Until the great day when we raise our own hens to produce our eggs, we buy our eggs from a natural farm. I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, not too long ago and from it learned to recognize that we’re getting some mighty fine eggs from this local farm. (We also are getting our heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas from them.)
An egg with a deep yellow to orange yolk is rich in carotenoids. A hen can’t control the yolk pigmentation on her own; the yolk’s color is determined by her diet. Good food (plenty of insects) and sunshine yield yolks with a nice, rich color. These two eggs I fried this morning, one for Jeff and one for me. That rich orange one is amazing, isn’t? It makes the yellow-yolked egg look shabby, even though that’s a pretty good egg, too.
















Wow, that is amazing. I didn’t realize the rich orange color yolk was a good thing.
I think, Wardeh, that you breakfast is a cousin of the one I had a while back. http://appliejuice.com/2008/05/24/an-applie-exclusive-2/
LOL
Michelle, I think our breakfasts were cousins! How funny! I never saw that post of yours.
Wardeh,
What are you waiting for to raise your own chickens?? I too waited till I had the perfect set up, then found it far easier than I thought. All they need is a simple structure you can close at night–even a dog house will work or a rabbit hutch, and let them free range during the day. At dusk, they come back to their coop on their own.
We raise our own chickens. We love the eggs !
We do have the issue of our neighbors. I have neighbors on both sides. One loves the idea of us going all Natural and Green and the other side thinks of our chickens as if they were pigeons. We keep the coop clean at all times. They get to roam around when the one neighbor isn’t home. How do you get someone like that to appreciate nature.
Rosa – It sounds like you are a very good example for them and perhaps someday… they will come round. If they don’t, oh, well. We can’t convince everyone to appreciate nature! We hope to be raisins chickens very soon ourselves. Can’t wait!
Well, I know the bright yellow yolks taste a lot better! I didn’t know they were also better for me. Thanks for that! I know it’s the grass and weeds they eat that make the yolks so yellow because they aren’t as yellow in the winter when they are shut indoors. Sometimes I throw some hay down for them to scratch and peck at. It makes the yolks yellow and gives them something to do, I’m sure they must get bored closed in all winter.

Marg´s last blog post… Rainy day in the kitchen
Gah.. it’s sooo hard to find eggs with orange yolks around here. I had just found some but now, 2 boxes in a row, they are yellow… =( why does this have to be so hard! and they’re not cheap either. i don’t wanna spend almost $6 on unhealthy eggs…