orange yolks in caged eggs, just feed marigold.

 

[centrarchid]

It's quite easy to have vibrant orange yolks in caged eggs, just feed marigold.

Or alfalfa hay, any type of living green plant, crustaceans, or pepper plant products.

 

[Scotty from BI]

This was a study done in 2011, in Raleigh North Carolina by an agricultural school in the North Carolina State University. It seemed to be responsive to the general perception by consumers that free ranged eggs were healthier than those from caged. The premise was that there was very little current (at that time) scientific information of egg nutrition based on chicken diet, which is why they referenced older studies. (to emphasize the lack of good data at the time of the study). So, they focused mostly on fat, cholesterol, N-3 (Omega 3) and fat soluble vitamins. The study did not address carotenoids, (Lycopene, Lutein, zeaxanthine) or other anti oxidants (important in cell to cell communications and responsible in part to certain immunities particularly of the eyes and skin) which is primarily what effects egg yolk color. There was no attempt to disparage one style of animal husbandry over the other, it was just an analysis of the nutrition content of the eggs.

The free range chickens had 86.54 sq ft per bird. The caged birds were confined in 0.445 sq ft per bird. The caged birds were illuminated by artificial lighting to simulate sunlight and for the same amount of hours the free range birds had. The study was conducted over 24 weeks including cool and warm weather in Raleigh North Carolina, The Paddocks were primarily Bermuda grass and wild seeds and bugs native to this region. The eggs were submitted to 4 different independant labs for results. There were 500 birds of the same breed ages 50 weeks to 74 weeks. No mention of who paid for the results, but it seems it was completely independent and conducted by the agricultural university.

Some of my take away is that it would be almost impossible to conduct a study that might satisfy everyone.

1.) It is possible that fat content is effected by consumption of animal protein (bugs), but that the difference from natural selection or free choice of the birds was not as much as I would have thought.

2.). More fat did not translate into better fat. It was mentioned that the cholesterol level was approximately the same in both sample groups. The analysis sadly did not emphasize the difference in N-3 (Omega 3) to N-6 (Omega 6) lipids. It did mention that there was a slight increase in N-3 but again not enough to effect human health (as a sole contributor of fat in our diet). "My interpretation", not theirs.

3.). Darker yolks may possibly have more anti-oxidants due to carotenoids (color pigments) consumed (which are responsible for the color in various fruits and veggies) but not better fat or cholesterol ratios. Although free range did have more fat per yolk.

4.) I think there will be even slighter variations between free range chickens and backyard confined chickens (enclosed runs) since the study compared commercial flocks kept under commercial husbandry. In my case and many other hobby chicken owners situations, chickens confined to fenced runs with no exposure to pasture, are fed bugs (dried or farmed grubs and meal worms) and kitchen scraps or veggies, in which case there is probably no real difference in free range or confined.

 

[centrarchid]

4.) I think there will be even slighter variations between free range chickens and backyard confined chickens (unenclosed runs) since the study compared commercial flocks kept under commercial husbandry. In my case and many other hobby chicken owners chickens confined to fenced runs with no exposure to pasture, are fed bugs (dried or farmed grubs and meal worms) and kitchen scraps or veggies, in which case there is probably no real difference in free range or confined.

The latter part is more important than anything and we do not even recognize it. The farmed grubs / meal worms are poor representatives of what insect forages provide. Most table scraps / veggies poorly represent what the chickens actually consume when they have option to cherry pick vegetative plant parts. As far as I can tell the scientific community has yet to touch the issues at all.

 

[IamRainey]

People have done flavor tests, and so long as the yolks are the same color, people can't actually tell a flavor difference between free range and confined eggs. They just seem to taste better because you think they will

Not so completely sure about this one.

I don't eat all that many eggs -- I'm more apt to bake with them or use them as part of something else like lasagna or meatloaf -- so I don't have a clear idea of the flavor of my hens' eggs. But my husband really prefers them to the commercial ones I occasionally have to buy. He will generally ask me if I bought the eggs when I'm serving production eggs for breakfast. And my grandson doesn't particularly like my hens' eggs because he thinks they're too "eggy". Which reminds me that, in the beginning, my husband wasn't crazy about them either. He had to develop the taste for richer more intense eggs.

All this thought about eggs, though, makes me think that my girls (just 2 laying ones at the moment) have been picking up their production so I may make a cheese souffle for dinner tonight.

 

[Scotty from BI]

The latter part is more important than anything and we do not even recognize it. The farmed grubs / meal worms are poor representatives of what insect forages provide. Most table scraps / veggies poorly represent what the chickens actually consume when they have option to cherry pick vegetative plant parts. As far as I can tell the scientific community has yet to touch the issues at all.

