Fresh Local Eggs - Taste The Difference

Fresh Local Eggs

I buy my eggs from a little girl named Jade who raises chickens in her backyard and is beginning to turn her love of chickens into a thriving cottage business.

I have seen the chickens and how they are raised. They are a lively brood who live and flourish in what I consider an ideal backyard environment.  It is a backyard that I enjoy being in and the chickens seem to be happy there too.  It is fun to watch them scratch around in the dirt.

I believe it pays to make an effort to get the highest quality eggs that you can find.

Eggs from the store just don't compare to home grown eggs.  Notice the lovely variety of shades and colors of the eggs from Jade?  Eggs that range in color from blue to sage-green come from hens that are called Araucanas or Americanas.  I am told that the Americanas have a warm personality.

I have eaten many varieties of store bought eggs as well as home grown eggs from a variety of sources. I have found that home grown eggs taste better. Home grown eggs are fresher too.  To tell if an egg is fresh - break it onto a plate.  If the round yolk really pops up from the viscous egg white - you know the egg is fresh.  While you are at it - examine the color of the yolk.  The yolk of eggs produced by hens who have had a nutrient-dense and varied diet will be deep orange-yellow color.

Studies have shown that the eggs from backyard hens, that have access to sunshine, bugs, and worms, are more nutritious than eggs from commercially farmed hens.  Chickens that are fed a varied diet and who are pasture fed - which means that they can scratch for bugs and worms - produce eggs that have a better fatty acid and nutrient profile.  Backyard and pastured eggs have less cholesterol and saturated fat and more vitamin A, vitamin E, beta carotene, and omega-3 fats.

Chicken's are omnivores.  That means that they eat plant and animal foods.  Jade's chickens are fed a lot of root vegetable tops and salad type greens as well as meat scraps from the table.  I am told that this type of food variety is one reason that backyard eggs are so superior. 

Though eggs have been much maligned the past several decades - eggs are one of natures most perfect foods.  Eggs are one of the important traditional foods our ancestors ate.  They are a rich source of important sulphur containing protein, vitamin A, vitamin D, EPA, DHA, choline, and lecithin.  In China eggs are considered such a premier brain food that pregnant women are encouraged to eat as many eggs as they can.

Without going into too many gruesome details - store bought eggs come from places where hens are not able to live the life that nature intended for them to live.  I am happy that I eat eggs that are produced by healthy hens that live a good life.  I am happy that I can help support my local economy and Jade's new business venture.  I know that the eggs I get from Jade will be nutritious, tasty, fresh, and colorful.  What more could I ask for?