Eggs
We are finally starting to get eggs from our own chickens and ducks again. Every year, they stop laying for a little while and then slowly start up again. I know people who keep extra light on them to keep this from happening, but I can't really bring myself to do this. The problem then, is what to do in the meantime. I used to get eggs from our little credit union. One of the members would bring in extras and sell them for $2 a dozen. These were wonderful, organic, free range eggs, but the credit union was bought out by another, larger and more impersonal cu, and so that source was gone.
Since then, I have been searching for a source of good eggs and not finding one. Oh there are eggs that say they are free range and organic, and expensive, but do not really measure up. An egg holds no secrets.
You can tell how well fed a chicken is by the color of the yolk (and to some extent the thickness of the shell). A chicken that is well fed, or is truly free range (has access to vegetation) will have eggs with dark yolks. A pale yellow yolk means that greenery is limited or absent in the diet. A thin shell means insufficient calcium, which can relate to the same thing, or a deficient feed.
The age of an egg can be told by whether the yolk holds up. Old yolks break more easily. Also in old eggs, the yolk will often drift to one side of the egg. Obviously, there are differences among eggs in a single carton, but the general rule will hold.
I have so very often paid 3 to 5 dollars for a dozen supposedly superior eggs, only to find their yolks are as pale as any from the megacorps, or so old that I was afraid to use them, or both.
Sometimes good eggs can be gotten from local farmers, but again they are sometimes kept too long. Occasionally I have gotten local eggs I suspect were found hidden by a smart hen and some were fresh and some very old.
Enough whining. I will now rejoice in the fruit of my own chickens, and hope someone else finds my words useful.
Since then, I have been searching for a source of good eggs and not finding one. Oh there are eggs that say they are free range and organic, and expensive, but do not really measure up. An egg holds no secrets.
You can tell how well fed a chicken is by the color of the yolk (and to some extent the thickness of the shell). A chicken that is well fed, or is truly free range (has access to vegetation) will have eggs with dark yolks. A pale yellow yolk means that greenery is limited or absent in the diet. A thin shell means insufficient calcium, which can relate to the same thing, or a deficient feed.
The age of an egg can be told by whether the yolk holds up. Old yolks break more easily. Also in old eggs, the yolk will often drift to one side of the egg. Obviously, there are differences among eggs in a single carton, but the general rule will hold.
I have so very often paid 3 to 5 dollars for a dozen supposedly superior eggs, only to find their yolks are as pale as any from the megacorps, or so old that I was afraid to use them, or both.
Sometimes good eggs can be gotten from local farmers, but again they are sometimes kept too long. Occasionally I have gotten local eggs I suspect were found hidden by a smart hen and some were fresh and some very old.
Enough whining. I will now rejoice in the fruit of my own chickens, and hope someone else finds my words useful.
posted by Michael at
11:01 AM
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