About our pastured eggs!

Some of our new hens, mixing with the older gals

Before I can talk about our eggs I first have to talk about our chickens. We have approximately 70 chickens with an assortment of breeds, most of which are Rhode Island Reds. We have quite a few Black Australorpes also. 

Our chickens and farm have been inspected by the Mississippi Board of Animal Health and we have received our Retail Food Sanitation License for eggs. Our layers meet all requirements of the National Poultry Improvement Program (NPIP).  

Our chickens have a constant clean water supply. All day every day they have pasture where they can do what chickens like to do! We use electric net fencing for their pasture area. This fence allows us to give them access to fresh pasture every couple of weeks by simply moving the fence. We want and encourage them to eat as naturally as possible. That said, we do supplement them with a 22-percent non-medicated laying pellet. During our gardening time, which is most of the year here, they get lots of extra veggies.  We believe with this management our chickens produce healthier and tastier eggs. Mother Earth News did a study on pastured eggs compared to conventional eggs. Here are the results:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acid
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
-4-6 times more vitamin D

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/pastured-eggs-vitamin-d-content.aspx#ixzz2xB1KVNgz

In a nutshell we have happy healthy chickens that lay A LOT of great eggs!

   ~ Patti Alderman

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