GRASS-FED CHICKEN EGGS

Big Oaks Ranch began raising chickens in the fall of 2001 when there was a glut of baby chicks after the tragedy of 9-11-2001 stalled airfreight. The original plan was to farm the eggs for our family and employees benefit. However, just as word spread about the goats, word spread about the eggs. Soon the Burrows were receiving calls requesting "yard eggs". Yard eggs are eggs laid by free-range/pastured hens. Tests by Mother Earth News Magazine comparing eggs from four flocks of pastured chickens to supermarket eggs found dramatic differences in their health qualities. The eggs from the pastured hens contained half the cholesterol of the supermarket eggs, twice the Vitamin E and have two to six times more beta carotene (a form of vitamin A), and four times more healthy omega-3 fatty acid than the supermarket eggs. These results were published in the August/September 2005 issue. Resource: THE STOCKMAN Grass Farmer, October 2005, Volume 62, #10, p. 15. They graze the pastures and fields freely. The eggs are of superior quality and free from added hormones, feed fillers, antibiotics, herbicides and pesticides. Big Oaks Ranch provides mobile coops with laying boxes. The hens roost and lay the eggs in these boxes. The litter accumulates on the ground as fertilizer. The coops are cleaned every day. The chicken litter is recycled through the ranch compost pile. The coops are moved every two to three days. This maintains a clean and healthy environment for the animals and is a natural and organic means of fertilization. The Big Oaks Ranch roosters keep the hens happy.

Eggs (photos)

The Health Benefits of Free-Range Chicken Eggs

Eggs - Good for your body