Page 72 - Summer2008

Growing Wise Kids

EAT YOUR EGGS AND HAVE YOUR CHICKENS, TOO!
MOTIVATION FOR HAVING YOUR OWN BACKYARD FLOCK
By Jen Allbritton, CN

1.
I have long desired to become a homesteader thin. Not only are bright yellow yolks loaded
and raise my own food. I want to work the land with these fat-soluble antioxidant nutrients,
and enjoy the fruit of my own labor instead of they are more bioavailable than those found in
mooching off everyone else’s hard work as I have vegetables, corn and most supplements. While
2,3
done for so long. But while I revel in my new these nutrients have a reputation of combating
Little House on the Prairie lifestyle, I still want macular degeneration and cataracts and sup-
6
4,5
all the suburban luxury. . . at least for the time porting overall healthy vision, they have a long
being. So I did it, I took the rst step. We now list of other bene ts, including protecting the

own ve frisky, funny, feathery chickens that skin from sun damage and even reducing one’s

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live in our semi-rural backyard. I tell myself I risk of colon and breastcancer. 9
8

did it for the kids, but really I had more selsh Besides providing all eight essential protein-
motivations. building amino acids, a large whole, fresh egg
Chickens are hilarious and make excellent offers about six to seven grams of protein and  ve
pets. It took some time, but now we can hold our grams of fat (with about 1.5 grams of it saturated),
girls, and they come trotting over every time which comes in handy to help in the absorption
they see us. Of course, they think we have table of all the egg’s fat-soluble vitamins. One egg also
scraps for them to devour, but I like to think it serves up around 200 milligrams of brain-loving
is because they adore us. So for all you out there cholesterol and contains the valuable vitamins A,
who have an itch to do something homestead-ish K, E, D, B-complex and minerals iron, phospho-
and who have a little land to spare, let me tell rus, potassium and calcium. Choline, another
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you about raising these ne feathered creatures. egg-nutrient, is a fatty substance found in every
They help your gardening efforts, make the most living cell and is a major component of our brain.
of every scrap of food that goes through your Additionally, choline helps break up cholesterol
kitchen and bring you and your children hours deposits by preventing fat and cholesterol from
of enjoyment. sticking to the arteries. 10,14 So the bottom line is,
Most important, you should never be egg- don’t be chicken about eating eggs, especially
less again and may even have enough to give to the cholesterol-rich yolks!
Compared your family and friends—or better yet, barter Compared to the generic supermarket va-
to the for something you need. riety, eggs from pastured poultry are a vivid
generic super- REASON #1 TO RAISE BACKYARD yellow-orange—proof of a richer store of health-
enhancing carotenes (more specically xantho-

market variety, CHICKENS: STELLAR NUTRITION phylls, a natural yellow-orange pigment in green
egg yolks from Without a doubt, fresh, pastured eggs are plants and yellow corn). 11,12 The more carotenes,
pastured superior in taste and nutrition to conventionally the darker, deeper orange color the yolk—and
raised commercially available varieties. Eggs the higher the levels of fat-soluble vitamins as
poultry are have been a highly valued foods since the begin- well. Expect to nd the richest orange colors

a vivid ning of time—eggs from chickens, ducks, geese, in the spring, when grass is fresh and bugs are

yellow-orange. turtles and sh. Egg yolks are the richest source plentiful. Color also fades as the egg ages. Bear
of two superstar carotenoids—lutein and zeaxan-
in mind, variations will be seen in these differ-
70 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2008