Cage Free Vs. Pastured Eggs

[octaviankid]

The city I'm in does not have Pastured eggs....anywhere lol The closest thing I can find is organic cage free...Should I wait until I can obtain pastured eggs...or is there not a big difference between the two??

 

[j.]

It's hard to replace eggs as a source of some nutrients. You would have to eat I think a lot of liver and chocolate. I would eat it anyway if I didn't feel bad from them.

 

[Such_Saturation]

I used to tend to "organic" chicken, they just ate the "extra-size eggs" food you buy at the store and some watermelons and vegetables when they were lucky. There's just no way they can make an egg per day and it be larger than a ping pong ball otherwise. Also they pick up plenty of PUFA from the ground, the pastured ones.

 

[octaviankid]

So what do you recommend Such_Saturation?

 

[Such_Saturation]

In my opinion it is a big improvement to eat organic eggs and even pastured eggs if you can get them, rather than regular. Disregard the fact that even non-organic chickens are technically "cage-free", almost nobody does the cage thing anymore (you can cram more animals on the "ground").

Organic chickens will eat grains and soy but at least they won't be GMO plants (theoretically). They also shouldn't be raised with hormones and antibiotics which will be a lot easier on your intestine in the long run. I have eaten eggs from chickens that run outside all day and I can assure you they were the tastiest I have ever eaten, although very small and mostly yolk.

 

[Kray]

Hi all,

If any of you see this, I'd like some input. These are the two brands I am looking at:

http://vitalfarms.com/pasture-raised-eggs/faq/ (see under, "what do your girls eat", and, "is there soy in their feed")

http://www.soyfreeegg.com/why-soy-free.html (I think they're cage-free, not pasture-raised. Trading soy for sunflower, flax not good?)

Appreciate any feedback :)

 

[Such_Saturation]

Hi all,

If any of you see this, I'd like some input. These are the two brands I am looking at:

http://vitalfarms.com/pasture-raised-eggs/faq/ (see under, "what do your girls eat", and, "is there soy in their feed")

http://www.soyfreeegg.com/why-soy-free.html (I think they're cage-free, not pasture-raised. Trading soy for sunflower, flax not good?)

Appreciate any feedback :)

I don't think it would make a difference, except maybe the pastured ones are happier (less biogenic amines?) and in certain parts of the year they might disregard the feeder almost completely. The soy free eggs have more vitamin E apparently, and the pastured ones eat non-organic feed in some flocks (gmo and pesticides).

 

[Kray]

Hi all,

If any of you see this, I'd like some input. These are the two brands I am looking at:

http://vitalfarms.com/pasture-raised-eggs/faq/ (see under, "what do your girls eat", and, "is there soy in their feed")

http://www.soyfreeegg.com/why-soy-free.html (I think they're cage-free, not pasture-raised. Trading soy for sunflower, flax not good?)

Appreciate any feedback :)

I don't think it would make a difference, except maybe the pastured ones are happier (less biogenic amines?) and in certain parts of the year they might disregard the feeder almost completely. The soy free eggs have more vitamin E apparently, and the pastured ones eat non-organic feed in some flocks (gmo and pesticides).

SuchSat,

Good point about the differences, and some not-so-good components on the pastured hens' feed. The soy-free gals seem to be pretty happy (they're California chicks, after all ), and by the description, they are free to roam from their cages. I'm going to make the switch to soy-free for a while and see how it goes. I'll try to remember to report back, FWIW.

Thanks very much for your input.

 

[Brian]

Check your local online classifieds, such as craigslist.com. In my city not even health food stores have truly pastured eggs, but there are actually lots of local small farms and families that raise egg laying hens who get almost all their nutrition from grazing freely for insects and plant matter. Most are $3 a dozen too. There just isn't really any way to mass produce good pastured eggs.

I think quality pastured eggs are definitely worth it. The fatty acid profile, increased folate, vitamin a, e, k, and d give me a very noticeable feeling of well-being.

 

[pone]

The city I'm in does not have Pastured eggs....anywhere lol The closest thing I can find is organic cage free...Should I wait until I can obtain pastured eggs...or is there not a big difference between the two??

The whole concept of "pasteured eggs" appears to be largely a marketing fraud.

When the box says "organic" what this means is they feed organic grains. High PUFA. It's not what you want.

When the box says "pasteured" what this means is they let the chickens roam and eat insects, which is good, but they then dump huge piles of grains out in the pasture! So at least 50% of the calories ends up being from grain as well.

I contacted every chicken farmer within 100 miles of my location and I could not locate ONE that raised chickens on just insects, grass, fruit, and non PUFA grains. I think it is virtually impossible to find the kind of chicken you ideally want to eat an egg from unless you are willing to invest in raising backyard chickens.

