1. Higher in Nutrients ! Fresh eggs from your back yard or even farmers market are higher in nutrients and lower in cholesterol. I am feeding my chicks Layena Omega 3 feed to help increase my omega 3's even more in the eggs we'll get.
2. Fresh eggs! Store bought eggs can be 30 days old by the time they get to the store !! I don't want harmful chemicals used to clean or de-stain the shells that I eat. The natural bloom (coating on the shell from the chicken when laid) protects the eggs from bacteria naturally and increases shelf life for storage. With this being said, you need to be careful how you wash your eggs. Since the eggshell is porous bacteria like e-coli can contaminate through those pours. Fresh eggs do not need to be washed. I know, shocking right ?! But seriously they don't, unless there's poop or blood on them. Washing eggs can actually push e-coli, if there's any, into the egg itself due to the pours opening up during washing. When your eggs come from your coop or local farmers market they are much more cleaner than the commercial environments and contamination is far far less due to much better living conditions. All eggs sold at the store are washed even the organic eggs and the USDA regulations regarding chemicals used to wash or sanitize eggs is vague. If you must wash your eggs wash them after they have been refrigerated for a while to the pours are smaller and less risk to get e-coli in your eggs. Eat safe, buy local :)
3. Cost. Start up cost is obviously more than purchasing eggs at the local grocery store, but the accessibility and health benefits pay off for me. I will have access to fresh eggs whenever I need them. I will have farmers market eggs that usually sell at $5-6 dollars per dozen for free. I will also have duck eggs that are going for $8.00 a dozen here locally.
4. They make great pets! My duck Duckie (the yellow one pictured above) is our new guard duck. She is the guarder of our flock and lets me know if there is a stranger around, if they need water or food, if there is a chicken away from the flock and so on. The chickens are less maintenance than a cat. The ducks are a little messier than the chickens but still pretty low maintenance. They also are getting along nicely with our two big dogs. Of course Duckie is boss though, the dogs respect that !
While the chicks are adorable and the coop takes a little work to get
together the long term benefits will far outweigh the cost.
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