Free Range Eggs Versus Confined Grain Fed Chicken Eggs

Free range eggs from pastured chickens are quite different in terms of their egg yolk color and egg shell strength. Chicken eggs are also much more nutritious when the birds are able to run around outside eating plenty of bugs and grass versus eggs from confined grain fed chickens.

My husband went to all the work to make a beautiful chicken coop with an open bottom, so we could move the chicken coop around on the fresh grass. This would allow the chickens to munch away in whatever area we moved that chicken coop to.

Well during the time that our chickens were staying pretty cooped up and were certainly not free range, one of our neighbor's 100% free range chickens and pastured chickens decided to lay a free range egg in our yard. It was a fun gift to receive. I thought, you know I bet this free range egg is going to have a much brighter yolk color than the eggs from my confined and mostly grain fed chickens. After all, I do read a lot in this area...

Well, when I cracked that neighbor's free range egg open, I had to chuckle a bit. There it was! This glorious bright orange egg yolk just beaming at me, saying look at me! Oh, and the yolk was so firm and plump and the egg shell was so nice, and strong. It did not easily crack like some of my confined grain fed chicken egg shells did.

OK, I thought. Most people probably really cannot believe that the color of the egg yolk is not only dramatically affected by the diet of the chicken, but the brighter that egg yolk in color, the more nutritious that egg is too. That's right, as the health of the chicken improves, so does their egg and resulting offspring. The baby chick from a good healthy chicken egg would no doubt get a better start in life than being born from a pale yellow yolk in a weak shell. Awe, and us humans also benefit from this better nutrition.

The color of the egg yolk is a barometer for me, not only does it tell me about the health and diet of the chicken, but it also tells me about the health of the chicken egg. I get a great deal of pleasure when I crack open an egg and I see this bright orange sunburst of a yolk inside. Life can really be sweet at times!

I was not doing a very good job of getting greens to my chickens inside their coop. However, I am now doing a much better job letting the chickens run around and eat lots of organic foods. I am sure they are pasture fed. They eat plenty of insects and bugs, like worms, cockroaches, scorpions, ants, and of course the chlorophyll rich grass - a true healthy feast for the chickens. Chickens are a great way to naturally keep your bug count down!

Chickens are omnivores and do like variety in their diet. They do best with grain and plenty of access to grass, weeds and bugs. Yes, being pasture fed is very important.

Actually, they are not finicky eaters and seem to like most foods. Lately, we have been giving them lots of yummy apples since we had a big apple harvest this year. Even with their true smorgasbord of good food choices, my chickens certainly do prefer their wheatgrass.

Now I know regular lawn grass is not as nourishing as the wheatgrass, but their egg yolks are a much brighter orange now that they are pasture fed and free to roam around and dine on the many tasty treats nature provides.

I would not say my chickens are 100% free range, as I tend to let them out of their cage in the second half of the day so they don't wander as far and then they go right back to their cage to roost when the sun starts going down.

This way I don't have to chase down my mean but beautiful rooster too much! That's right, when that sun starts to set, the chickens want to naturally go back to their cage and settle in safely for the night. And that's a good thing!

Dr. Bernard Jensen said, "I also recognized many other facets of chlorophyll through my studies, For instance, it had an enormous effect on egg yolks. When chickens were fed greens, they would have a nice dark orange egg yolk. To see this change! It all came in the matter of one or two days, showing that the effect on the body was taking place almost immediately. To think that the whole body was making a change. That egg had to be made from that whole body! An egg is no better than the chicken itself."

Well, knowing the full benefits of how important greens are with their spectacular chlorophyll to the health of animals and humans too, and knowing that the cereal grasses are hands down the most nutritious greens that are being shown to be quite the blood builders as these wheatgrass research studies show, I would definitely make a better effort to pull greens into your diet. Who would have thought this awe inspiring, humble, and profound grass that we walk upon without much thought, is playing such a significant and brilliant role in the health of the planet, animal kingdom and humans too. Nature's grass is genius I say, pure genius!

Planck says, "Pastured yolks are a rich yellow from the beta-carotene in plants. They also contain more monounsaturated fat, vitamin A and E, folic acid, lutein, and beta-carotene than indoor eggs. Pastured eggs are dramatically richer in omega-3 fats, which prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and depression.

"The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in pastured eggs is ideal (about 1:1), while an indoor egg has almost twenty times more omega-6 than omega-3 fats. The omega-3 fats come from grass as well as insects, grubs, and worms."

"Egg yolks from pasture-fed hens or hens raised on flax meal, fish meal or insects are also rich in the omega-3 long-chain fatty acids found in mothers's milk but which may be lacking in cow's milk. These fatty acids are essential for the development of the brain. Parents who institute the practice of feeding egg yolk to baby will be rewarded with children who speak and take directions at an early age. The white, which contains difficult-to-digest proteins, should not be given before the age of one year.

"Small amounts of grated, raw organic liver may be added to the egg yolk after six months. This imitates the practice of African mothers who chew liver before giving it to their infants as their first food. Liver is rich in iron, the one mineral that tends to be low in mother's milk.

"...A pinch of sea salt added to the yolk will also facilitate brain development. Salt is necessary to activate the formation of glial cells in the brain, the cells that make connections and help us think faster.

"Unfortunately, salt is often left out of commercial baby food, in the mistaken belief that salt should be avoided. As you add other foods to baby's diet, be sure that they are salted with unrefined sea salt."

I personally love the Celtic sea salt. You might also enjoy my Nourishing Traditions book review.

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats also contains more excellent and must read feeding babies traditional and nutritional dietary information. If you are looking to grow a healthier family, you truly must have this book in your possession.

If you would like to learn just how powerfully nourishing a traditional foods diet is that has nourished man for thousands of years, including the almighty egg, then please visit this Dr. Weston Price page and make sure to view the Dr. Weston Price nutritional diet video which shows the physical transformations and degeneration that occur when dietary needs are not met.

The chickens were clearly very happy, 100% free range chickens and pastured chickens, running around freely and eating insects and nibbling away on grass. Time for breakfast - yummy and nutritious free range eggs with bright orange yolks! It's going to be a bright, bright, sun shining day...

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