# Study finds no difference in free-range and cage eggs.



## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

I'm sure there are a bunch of people gonna disagree with this but here's the article.

"CHAMPAIGN, IL (August 15, 2011) â Eggs produced by free-range hens are often perceived by the public to be nutritionally superior to eggs obtained from layers kept in traditional battery cages. However, a recent scientific study has called this popular perception into question by finding essentially no differences in the nutritional quality of eggs produced by hens from both management systems, said the Poultry Science Association (PSA)"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2769247/posts


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## INFORG (Jun 21, 2011)

The study takes a very narrow view of what "nutritionally superior" is. It dismisses beta-carotene, and I don't see Omega 3 levels mentioned anywhere. Some of the numbers contradict earlier information that farm eggs have more vitamins as well.

I'm not going to dig too far into it, cause really for me it is more about the treatment of the animals, being closer to the source, and other intangible factors that cause me to have my own chickens. 

And, I won't even try to find out where the funding for the study comes from, but I think I could guess.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

Inforg you beat me to it. How can they say "However, &#946;-carotene levels were higher in the range eggs" and then conclude no nutritional difference?

Also "Eggs from a range production environment did have higher levels of total fat than eggs produced by caged hens, but they did not have higher levels of cholesterol." Could that difference in total fat be because of the higher Omega-3 levels?


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2011)

Keep in mind that the USDA definition of "free range" means only that the birds have "access to the outdoors." Not necessarily that they spent any significant time on grass.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/an237
*Introduction to Pasture-Raised Poultry: Maximizing Foraging Behavior*

_*Other Benefits of Foraging*_
_Eggs and meat produced from pasture-raised poultry are considered to be an excellent source of animal protein, as are the meat and eggs purchased in supermarkets from birds continually housed inside large modern commercial poultry operations. In fact, meat, milk, and eggs are considered by nutritionists to be the highest quality protein sources available to consumers. In addition to their high-quality protein, there is evidence that eggs and meat from pasture-raised poultry may contain some added nutritional benefits. The following is a compilation of findings from the literature review conducted by Dr. Ann Fanatico (2007).

Karsten et al. (2003) found eggs from chickens raised on legume pasture have more vitamin A and E and more omega-3 fatty acids than eggs from chickens raised indoors. Additionally, these researchers compared the amount of unsaturated fatty acids in three types of pasture: alfalfa and grass; red clover, white clover, and grass; and mixed grass. They concluded that eggs from hens consuming legumes and grasses contained more omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins than eggs from hens foraging on grass alone. This study showed that legumes contain more unsaturated fatty acids, and the leafier the plant, the more omega-3 fatty acids it contains.

Robertson et al. (1966) found the meat of free-range birds contains more thiamine than birds raised indoors. 

Additionally, access to pastures and/or insects may contribute to flavor. Diet manipulation could offer potential to enhance poultry flavor, and some forages and herbs (such as rosemary) may result in distinctive flavors (Gordon and Charles 2002). _

Mother Earth News had a good article on lab analysis of grass raised eggs too. What free range is supposed to be.


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## Dutchie (Mar 14, 2003)

There are at least 3 definite advantages to free range eggs: 1) they taste better; 2) they don't contain any chemicals or hormones frequently found in commercial chicken feed and 3) the chickens have a better life.

Those three points are good enough for me.


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2011)

They do taste better and I think they do have a better life. But there are no added hormones in commercial chicken. That's one of the most enduring urban legends of poultry raising there is. Hasn't been legal to use in any poultry in any form in the U.S. for the last fifty years.


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## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

FR eggs definitely taste better, or they do to me...

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## Guest (Aug 26, 2011)

The taste of truly free range eggs (hens on pasture, or, in my case, weeds), is astonishingly different. People who never had anything but store eggs are really surprised the first time they eat "real" eggs.

Also note the different texture and the dark yolk.

With the taste that different, there HAS to be differences at the molecular level. Common sense would tell you there has to be a nutritional difference of some kind.


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## Narshalla (Sep 11, 2008)

Store-bought eggs from caged chickens _ do_ taste the same as store-bought eggs from "free-range" chickens in every taste-test I have tried. We have four brands of "free-range" eggs around here, and I couldn't tell the difference at all. Well, that's not exactly true. I certainly noticed the price difference!

But the thing is, here's the money quote, the last line of the second paragraph of the source article linked to in the OP:



> The study was conducted concurrently with the North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Test (NCLP&MT), which evaluates the major commercial layer lines used in the United States.


Major commercial layer lines. _Not_ backyard flocks or those that are actually pasture raised.

I've tasted many different dishes made with eggs from non-commercial flocks, and even things like cakes and cookies have more flavor than the same dish made with store-bought eggs.


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## brody (Feb 19, 2009)

the happy egg is worth a whole lot to me -no matter what the study says


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2011)

brody said:


> the happy egg is worth a whole lot to me -no matter what the study says


Amen!


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Call me a skeptic, but I'm not buying it. Not because I'm holding onto ideals I prefer, but rather because it just doesn't make sense. Just the diversity in the chickens diets surely would have to play a role. For instance, you've got your typical chicken feed, but in nature the chickens are not only eating grasses, but seeds, bugs, trace minerals in the soil, etc. -- but also a huge variety of them. I can't believe a chicken's diet has no bearing on the nutritional value of their eggs. 

Something I'm wondering about, the article says the study showed the free-range eggs had higher fat content. If that's so, wouldn't that mean there would have to be a different nutritional value? :shrug:

I've been googling for the actual study and can't find it. Only found the PSA article being repeated at each site. Has anyone had success in finding it? I want to see what this study actually found out, who's financing it, and where it was actually conducted.



