The egg section of the supermarket makes me laugh. The variety of egg labels is insane. Organic, free range, cage free...the one that makes me laugh the most is 'vegetarian fed'. Could someone explain this one to me? First of all, chickens are not vegetarians. Sure, they eat vegetables and grains. But they also eat BUGS. In fact, left to their own devices, chickens will sometimes eat each other. Now if you are concerned about the poor bugs that are being eaten, then why are you eating eggs (which is meat by the way)? Perhaps you are concerned about omega 3 or omega 6 or omega 'whatever', and the vegetarian eggs are higher in this. These eggs break several of my personal rules on grocery buying. First, it is trendy. Second, we should be eating things how they were designed. And third, do you really know what that omega diet is?
Aside from bleaching white eggs and salmonella, the one thing that concerns me for my home is that the majority of commercial chickens are fed a diet of solely or almost all soy. The research I have seen shows that this passes on to the eggs, which really makes sense if you stop and think about it. So...
For the FPIES ~ when I get to the point that I can trial eggs for Ellie, how will I know if it is an egg fail or a soy fail if the eggs come from soy fed chickens? My mommy brain tells me that I wont!
For the non-FPIES ~ trust me when I say you have enough soy in your diet already. That is an entirely different research topic.
At the moment we do not have the ability or resources to have our own chickens, and Jason runs screaming from the room every time I mention it. The solution for my house is to find a local farm to purchase eggs from (thanks for the help finding a farm MFF!).
Here is a GREAT article on how commercial eggs are processed - quick and easy to read. If you are unable to open the link because you are not a member of Dr. Mercola's site, let me know and I will email it to you!
Are Organic Eggs Safer?
I want chickens. I have been researching them. I was thinking about setting up a co-op of sorts with the neighbors (so they won't mind chickens) and some friends. You know I have plenty of room for them. After that - a goat!
ReplyDeleteAre you saying you have room for some friends or room for chickens? :) I would co-op with you! Seriously though....what have you been thinking? It might get the neighbors on board instead of complaining on me.
ReplyDeleteI actually have room for both friends and chickens! Come on over!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of asking some of them if they wanted to pitch in a certain $ amount per month, and possibly some chore work, to get a set amount of fresh eggs per week/month. I think I need to do more research on coop building and how much feed costs, etc. I have a few friends who are definitely willing, but I thought if the neighbors wanted fresh eggs, they wouldn't mind the chickens.
Also, apparently some breed are quieter and better suited to captivity. So I need to find a feed store that has the ones I like, or if I need to order them.
Probably wouldn't be able to pull it all together until next spring. We'll see...
I'd love to have chickens someday. Laura reminded me that they get a little stinky...Our last trip to Fair Oaks Park back when the big kids were little, their feet and sand toys stunk like chicken poop. I think I need a wider side yard than 8ft...
ReplyDelete