Shopping for eggs
When you want to buy eggs, it is recommended that you go for organic eggs. This is because the risk of polluted feeds is reduced and besides that, organic eggs are more nutritious.
Ensure that you request for pasture-raised because there are many confusing terms that are used in labelling them. Some of the terms used on egg packaging include 'cage free', 'pastured', 'pasture-raised', and 'free-range'. The law allows for such labelling irrespective of whether the hens spend little or no time in the open where there is pasture. You can inquire from the chicken producer or your grocer concerning the way the egg laying chickens were bred. You could think of buying organic, pasture-raised eggs from farms in your locality which rear smaller number of chicken in a natural lifestyle setting. You should be able to find them on the internet.
What's new and beneficial about eggs?
Nearly all egg yolks have omega-3 fats which differ depending on the quantities of foods which contain omega-3s that the hen ate. The past few years, the market has seen the introduction of omega-3 supplemented eggs that have had omega-3 oils added to the hen's feeds. These oils are a mixture of algae oil, krill oil, menhaden oil and flaxseed oil. This means that it is possible to increase the quantities of omega-3 in an egg yolk can be increased between 3 and 5 times by supplementing the diet of the hen with all these oils.
It has been possible to produce eggs containing up to 250 milligrams of omega -3 each yolk. The benefits of omega-3 are quite considerable. Recent findings show that a hen has the ability to increase the quantity of omega-3 in her eggs through her natural diet.
Pasture feeding is more preferable to other methods used in feeding chicken because it allows chickens to eat big amounts of legumes which are very rich in omega-3s including alfalfa and clover. It has been found that there is a notable increase in omega -3s quantities in eggs by feeding chickens on natural pasture only.
Research has shown that the vitamin E content in eggs of hens increase a lot with pasture feeding. Caged hens were compared to hens which forage on legumes and grasses. The results showed that vitamin E content in egg yolks of the chickens which foraged on pasture exceeded those of the caged chickens by about 200%. In addition, those hens which foraged a lot more on grasses than legumes were able to develop 25% extra vitamin E in their eggs. Hens are omnivorous and feed on assortment of foods such as worms, insects, grubs, grasses, seeds and legumes.
source : What Is Egg Pasture-Raised?
