What are the benefits of eating eggs from your backyard chickens?
Do you currently enjoy eggs for breakfast or even as an add-on to lunch or dinner? Eggs make the perfect breakfast to get that much-needed protein in. There are many different ways to prepare eggs for breakfast. You can poach, fry, or scramble them. Do you like your eggs sunny side up, medium, or well done? Some prefer the egg whites while some prefer the yolk. Eggs are needed for baking and can be hard-boiled or chopped into egg salad. There are many ways to use the eggs from your pet chickies!
When comparing backyard chicken eggs to chicken eggs from hens living in confined and cramped hen houses you can find some differences between the two listed below. You will find that backyard chicken eggs are tastier and are a rich nutritional food to add to your diet.
1. Backyard chicken eggs contain more vitamins.
Backyard and if possible, free range, chicken eggs contain more vitamins. According to Smith, from Backyard Chicken Coops, they contain three times more Vitamin E, seven times more Beta-carotene from Vitamin A and up to six times more Vitamin D. Also, B vitamins levels increase in backyard chicken eggs.
By having a few backyard chickens, you increase the quality of nutrition you are receiving in the eggs that you eat. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that can provide protection to your cells from free radicals. It also aids in immune function. According to Olsen, writing for healthline.com, Beta-carotene helps your vision and eye health. It also effects your immune system and skin. Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption in the gut and aids in bone mineralization. B Vitamins aids in enzyme function. They also break down carbohydrates and transport nutrients. B Vitamins play a role in healthy brain function and cancer prevention.
With backyard chicken eggs you'll be getting lots of essential vitamins that you need, without having to take any extra supplements!
2. Backyard chicken eggs contain essential nutrients.
When you have backyard chickens, some of you will be able to let your chickens "free-range". This is where they can explore the yard and find plants and insects in the area. This diverse diet adds to the nutritional value of the eggs. Backyard chicken eggs have been found to contain more Omega-3 Fatty Acids and fifty percent more Folic Acid.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Omega-3 Fatty Acids are considered healthy fats. These healthy fats help to lower your level of triglycerides. Some examples of Omega-3 Fatty Acids are DHA and EPA (from seafood) and ALA (from plants). Omega-3s might prevent cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular disease. Folic Acid or Folate (Vitamin B-9) is important in red blood cell formation and for healthy cell growth and function. Folic Acid could prevent heart disease, stroke, cancer, depression, and dementia. It is essential for pregnant women to get enough Folic Acid in the first weeks or even pre-pregnancy so their baby's brain can develop correctly.
These essential nutrients are needed in our bodies and the best way to get them is through what you choose to eat. Knowing you have healthy backyard chickens with fresh and nutritious eggs to eat without having to run to the store in the morning is a good feeling.
3. Backyard chicken eggs contain less saturated fat and less cholesterol.
When compared to hen eggs from the cramped, stuffy chicken houses to a free-range chicken, free-range chicken eggs contained less saturated fat and less cholesterol.
According to Kubala, with Healthline.com, saturated fat is a dietary unhealthy fat. Consuming a high amount of saturated fats could lead to plaque forming in your arteries, leading to heart disease. Recent research has found that more studies should be done on the effects of saturated fats.
Dietary cholesterol is linked to saturated fats. It contains low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "Bad" cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or "good" cholesterol, triglycerides. All of these combined create your total cholesterol number. Having high cholesterol can also lead to plaque in the arteries, leading to heart disease.
Just changing the type of eggs that you eat can help positively affect your nutritional value in the foods that you are eating. Another great reason to have backyard chickens!
4. Backyard chicken eggs contain more of the antioxidants, Lutein and Zeaxanthin.
Cute chick alert! If you decide to get your own flock of chickens, you might start with baby chicks like these. Everyone loves baby chicks! If you have kids, it's a great learning experience for them.
According to the CDC, antioxidants are known for their ability to defend your body from free radicals that can damage or harm the cells. Both of these powerful antioxidants promote strong eye health and also offer eye protection.
Free radicals, in excess, can lead to increased aging. They can also lead to heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease. Free radicals are caused by oxidation in the body. We can cope with, and our bodies even need some free radicals. We do not want high levels of free radicals, so these antioxidants are important!
Lutein and Zeaxanthin protect our proteins, fats and DNA from stressors. They might reduce the effects of "bad" LDL cholesterol and may reduce the amount of plaque that is built up in the arteries.
Because your backyard chickens' eggs will contain more of these antioxidants, you are providing yourself with helpful antioxidants to help reverse damage to your body and hopefully prevent future illness or bodily inflammation.
5. Backyard chicken eggs taste better.
Fresh backyard chicken eggs have more flavor and richness. They are often only a few days old compared to a grocery store from which the eggs could be over thirty days old. You can be certain that your own backyard chicken eggs are fresh.
A way of supplementing your chickens' diet is with table scraps and expiring food. I give my chickens eggshells, leftovers, fruits and veggies that are at the expiration point, and anything else I think they would munch on. Avoid onions, green potato peels, and always check for compatibility before feeding them a certain food you aren't sure of. By feeding them nutrient rich scraps/ foods, you are also adding nutrients into the eggs you are eating.
Another way to supplement your chickens' diet is with weeds. My chickens love dandelions and mustard weed. I'll pull the weeds and feed them to my chickens, or if you can allow them to graze, they will eat some of your weeds for you. Another treat with medicinal qualities is to crumble up dried flowers, like roses, into their food.
You can spoil your chickies in many ways, but one way that you will have them eating out of your hand is by purchasing dried meal worms or dried insects for them to eat. Cup them in your hand and watch as they eat out of your hand. Watch out for those hard pecks!
This post was written to inform you of the ways that backyard chickens give you the best eggs! They are nutritious and provide a quick meal every morning. Maybe now you can look into having backyard chickens!
Footnotes:
1. Cleveland Clinic, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, (website, Omega-3 Fatty Acids & the Important Role They Play (clevelandclinic.org) reviewed Nov. 2022)
2. Natalie Olsen, Benefits of Beta Carotene and How to Get It, (website, Healthline.com, updated May 2023)Beta Carotene: Benefits, Foods to Eat, and More (healthline.com)
3. Kassandra Smith, Eggs: Store Bought Vs. Free Range, (website, www.backyardchickencoops.com.au , updated Sept. 2014.)
3. Mayo Clinic Staff, Folate: (folic acid), (website, Folate (folic acid) - Mayo Clinic, Aug. 2023
4. Jillian Jubala, Is Saturated Fat Unhealthy? (website, What Is Saturated Fat and Is It Unhealthy? (healthline.com), Dec. 2023)
5. CDC, About Cholesterol, (website, About Cholesterol | cdc.gov, reviewed March 2023