 

[pone]

Check your local online classifieds, such as craigslist.com. In my city not even health food stores have truly pastured eggs, but there are actually lots of local small farms and families that raise egg laying hens who get almost all their nutrition from grazing freely for insects and plant matter. Most are $3 a dozen too. There just isn't really any way to mass produce good pastured eggs.

I think quality pastured eggs are definitely worth it. The fatty acid profile, increased folate, vitamin a, e, k, and d give me a very noticeable feeling of well-being.

Call those craigslist farmers and ask one pointed question: "What percentage of total calories do your chickens get from grains?"

I have yet to meet ONE craigslist farmer who wasn't supplying more than 50% of calories from grains.

I have located a single backyard chicken farmer in the entire US who raises the chickens in a completely grain-free fashion. It turns out it is expensive and difficult to do so. So for commercial fams it probably isn't realistic.

 

[Brian]

The best you're probably going to find are the small farms that move the hen-house around every few days to a new location in a pasture. The farmer I buy mine from trails them behind where his goats have been last, so there are lots of new insects and plants around for them to eat. It's similar to the Joe Salatin Polyface Farm idea.

But even the typical backyard hen will produce superior eggs to the supermarket in my opinion, because of how much natural sunlight and individual attention they receive.

 

[Kray]

Brian,

Sounds like you're sitting on a golden egg where you live.

I agree, sadly, with "pone" about the feed situation. Even with the bells-and-whistles label of the expensive eggs we've bought-- "pasture-raised"-- the company explains that soy is necessary or their girls wouldn't get enough protein to lay good eggs.

For now, I'm switching back to soy-free which are available where we live. Maybe we have to choose a single poison to eliminate as it doesn't seem possible to do away with all of them in one egg (soy, grain, flaxseed, etc), and just experiment with the different brands. I would probably rather get my vitamin E from flaxseed-eating hens than soy-eating hens, personally, which is what the soy-free ranch uses to replace the soy.

 

[Such_Saturation]

I'd like to see how a chicken fares on mango, greens and farmer cheese frankly.

 

[gretchen]

Darn those cage-free eggs.

 

[aguilaroja]

...I contacted every chicken farmer within 100 miles of my location and I could not locate ONE that raised chickens on just insects, grass, fruit, and non PUFA grains. I think it is virtually impossible to find the kind of chicken you ideally want to eat an egg from unless you are willing to invest in raising backyard chickens.

It is problematic for sure to find decent quality eggs, sometimes ridiculously so. A couple of ways to search are to stop by local farmers' markets and ask around, or to ask local small dairy/raw milk producers. Small local dairy producers, CSA's and organic vegetable growers will often have small scale egg production, mainly for themselves. They may have extra, but not so much that they want to go into major distribution. If you connect, they may gladly informally part with their surplus eggs.

There are also numerous backyard chicken-raising groups that may have members looking to distribute their extra egg production.These sources are all more likely to have eggs produced by less constrained chickens with better (low PUFA, low grain) feed.

 

[jyb]

What's the incentive for a small quality producer to avoid grains and pufas? If I had never heard of Peat and were raising a few hens in my garden, I might think: oh, there's grass, but hey to make sure they're happy and well fed I'll add some grains and stuff.

 

[pone]

What's the incentive for a small quality producer to avoid grains and pufas? If I had never heard of Peat and were raising a few hens in my garden, I might think: oh, there's grass, but hey to make sure they're happy and well fed I'll add some grains and stuff.

Because of the popularity of Paleo diets, I think there is a large market for a true grain-free chicken / egg. But what would it actually cost to create?

 

[Such_Saturation]

What's the incentive for a small quality producer to avoid grains and pufas? If I had never heard of Peat and were raising a few hens in my garden, I might think: oh, there's grass, but hey to make sure they're happy and well fed I'll add some grains and stuff.

Because of the popularity of Paleo diets, I think there is a large market for a true grain-free chicken / egg. But what would it actually cost to create?

You could easily do a Kickstarter if you know the right places to advertise. Just a few thousand bucks to start selling and 15-20$ per dozen is not impossible given the average Paleo's wallet to brain ratio.

 

[Kray]

:P

What's the incentive for a small quality producer to avoid grains and pufas? If I had never heard of Peat and were raising a few hens in my garden, I might think: oh, there's grass, but hey to make sure they're happy and well fed I'll add some grains and stuff.

Because of the popularity of Paleo diets, I think there is a large market for a true grain-free chicken / egg. But what would it actually cost to create?

You could easily do a Kickstarter if you know the right places to advertise. Just a few thousand bucks to start selling and 15-20$ per dozen is not impossible given the average Paleo's wallet to brain ratio.

:P