Fresh Eggs are Scrumptious

Hens chatting on a fence rail beside the barn.

Yesterday I had occasion to speak with my friend Josh. Familiar with Publix supermarkets as he is, Josh informed me that his household has switched to buying their eggs from Publix because Publix eggs taste better than any other store-bought eggs they have tried. He went on to explain that Publix is careful to only purchase their eggs from farms where the hens may range freely about the place. How cool is that?

Our hens range freely (except for the few temporarily caught up in the kennel). The eggs they provide for us are delicious: the color is always rich, the yolks are firm, and the flavor is nothing short of scrumptious. Luckily for me, I no longer recall how store-bought eggs taste.

I'm interested that the Publix eggs are advertised as being from hens fed an "all-natural, organic diet" consisting of "four different types of grain." Left alone, most farm animals are not naturally consumers of grain, or at least not in the quantities fed by farmers. Our goal is to raise our chickens on greens (and grubs, bugs, and anything else that catches their fancy). Indeed, those few caged birds--when given both grain and greens simultaneously--seem to prefer the green plants over the grain seeds.

Kenneled poultry awaiting delivery of new greens.

Soon I hope to have a chicken tractor built, a type of mobile chicken shelter, that will allow our hens to roam and feed on pasture while at once being protected from predators--and keeping our multiple roosters separated. Just over a week ago I had occasion to visit Meadow Mist Farm in eastern Massachusetts, where I saw their large mobile chicken cage. Designed of metal hoops, chicken wire, shade cloth, and bent runners for ease of transport, their structure caught my fancy. Although theirs is large enough to possibly require a tractor to move it, I hope to design ours such that one person (or horse or goat) can shuttle it from place to place, while still allowing the hens plenty of room to roam inside.

Living outside of city limits as we do, we are blessed with the riches Nature provides. Thank you, Lord, for all of these gifts--and most certainly for the eggs!