Donna Fezler
GCR
Jacksonville, IL
> -----Original Message-----
> From: KEN ANDERSON [mailto:Ken@poultry.poulsci.ncsu.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 2:36 AM
> To: gcr@rhealiving.com
> Subject: Re: FW: Free-range eggs and nutritional differences
>
> > Donna:
>
> > The differences you have mentioned between free range eggs and
> commercially produced eggs, ie. darker color and shell thickness,
> are probably true due to two facts. First, the darker color
> is due to
> the increased consumption of heavily pigmented feed stuffs which
> the free range chickens will eat. These include grasses, wild plant
> seeds, and insects which have high levels of
> <color><param>0100,0100,0100</param>Xanthophyls which are
> the orange pigments in the feed</color>. These pigments can
> actually be
> added into commercial diets so that the eggs produced look
> identical to free range produced eggs. Second, is the shell
> thickness or strength issue. Most free range chickens are those
> which produce brown shell eggs, it is widely known that brown
> shell eggs have tougher shells. The shell itself is not thicker but
> the membranes are thougher and subsequently influence the
> impression of stronger shells.
>
>
> One other trait you mentioned was taste of the free range eggs.
> There is no difference between the taste or nutritional value of free
> range or commercially produced eggs. The impression that the
> free range egg has a richer flavor is due to the perception of the
> individual eating the egg. The appearance of the egg will influence
> the way it tastes. I happen to produce my own eggs since my
> daughter has some pet chickens and the eggs from them taste just
> like those you buy in the store. Nutritionally eggs are produced by
> the hen for the purpose of reproduction. Therefore, since the
> development of a chick embryo requires the same nutrients no
> matter where the hen produces the egg the nutrients the hen puts
> in are the same.
>
> > I have also seen prices of $4/doz for fertile eggs. The $6/doz for
> green Araucana eggs I don't know about. However, nutritionally on
> a volume to volume basis there is no nutritional difference between
> any of the eggs you mentioned.
> >
> Ken Anderson
> Kenneth E. Anderson, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor and Extension Poultry Specialist
> Poultry Science Department
> North Carolina State University
> Scott Hall, Rm. 237
> Box 7608
> Raleigh, NC 27695-7608
>
> Office: (919)515-5527
> FAX: (919)515-7070
>
> ken_anderson@ncsu.edu
>
>
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