Did Your Eggs Come from a Sick Chicken? Here’s How to Tell

Eggs are is always a healthy choice from a nutritional perspective, but did your eggs come from healthy or unhealthy hens?

CHARACTERISTICS OF A HEALTHY CHICKEN

Firstly, a healthy chicken eats whatever it needs such as meat (they should not be restricted to a vegetarian nutrition); furthermore, they eat snakes, bugs, rodents, etc. A well fed chicken’s nutrients are passed onto its eggs. In order for proper intake of these nutrients chickens must have fresh air and free space. Chickens that are locked into small hatches during their lifetime will never have quality eggs as chickens which have free movement.

IF YOU WANT TO BE CERTAIN THAT YOU ARE BUYING QUALITY EGGS YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Density and shell thickness: If you gently tap the egg and it cracks, than you should avoid the eggs. If a chicken’s nutrition is rich and her health is optimized, then the shells of the eggs are strong. So, if an egg is pretty difficult to crack then it is likely very healthy

Color of the yolk: A lot of Americans are used to eating eggs that have brighter, yellowish yolks, but this is not necessarily the healthier variant since healthier eggs have orange yolks and what’s more, the darker the color, the better the egg quality.

Thickness of the yolk: This is also an important factor and yolks from healthier eggs are rounder and thicker.

The Oxford Journal noted that if a chicken’s intake of beta carotene is increased, the presence of beta carotene in its eggs is also increased. Moreover, The Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry stated that increased DHA levels in the nutrition of the chicken had an influence on the higher presence of omega-3 fatty acids in its eggs.

Now that you know how to find the perfect egg, the question is where to buy it? Since the advent of the agricultural industry and improved farming techniques, there are numerous options to purchase eggs.

If you have free space, you can raise several chickens on your own and provide enough eggs for you and your family. Moreover, the chickens will eat bugs and lower their number in your yard.  Also, you can contact some local farms and inform yourself about how they are raising their chickens. If their hens have free space to move and are not forced to a vegetarian nutrition or confined quarters, you’ve likely made a great contact for healthier eggs.

All in all, try eggs with orange yolks and you will never go back to eating eggs with brighter yolks.