Birdflu has been detected at a free-range egg farm near Lethbridge, western Victoria. Movement controls are now in place. Agriculture Victoria announced yesterday that the farm tested positive for the H7N7 avian influenza virus. The affected property has been quarantined and all 43,000birds will be destroyed to stop the spread of the virus. movement controls are in place throughout Golden Plains Shire.
The coronavirus pandemic has little effect on the farm. The daily work is constant – collecting eggs, checking feed and water. Our home larder has always been well stocked, meaning there is no shortage of things to eat.
We still sell all the eggs we produce – so the only noticeable difference is that our internet service is slower than normal, presumably because so many more people are working from home and children are home-schooling. So far there have been no delays in delivering eggs, sourcing poultry feed or packaging.
Egg production has increased in recent decades, and has reached an annual volume of more than 68 million tons worldwide. The main reasons are that chicken eggs are a valuable source of protein and are also inexpensive.The huge demand for eggs led to more intensive and cost-effective production, replacing traditional free range methods,resulting in serious environmental impacts.
Currently, about 7 million tons of eggs are produced each year in the European Union. Spain is one of the largest producers with 1,260 farms and an average of 67,700 chickens each. Together with France,Spain represents about 25 percent of European production, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment.
In addition, the production of eggs, like other intensive produce, generates negative effects on the environment, including the emission of greenhouse gases or the contamination of soil and water.
It was not until the 1980s that intensive livestock farming began to be considered an environmental problem, and since then, few studies have focused on the impact of laying hen farms on the ecosystem. To determine the environmental implications of egg production in Europe, a team of Spanish researchers has taken as model an intensive poultry farm located in Asturias, with 55,000 laying hens and an annual production of more than 13 million eggs. The results are published in theJournal of Cleaner Production.
Read more at https://phys.org/news/2018-04-environmental-footprint-egg-industry.html#jCp
Is cholesterol in eggs bad?
Chicken eggs are a low cost source of protein and other key nutrients. They are naturally high in cholesterol. But the cholesterol in eggs doesn't raise cholesterol levels the way other foods do, such as trans fats and saturated fats..studies have found no connection between dietary cholesterol in eggs and cholesterol levels in blood.
There is absolutely no evidence that eating eggs is bad for your heart. A major study looked at the impact of egg consumption on heart disease and found no connection between the two.
Most healthy people can eat seven eggs a week without increasing their risk of heart disease. Some studies have shown that this level of egg consumption may even help prevent certain types of stroke and a serious eye condition called macular degeneration that can lead to blindness. The white of a typical egg contains more than half the protein of the egg. Egg whites are free of fat, and they contain vitamins and minerals. But the yolk contains all the essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins.
Freeranger Eggs, we have always encouraged people to set up their own free range farms producing eggs for their local communities. We ran workshops on the farm, demonstrating how to do it, following the principles of sustainability and regenerative farm practices. We also produced an eBook which is still available as a PDF going through the steps needed for a successful venture. We planned to take it a stage further to reach more people by developing a series of webinars designed to allow us to help more people. Unfortunately we couldn't raise crowd funding to ensure that the webinars would be produced to a professional standard with excellent graphic presentations.
More free range farms needed
Everyone can help to set up local small farms and secure sustainable farming, providing access to local food,while combating climate change Every community should be able to buy food from farmers in their area rather than rely on produce trucked from warehouses across the country.The first webinar on setting up a free range farm was scheduled for World Egg Day, Friday October 11 2019.but the crowd funding appeal failed. Even so, Anne and Phil Westwood at Freeranger Eggs are encouraging people to set up more free range farms to help meet strong consumer demand for genuine free range eggs. Local and overseas enquiries are received about our eBook.