"You Are What You Eat"...I have proof!

The Zen Hens were put in my care to teach me the simple, yet valuable, lessons of the Universe.

 

In May of last year Caryn and I drove 50 miles, all the way to Dallas, Georgia to pick up eight baby chicks just two days old. Just like children and pets they began to develop their own personalities. I had some chickens as a young girl in Tucson; made friends with some of them, but didn’t study them as I do now. I would like to think that I’m ‘studying’ them and not just “obsessing” over them. As they grew, one by one each starting to lay eggs like clockwork at 5 months old, I began to pay closer attention to the details. Maybe it was because I knew that I’d be eating those eggs, that I began evaluating what the chicks were eating. I had read that you shouldn’t give laying hens onions or garlic because most likely the eggs would taste of onions and garlic, which I guess wouldn’t be so bad if you were making a Spanish Omelet…but what about when you wanted one of those eggs for a Janet’s Lemon Meringue Tart (more on that later). As all of the hens began to lay, I couldn’t help but noticing that each egg was different in its size, texture, shape and color. As the months passed I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out who laid what egg.

 

Anyone who knows me knows that I just can’t help feeding those that I love. So, the “girls” eat well. Their everyday ‘chicken feed’ is a hormone and antibiotic free vegetarian chicken food pellet. BUT every morning they get greens…collard greens or mustard greens, napa cabbage or kitchen veggie scraps. Since spring is around the corner, Lorraine and Janet are pulling weeds from their garden and yard, toting them over from down the street, daily placing them at my door like an offering at the alter (they LOVE “the girls”)! Weeds, yummy…dirt and all, are the “girls” favorite snack! They have an addiction, though…corn…corn in any form, it’s like crack-rock to them. The problem is this, corn doesn’t have all the nutrients they need to keep them healthy, let alone to keep them laying. So, corn is a treat given a little at a time. If I change their diet it shows the next day in their eggs, the size and color of the shell, and the color of the yolk inside the shell. For the past 3 days they’ve had an extra abundance of weeds and today their eggs have been the largest and the yolks have been the deepest yellow-orange I’ve yet seen….those eggs are a direct reflection of what the hens eat…and up the food chain it goes…into the next link, me and many of you. It’s so comforting to know where at least one source of my food comes from…the Zen Hens in the backyard!

 

There are farm sources all around us that care as much about the growing of their food as we do. Coincidentally, I just found Eat Wild …a website for meat, eggs and dairy that gives locations near you. You might have to drive a little farther and spend a little more; but, remember...you are what you eat AND you're worth it!