05/04/2022
What a great read!
Fun fact Friday.
Let’s talk about eggs.
(Pictured is a chicken and duck egg)
For one did you know that a lot of commercial chickens have their beaks cut to not allowing pecking of each other in confinement? This is considered “ok” (have you ever watched a chicken try to eat with a messed up beak?)
Cage free - this simply means they don’t live in a cage. But what defines a cage? Packed in a metal building with limited space still feels like a cage if you ask me.
Free range - sounds good but this simply means they must have access to the outdoors. But how much access?
Antibiotic and hormone free eggs - no eggs contain these. Just like meat is not run through a processor without proper withdrawal time for antibiotics same with milk.
Organic - honestly all this means is they are getting organic feed. What about their well being?
Vegetarian fed - we’ll then they for sure aren’t free range nor are they eating their natural diet. I’m not sure how this label is even a thing since a chicken will eat a mouse, lizard, bug, anything that walks past it that it can catch. How could one be sure s chicken never ate such thing? (Confinement?)
Now the whole orange yolk ordeal - if you raise chickens you can tell when your birds are foraging well based on the color of their yolks. One would think the same about store bought eggs but egg producers have caught on and feed dried marigolds to enrich the color of the yolk without actually enriching the chickens lives.
So what’s the best option? Buy from a neighbor who’s raising hens in their backyard. Even if they are confined to a coop and run i still would almost bet they are more humanely cared for than the ones being mass produced. I’d almost bet money everyone has someone within a reasonable distance of them that would sell some of their eggs it just might take some looking depending on the regulations where you live.
Shared from Graham Family Ranch