While you are probably right that mealworms and grubs are not the same as wild and varied species of bugs found in nature, it is actually a pretty good substitute based on the analysis of these bugs to others found typically in chicken diets from free range chickens. There are some variables that make them better or worse. For example most mealworms are fed a single source of nutrition usually grains and hydrated from moist vegetables like carrots or apples. Grubs which are soldier fly pupae are dried in various ways and are fed on waste food and compost which is considered safe and healthy. Wild bugs are eating from much more varied sources but in the final analysis of the bug as nutrition, the end result is very close between wild and farmed. One problem with meal worms if kept refrigerated for storage is that they do loose some nutrient value as they hibernate without nutrition. Where as dried dehydrated bugs hold their nutrition value from the time they are dried to the time they are consumed. They are actually being used in some populations as a protein source for humans. Another subject for another day.

Also, depending on the individual, supplemental veggies and fruit offered to confined chickens can be better than free range where the chicken owner is selective of the offerings. Grasses have less nutrition value than most fruits and veggies from our kitchens and of course there is very little variation day to day in free range.

 

[centrarchid]

While you are probably right that mealworms and grubs are not the same as wild and varied species of bugs found in nature, it is actually a pretty good substitute based on the analysis of these bugs to others found typically in chicken diets from free range chickens. There are some variables that make them better or worse. For example most mealworms are fed a single source of nutrition usually grains and hydrated from moist vegetables like carrots or apples. Grubs which are soldier fly pupae are dried in various ways and are fed on waste food and compost which is considered safe and healthy. Wild bugs are eating from much more varied sources but in the final analysis of the bug as nutrition, the end result is very close between wild and farmed. One problem with meal worms if kept refrigerated for storage is that they do loose some nutrient value as they hibernate without nutrition. Where as dried dehydrated bugs hold their nutrition value from the time they are dried to the time they are consumed. They are actually being used in some populations as a protein source for humans. Another subject for another day.

Also, depending on the individual, supplemental veggies and fruit offered to confined chickens can be better than free range where the chicken owner is selective of the offerings. Grasses have less nutrition value than most fruits and veggies from our kitchens and of course there is very little variation day to day in free range.

I get down on my hands and knees to to follow the chickens as they forage. I will follow them sometimes over several acres. The groups of chickens are small, as in never more than 20 (most immature), and often only a pair (cock and hen). The majority of the insects consumed are inconspicuous and herbivorous. Taxonomically, the insects are dominated in terms of number and biomass by grasshoppers / crickets, caterpillars of moths / butterflies, and larval diptera (especially crane flies). The latter groups also has a lot detritivores in the lineup. Occasionally termites and isopods (pill bugs) are consumed in mass. Pill bugs here have a lot in common with lobster when it comes to carotenoids. Trophically, this grouping differs markedly from farmed insects that fed largely on grain or grain byproducts. The diet does not impact protein (amino acid profile) or mineral profile, but it does impact fatty acid profile. Additionally, a big part of the dry mass of a given herbivorous insect is the plant material in the digestive tract.

This last summer we collected a couple hundred lbs of Japanese Beetles (see following links;https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/making-feed-from-japanese-beetles.1223688/#post-19604687 and https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...low-cost-bio-attractor.1258075/#post-20185033 and https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-to-pens-of-chickens.1256756/#post-20164846). The analysis of those beetles, which eat vegetative plant material as larvae and adults, differs markedly from grain fed meal worms. Hopefully I can get those results published shortly in a table form making comparisons easy.

When is comes to consumption of plant material, the chickens are not eating the equivalent of watery lettuce or sugar rich fruit. They are preferentially targeting meristems of actively growing plants, especially legumes. Meristems even targeted now as the birds dig through the snow for them and insects lying in torpor. Those actively growing meristems and young leaf times are more easily digested and have higher levels of protein and vitamins related to tissue growth and differentiation in the plant.

 

[123RedBeard]

As a few others have touched on above ... and my math came up with different square feet ...

--------------------------

Well ... it says ...

The eggs from the range production system had higher total fat (P < 0.05), monounsaturated fat (P < 0.05), and polyunsaturated fat (P < 0.001) than the eggs produced by caged hens

And ...

The n-3 levels were also higher (P < 0.05), at 84.5 mg/50 g in the range eggs compared with 70.50 mg/50 g in the cage eggs.

And ...

However, β-carotene levels were higher (P < 0.001) in the range eggs. Yolk color was not measured, but higher β-carotene levels in the range eggs may have contributed to the observed darker yolks.

So ... not EQUAL!

Furthermore ... the range hens had 1 square foot per bird of "coop" and 64 square feet of "free-range run" ...

What it does not say that I could find ... was what were the caged hens fed, and were the "free-range" hens fed the same feed? If so was it measured? Did they all get the same amount of the same feed?

 

[RWBP]

of course there is very little variation day to day in free range.

LOL . . . What?

I can probably count 20 different plants my chickens eat now, and it's dead of winter. That doesn't even count the insects they still find scratching at the leaves.

You must have a very expensive regiment of feeding store bought veggies for your chickens if you offer more than that...


EDIT: your title to this thread is extremely misleading, if not blatantly false, based on the study you linked.