Chickens and hens,free-range or barn?

Do you really have to ask? I raised both chickens for the table and for egg laying and never did I have a customer question the merits of the free range produce that I supplied.Properly raised and fed birds produce better tasting meat and eggs and no closed-in birds can possible match this.Why? You are what you eat ,do you agree? So how can the diet of a bird raised indoors be complete?

Outside chickens and hens eat worms and earwigs and spiders and grass and weeds and so on and of course they get a ration of grain to boost this.They take dust baths which keeps blood-sucking mites away so they don’t suffer debilitating blood loss.They get vitamins from the sun and minerals from the soil and pick up the tiny stones which the use to grind up their food in their gizzards and the acids in the digestive system remains balanced as they eat when they feel like it and not when forced to.

Inside birds get a “balanced diet” from a bag . No bugs or grass,no sun-bathing,no fun.No taste.

Did you know that the colour of the egg yoke varies in free range birds? Usually it is rich and dark depending on the diet.

Did you know that you can order feed for locked in birds from a colour chart so you can choose the colour of the egg yolk,just like you order paint.

There is a photo of a Welsommer rooster and hen on the photo link.There is also a photo of their eggs which are a beautiful mahogany colour although I believe that our American friends have a preference for eggs with white shells