A Hen's Life Health Article

Karen Bumann speaks of her chickens the way some people do their children. At Sweetland Farm, a 60-acre diversified farm near Menominee, Wisconsin, she and husband Dave Schmidt have made sure their 250 laying hens have a life many children would envy. "They spend most of their time outside, just being chickens," she says proudly.

During much of the year, the hens have the run of grassy pastures (protected from predators by electric poultry netting), where they can get their fill of the green plants, seeds and bugs they crave. They make their nests in straw instead of cages, in a portable laying house that is moved periodically to give the hens access to different fields, as well as to discourage pests. And, in the dead of the Wisconsin winter, there’s an open-front, solar-heated barn, where the birds can stretch their wings, take their dust baths and indulge in other pleasures of chickenhood. A winter diet of organically grown forages, greens and seeds helps recreate the nutrient composition of the hens’ summertime fare—and also the outdoor experience. "We’ll do things like sprout oats and scatter them in their bedding," explains Bumann. "That way, they can scratch and peck for their food the way they’re used to."

The result, says chef Scott Johnson of Canoe Bay, a luxury resort in Chetek, Wisconsin, is eggs that have a taste of the land they came from: "Chefs use the French term terroir when we talk about wine," he raves, "and these eggs have terroir." Johnson, who makes the 45-minute trek to Sweetland Farm every week to buy eggs, does so as part of the resort’s mission to convey a sense of place to its guests. Because Canoe Bay grows a lot of its own food, his relationship with the farm is also reciprocal: "Sometimes we’ll give Karen leaf lettuce or scraps of broccoli — whatever she needs for her chickens."

Eggs produced in this way have a seasonality missing in commercial eggs, says Johnson. "In the summer, when the birds eat lots of green grass, their yolks are so orange you almost need sunglasses." In the winter the flavor is milder, "but it’s still miles away from factory-farmed eggs, which taste the same all year round—like nothing."

Besides having more flavor, eggs from pasture-raised hens are more nutritious, say their advocates. Because the hens get plenty of greens in their diet, the eggs are naturally higher in the omega-3 fatty acids abundant in wild grasses and seeds. One study showed that compared to "factory-farmed" eggs, eggs from free-range hens contained up to 20 percent more omega-3s. Of course, since terms like "free-range" and "pasture-raised" are not officially standardized, farm-raised eggs can vary widely in both their taste and nutrient content.

Apparently, the shoppers at St. Paul Farmers’ Market feel that Bumann and Schmidt’s methods make a difference. Sweetland Farm eggs—at $3 per dozen, about twice the price of commercial eggs—are routinely sold out within an hour or two of the market’s opening.

—Joyce Hendley

Resources

Healthy Egg Recipes and Cooking Tips
North African Vegetable Stew with Poached Eggs
Quick and Healthy Recipes and Menus
Healthy Eating for Kids Recipes and Menus