Dear Mother: December 2007/January 2008

Image Gallery Real free-range eggs offer better nutrition and less cholesterol than conventional eggs. MATTHEW T. STALLBAUMER

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Our report on the nutrient content of free-range eggs prompted a great letter from Tammi Trotter (below). She says their Rhode Island red chicks raised free-range began laying eggs 12 weeks sooner than the same breed of chicks raised in a pen. This could be yet another factor to encourage all egg producers to utilize pastured poultry systems, which in turn would mean more nutritious eggs for the public and more humane conditions for the chickens.

Last issue’s cover story, Live on Less and Love It, prompted a lively exchange online. Several folks were offended by the suggestion that low-income people would promote a national health care system. Others very much appreciated the article; one reader wrote about his neighbors who “embody so much of the thrifty-in-dollars-but-rich-in-creativity lifestyle that MEN has always tried to encourage. I applaud MEN for making this the cover story.” Join the conversation in the comments section below. —Mother

Our Free-range Hens Begin Laying 12 Weeks Before Penned Chickens!

Not only do free-range chickens produce healthier eggs (Meet Real Free-range Eggs, October/November 2007), but they also lay more healthier eggs! On Valentine’s Day 2003, we purchased 25 Rhode Island red chicks through the mail. We confined the chickens in a 10-by-20-foot pen with nesting and roosting facilities. They were fed Tindles starter/grower, and laid their first eggs after about 28 weeks (from chick to egg), confined. Mid-March of this year we ordered a dozen Rhode Island reds from the same hatchery. They were confined and fed the exact same feed until the chicks were feathered. Then we released them to free-range open pasture daily. In the second week of July we found three freshly laid eggs in the nests, and they continued to increase production daily. The only difference between the two flocks was that the second flock was able to free range on open pasture daily. The free-range chickens produced eggs 12 weeks earlier than the confined ones. At 70 percent production, our free-range chickens produced 756 eggs before the confined flock produced its first egg. (That’s 12 hens x 70 percent = 9 eggs per day x 7 days per week x 12 weeks earlier.) If a Mother reader is debating confined versus free-range flocks, this should help them to see the benefits of free-range chickens.

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