Free Ranging

In case you don't get the Mother Earth News magazine and I don't but a friend passes their copy on to us when they are done with it. They had an article in their fall issue about Real Free Range Eggs, the article pointed out that real free range is being allowed to roam free on pasture and feed on the things that they find there. What it doesn't mean is chickens that live outdoors in a pen or that live in cages with the barn doors open.

I hate to tell you what I have seen my chickens eat but my chickens are true free range chickens. They actually eat a lot of grass and plants, they love worms, insects and grubs. They like Angel's dog food and will even eat some stuff that buzzards find appealing. They pick and scratch through the manure piles as well.

The magazine article says that after their testing of free range eggs and factory produced eggs was completed, they found that Free Range Eggs had the following:

• 1/3 less cholesterol (some that they tested even had 1/2 less)
  
• 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

Now if I can just find where the silly things are laying...