The Famous Homestead Farm Fresh Eggs
Chicken eggs vary in color from white to pale brown and other pale colors. An average chicken lays 260 eggs per year, so that's five a week, on average. Hens will lay eggs whether or not there are roosters present. Multiple hens will lay their eggs in the same box. According to Mother Earth News, "most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture [like ours]." Their 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:
• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
Eggs from free range chickens (left egg in picture on right) tend to have a deeper yellow yolk and a much more viscous yolk and white than commercially produced eggs. Many people prefer the flavor of these types of eggs over the mass produced type. You can purchase Homestead Farm Fresh Eggs from our farm when they are available (they sell out very quickly) or from Grasch Foods.
Most of the eggs produced on our farm have a light to medium-brown shell. Some of our chickens produce shells with white or bluish shells.
Chickens have a varied diet. They eat insects, worms, fruit, seeds, acorns, grains, slugs, snails, and many other foods. They have a well-developed gizzard (a part of the stomach that contains tiny stones) that grinds up their food. At Homestead Animal Farm we feed our chickens all natural feed without hormones or antibiotics.
Chickens can live outside or in a movable coop and be what is called "free range" or "pasture raised" or they can live inside a coop building. We use both a movable coop and a chicken coop building. Hens can lay their eggs outside if they are free range or inside in nesting boxes. Our chickens spend time both inside the coop and walking around foraging outside in their yard.
There are different breeds of chickens just like there are different breeds of dogs? So chickens come in many different sizes and colors. We have Leghorn chickens, Sunnyside Special Blacks and Browns, some Bantam chickens, a variety of other chickens.
"How do chicks hatch?" The rooster will fertilize the hen's egg and then the egg develops a shell around it. The hen will lay the egg or eggs and then she will sit on them for 21 days. The temperature under the hen is approximately 99.5 degrees. The main nourishment for the chick while it is developing is the egg yolk and egg white. After 21 days the chick will hatch and the mother hen will care for them. The chick will have an enlarged stomach when it hatches from eating the egg yolk and egg white. Food must be provided by the farmer for the chicks and the hen. "Although chicks don't need feed or water the first 48 hours after hatching, both are usually provided as soon as the chicks are dry and walking around." Many of the chickens on our farm hatched here.