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Eggs
Seriously, can you find a more perfect food than Farm fresh eggs? I think not. Every morning, I have my favorite breakfast. Eggs!!! Eggs cooked perfectly. Eggs cooked just right. Not just any ol eggs from the store, but from the lovely hens we have on our farm! Totally excited still!
Before having a farm fresh egg, I don't ever remember enjoying a fried egg. It all started when one of my friend's cooked me an egg that came from her backyard flock. I had no idea what was missing in my life till then! Talk about amazing flavor! That is the moment, I knew something was about to change! Farm guy has called me "Crazy Chicken Lady," a few times since that day! Before having that first farm fresh egg, I can honestly say that eggs just weren't on my list of, "I can't wait to eat," foods.
Let's see, we got our chickens in 2009. I rarely have any other breakfast than my standard 2 eggs with melted cheddar cheese, Himalayan salt, and pepper. Always cooked in an cast iron skillet. Do you think I would be a fanatic like this, with store bought eggs? I don't think so!
Farm fresh eggs are superior to supermarket eggs. They are superior in flavor, nutrition and freshness! How can I prove that eggs are superior in flavor? Well......... because after all these years of eating eggs from my own flock, it is still my favorite breakfast! Especially, when Farm Guy makes them just right, just for me on the weekends. That guy's a keeper! He does cook eggs better than me.
As far as nutrition goes; Farm fresh eggs contain two-thirds more vitamin A. Three to six times more vitamin D. Who doesn't need more vitamin D? Farm fresh eggs contain far more DHA than a factory egg. DHA is an essential omega-3 fatty acid needed for your brain. If you are deficient in DHA you are more likely to struggle with depression and your little brain won't work as good as it should? "Pay attention to what you are feeding your brain, people!"
Why do I think my eggs from my hen house are more fresh? Because they were laid yesterday or the day before, a week at the most! How long does it take to get an egg, from an egg factory to your plate? Couple days? Ummmmm....... no.
Back-yard egg's contain a lot more vitamins and minerals. The list is quite extensive. Why do we buy so many vitamins and minerals in a bottle when maybe we just need to have some chickens running around the yard? Having fresh eggs can be a wonderful start to having better health. Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to get your nutrition from your own backyard?
Did you know that farm fresh eggs that are laid in clean nest boxes don't need to be refrigerated? I told you they were the "perfect" food. They will keep for days on your kitchen counter in a pretty bowl. Then you can admire them as you go about your day! Now if your nest boxes aren't very clean, you will need to wash the eggs and put them in the fridge because you will have washed off the invisible protective coating that the hens put on the eggs in order to stay fresh. This cuticle bloom gets put on right before the egg comes out and protects the inside of the egg from anything yucky from being absorbed.
Can you use an egg that comes in to the house slightly cracked? Yes, as long as the white membrane that is right under the shell didn't open up. However you should use it within a couple day's because that egg will not stay fresh very long. If the egg is no good for the family, we cook it up and put it in the kitchen scrap bucket to send it back out to the chickens for feed. Don't you just love to recycle? Our animals use up all our kitchen and garden waste, which eventually comes out of the animal or bird, which gets put into the garden, which nourishes the produce! This all makes me super happy!
Here is an interesting fact. Did you know that even though an egg comes from the back end of a chicken. It comes out of separate pipes but the same hole. The backend of a hen serves two separate pipes. The bottom pipe is where the fecal matter comes from and the top pipe is where the egg comes from. When the egg comes out of the top shoot, the bottom shoot collapses and the egg pops out. It won't ever touch chicken poo unless the chicken soiled the nest. Or you just have messy nest boxes.
A lot of you know this already, but I have had people ask me if you need a rooster in order to get eggs. Nope. Hens will lay eggs all by themselves!
If you have chickens on your farm, you are one lucky duck! That's about it, for what I have to say about eggs. For now.
