So, Ive often thought about having a big chicken & egg business
(You know, when the economy goes bad (worse?), the food supply goes kaput, and I lose my real job )
Anyway,
I wanted to be able to tell my customers why my little flock of back yard chickens produces better eggs than the store bought factory eggs.
I did a lot of research and came up with several facts and put them on my egg facts page.
Can anyone add any tidbits for me?
Egg Facts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The #1 Egg laying myth is that you need a rooster in your flock for hens to lay eggs
You do not. Hens lay fine without a rooster
Most people say that fresh eggs have a different/better taste to them
The US East Coast prefers Brown eggs while the West Coast prefers White eggs
There is no nutritional difference between Brown eggs and White eggs
Blood Spots (sometimes called meat spots) are occasionally found on an egg yolk
The #2 Egg laying myth is that a blood spot means the egg is fertile
Untrue. Blood Spots are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface during
formation of the egg or by a similar accident in the wall of the oviduct
Less than 1% of all eggs produced have blood spots.
Yolks
Yolks that are deep yellow/gold are higher in carotenoids (ie: beta-carotene - preliminary form of vitamin A)
Chickens that eat plants ( free range chickens) produce yolks with higher carotenoids, and darker, healthier yolks The yolk or yellow portion makes up about 33% of the liquid weight of the egg
It contains all of the fat in the egg and a little less than half of the protein
With the exception of riboflavin and niacin, the yolk contains a higher proportion of the egg's vitamins than the white
All of the egg's vitamins A, D and E are in the yolk
Egg yolks are one of the few foods naturally containing vitamin D
The yolk also contains more phosphorus, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, and calcium than the white, and it contains all of the zinc
The yolk of a Large egg contains about 59 calories.
Double-Yolk Eggs
Double-yolked eggs are often produced by young hens whose egg production cycles
are not yet completely synchronized. They're often produced, too, by hens who are old
enough to produce Extra Large eggs. Genetics is a factor, also. Occasionally a hen
will produce double-yolked eggs throughout her egg-laying career. It is rare, but not
unusual, for a young hen to produce an egg with no yolk at all.
True Free Range Eggs
True free-range eggs are those produced by hens raised outdoors or that have daily
access to the outdoors. Due to seasonal conditions, however, few hens are actually
raised outdoors. Some egg farms are indoor floor operations and these are
sometimes erroneously referred to as free-range operations. Due to higher production
costs and lower volume per farm, free-range eggs are generally more expensive.
How Fresh are your eggs?
You can tell if an egg is 'old' by placing it in water several inches deep. 'Old' eggs will float, fresh eggs will sink.
Why? Eggs have an air pocket in the large end of the egg. As the egg ages, it loses moisture and carbon dioxide, and shrinks.
The size of the air space increases, which makes the egg float. (Eggs have thousands of pore that let the egg 'breath')
If you submerge a very fresh egg in water, it will lie on the bottom.
An egg that is a week or so old will lie on the bottom but bob slightly.
An egg that is three weeks or so old will balance on its small end, with the large end floating.
A bad egg will float
There are normally 2 dates on a carton of eggs purchased from a grocery store.
The "sell-by date", and a Julian calendar date.
The Julian calendar date is the packing date (Packing can occur several days or even weeks after laying)
The "sell-by-date" is usually 6 weeks(!) after the packing date
Fresh eggs have a cloudy egg white - (The whites are filled with carbon dioxide that leeks out over time)
Very fresh eggs do not hard boil well - (The eggs stick to the shells because there is less airspace in fresh eggs)
The best way hard boil eggs is to immediately put them in ice water after cooking - (Even hard boiled fresh eggs should peel fine when cooked this way)
(You know, when the economy goes bad (worse?), the food supply goes kaput, and I lose my real job )
Anyway,
I wanted to be able to tell my customers why my little flock of back yard chickens produces better eggs than the store bought factory eggs.
I did a lot of research and came up with several facts and put them on my egg facts page.
Can anyone add any tidbits for me?
Egg Facts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The #1 Egg laying myth is that you need a rooster in your flock for hens to lay eggs
You do not. Hens lay fine without a rooster
Most people say that fresh eggs have a different/better taste to them
The US East Coast prefers Brown eggs while the West Coast prefers White eggs
There is no nutritional difference between Brown eggs and White eggs
Blood Spots (sometimes called meat spots) are occasionally found on an egg yolk
The #2 Egg laying myth is that a blood spot means the egg is fertile
Untrue. Blood Spots are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface during
formation of the egg or by a similar accident in the wall of the oviduct
Less than 1% of all eggs produced have blood spots.
Yolks
Yolks that are deep yellow/gold are higher in carotenoids (ie: beta-carotene - preliminary form of vitamin A)
Chickens that eat plants ( free range chickens) produce yolks with higher carotenoids, and darker, healthier yolks The yolk or yellow portion makes up about 33% of the liquid weight of the egg
It contains all of the fat in the egg and a little less than half of the protein
With the exception of riboflavin and niacin, the yolk contains a higher proportion of the egg's vitamins than the white
All of the egg's vitamins A, D and E are in the yolk
Egg yolks are one of the few foods naturally containing vitamin D
The yolk also contains more phosphorus, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, and calcium than the white, and it contains all of the zinc
The yolk of a Large egg contains about 59 calories.
Double-Yolk Eggs
Double-yolked eggs are often produced by young hens whose egg production cycles
are not yet completely synchronized. They're often produced, too, by hens who are old
enough to produce Extra Large eggs. Genetics is a factor, also. Occasionally a hen
will produce double-yolked eggs throughout her egg-laying career. It is rare, but not
unusual, for a young hen to produce an egg with no yolk at all.
True Free Range Eggs
True free-range eggs are those produced by hens raised outdoors or that have daily
access to the outdoors. Due to seasonal conditions, however, few hens are actually
raised outdoors. Some egg farms are indoor floor operations and these are
sometimes erroneously referred to as free-range operations. Due to higher production
costs and lower volume per farm, free-range eggs are generally more expensive.
How Fresh are your eggs?
You can tell if an egg is 'old' by placing it in water several inches deep. 'Old' eggs will float, fresh eggs will sink.
Why? Eggs have an air pocket in the large end of the egg. As the egg ages, it loses moisture and carbon dioxide, and shrinks.
The size of the air space increases, which makes the egg float. (Eggs have thousands of pore that let the egg 'breath')
If you submerge a very fresh egg in water, it will lie on the bottom.
An egg that is a week or so old will lie on the bottom but bob slightly.
An egg that is three weeks or so old will balance on its small end, with the large end floating.
A bad egg will float
There are normally 2 dates on a carton of eggs purchased from a grocery store.
The "sell-by date", and a Julian calendar date.
The Julian calendar date is the packing date (Packing can occur several days or even weeks after laying)
The "sell-by-date" is usually 6 weeks(!) after the packing date
Fresh eggs have a cloudy egg white - (The whites are filled with carbon dioxide that leeks out over time)
Very fresh eggs do not hard boil well - (The eggs stick to the shells because there is less airspace in fresh eggs)
The best way hard boil eggs is to immediately put them in ice water after cooking - (Even hard boiled fresh eggs should peel fine when cooked this way)
