Smaht Fahm Smaht Food for Smaht People! 2011-03-26T13:52:35+00:00 Apache Roller (incubating) Don't Wash Those Eggs! Erin 2010-12-16T13:21:06+00:00 2010-12-16T13:21:06+00:00 <p>I see you in the grocery store (a place I go rarely, but living in New England, there's only so much you can grow and preserve), staring at the egg section, baffled about all the egg choices available. &nbsp;What is free range versus pastured? &nbsp;What about organic versus vegetarian fed? &nbsp;What's all the fuss about?</p><p>&nbsp;There are many articles out there addressing these things, but here's a good visual summary:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p></p><p>Yes, you want to feed your family well, but if you buy fresh, local eggs from a farmer you know, then you have to worry about almost none of these things. &nbsp;First, if it's a small fahmstead, you can see the chickens and know where they roam and what they eat. &nbsp;Ask your farmer about their practices, anyone raising their chickens well will be proud to tell you all about them. &nbsp;Pastured chickens have higher levels of Omega 3 in their diets and eggs because they're eating a variety of bugs, grasses, etc. &nbsp;No need to add supplements to their feed because they're getting it naturally. &nbsp;Egg color is not indicative of nutrition, they're all about the same. &nbsp;For example, a dozen of our eggs can contain many different shades of brown, peach, speckled, green and blue because of the different breeds of chickens who lay them.</p><p>&nbsp;We don't worry about salmonella or bacteria much here because of our sanitary practices. &nbsp;The chickens lay their eggs in nesting boxes that are cleaned out daily and fresh wood shavings are added. &nbsp;Our girls are very picky about the level of shavings in their boxes--too little and they won't lay, too much and they kick it out, so I have to be vigilant about monitoring. &nbsp;Then there's the rooster, who decides to make mischief occasionally and hops into the nesting box, kicks all the shavings out, clucks like a laying hen, then leaves. &nbsp;Weird, but he's a good roo and protects his girls, so I'll allow him his eccentricities. &nbsp;Lastly, you may occasionally notice a little residue on an egg--this could be a tiny piece of wood shaving, feather or dirt. &nbsp;We don't wash our eggs because it's not good for them. &nbsp;When a chicken lays an egg, it comes with a protective coating on it (you can't see it or feel it, but it's there) to seal the pores from bacteria. &nbsp;If there were a baby chick inside, this would be crucial to protect the baby. &nbsp;But since we don't allow our eggs to incubate, this isn't a problem.</p><p>&nbsp;The problem with grocery store/large egg manufacturers is that they wash the eggs when they collect them. &nbsp;This removes the protective coating and opens the pores up to be susceptible to bacteria. &nbsp;Add that to unsanitary conditions (hundreds of thousands of chickens in a small space breeds disease) and you end up with large recalls of recent. &nbsp;We don't worry about it because we're small, sanitary and honor the chickens natural ability to be chickens. &nbsp;We don't interfere with the chickens, they have space outdoors to roam (outside all day, only come in to lay eggs during the day) and forage for food. &nbsp;We don't have to treat for mites because they're not a problem--the chickens have space to dig holes in the woods and give themselves dust baths, a natural mite remedy. &nbsp;And we don't wash the eggs so that the protective coating stays on them.</p><p>We collect the eggs each day, put them in egg cartons and straight into a dedicated egg fridge. &nbsp;Eggs actually don't need refrigeration, but we refrigerate because we want to stop any potential incubation if it's a fertilized egg. &nbsp;We do keep a rooster around but it's more for protection than fertilization, he's a great warning system when a hawk or other predator is nearby and gets his girls to safety. &nbsp;You won't notice if the eggs is fertilized or not because it would take three days to develop. But since we put them straight into a fridge at 39 degrees, this is never an issue.</p><p>It's a lot of research to make informed food choices, but we encourage you to do it. &nbsp;Know what you're putting into your body, know where your food comes from. &nbsp;Sadly that this was common practice 60 years ago--back then, poor people birthed their babies at home, breastfed, raised large gardens and chickens to feed their families. &nbsp;Wealthier, more educated people bought processed foods, birthed in hospitals, fed their babies formula, all as a status symbol. &nbsp;Now it's reversed--it's the educated people like us (I have two Bachelor's degrees, my husband has a Master's degree) who are making holistic choices to birth, raise and feed our families. &nbsp;We wish the same for you--educated consumers eating real food!</p>