Narshalla said:


> Major commercial layer lines. _Not_ backyard flocks or those that are actually pasture raised.


There ya go! Let's put those girls up against our ladies and see what they got! Bunch of amateurs.:nana:


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## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

Karen said:


> Call me a skeptic, but I'm not buying it. Not because I'm holding onto ideals I prefer, but rather because it just doesn't make sense. Just the diversity in the chickens diets surely would have to play a role. For instance, you've got your typical chicken feed, but in nature the chickens are not only eating grasses, but seeds, bugs, trace minerals in the soil, etc. -- but also a huge variety of them. I can't believe a chicken's diet has no bearing on the nutritional value of their eggs.
> 
> *There ya go! Let's put those girls up against our ladies and see what they got! Bunch of amateurs*.:nana:


:thumb:

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## Pink_Carnation (Apr 21, 2006)

> Dr. Anderson conducted his study in North Carolina using more than 400 Hy-Line Brown pullets. The pullets were raised in accordance with the laying environment (range or cage) in the 37th NCLP&MT. All of the pullets in the study were hatch mates. Identical rearing dietary programs were used for both the range and cage pullets, with the only difference being the access the latter group had to the range paddock, a common hay mixture for North Carolina comprising both warm- and cool-season forages.


http://www.poultryscience.org/pr081511.asp?autotry=true&ULnotkn=true

Do those hens sound like they are really free range? I would expect that the differences in vitamins and such would be related to what they can eat when they are free range.


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

I can't imagine there would ever be funding for it, but a study comparing eggs from different "range production" operations would be interesting. 

Eggs from chickens that are "free-range' in name only (i.e. "access to outdoors") vs pasture-raised in tractors with conventional chicken feed vs running-around-catching-bugs-eating-windfall-fruit-backyard-type chickens. 

I would think diet would make a difference.


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## Wanderer (Aug 22, 2011)

I really had to laugh at this "study". Of course there is no difference if one is comparing COMMERCIAL free range to caged. All that means is the chickens are crowded into large cement floor barns with a few doors leading to small cement floored outdoor pens. They are fed the same food and kept in extremely crowded conditions. So except for the fact the chickens are treated a little more humanely, why would there be any difference in the quality of the eggs? 

Mother Earth News did a study several years back between commercially raised chickens and pastured free-range chickens. The results were amazing. 

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2005-08-01/Free-Range-Eggs.aspx
http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Soybeans are a source of both protein and estrogen. Ask any post-menopausal female about the effects of soy-stuff estrogen on her body.

Layer feed that is commercially available in this area uses soy as it protein source, which means that it is also loaded with estrogen. Lots of estrogen will force hens to ovulate faster. The layer feed is marketed for it's protein and it's ability to make more eggs faster.

You can mix other things into layer feed, like bloodmeal to equal the same level of protein as is used with soy. But you will not get the same level of egg production with other sources as you do by using soy. Because those other sources do not carry the estrogen.

Does this mean that the eggs will be different? I do not know.

Does this mean that the eggs will have higher levels of estrogen in them? I do not know.

It does mean that the average life-span of a hen is shortened, just as when a human female produces a child every 10 to 11 months starting when she is 15yo. By the time she gets to 40 years old and has produced over 26 children, she will be plum worn-out. And look like a lady much older than 40.

I sell eggs. Some eggs that I sell are from hens that are in coops, and some eggs I sell are from hens who wander in the forest all day and who only come into their coops at night. There is a HUGE difference between these eggs. My customers know the difference. Everyone remarks about the difference. Nobody will ever be confused about which egg came from truly freerange hens and which came from cooped hens.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

By the USDA definition free range is NOT pasture fed. When you have a chicken kept inside a building and fed the same diet as a chicken kept inside a 2 foot cube, your end result will be eggs that are exactly the same.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

I know food producers local to us who market eggs as 'free-range' because their hens are loose in a coop or chicken-tractor; instead of being in individual cages in a barn.

They are still fed commercial layer-feed. A dozen hens in a 4foot by 8foot tractor do not get enough protein from grass to produce a dozen eggs/day.


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2011)

My chickens really are free range. They have a few acres to roam loose on and find most of their own food.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

ladycat said:


> My chickens really are free range. They have a few acres to roam loose on and find most of their own food.


Now there's something I've always wondered about. How in the world do you know where to find the eggs and, how do you know they are fresh and it isn't just one you missed several days ago? I've always envisioned it as going on an easter egg hunt everyday. :spinsmiley:


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

For me, free range eggs are better because I don't have to feed the hens and I don't have as many bugs to deal with. Besides, who trusts the government's opinion anyway?


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2011)

Karen said:


> Now there's something I've always wondered about. How in the world do you know where to find the eggs and, how do you know they are fresh and it isn't just one you missed several days ago? I've always envisioned it as going on an easter egg hunt everyday. :spinsmiley:


Once I find the nests, I go back every day and get the eggs from the same spots.

Now and again I find a nest that has a few dozen eggs in it. I throw those out, then the ones I gather daily from that same spot after that are fresh.


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Karen said:


> Now there's something I've always wondered about. How in the world do you know where to find the eggs and, how do you know they are fresh and it isn't just one you missed several days ago? I've always envisioned it as going on an easter egg hunt everyday. :spinsmiley:


That has occasionally been a problem, but right now they seem content to lay in the nest boxes and then venture out to other areas. Occasionally, we find a hen with a dozen or so chicks running around behind her.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Got ya! Thanks; always wondered about that. Didn't know they would lay in the same spot. We've never been able to free range them due to space/neighbor issues. 

They do have a huge run that is divided in 2 that we seed and alternate so they have fresh grasses. We also bring them grass clippings, scraps and trimings, and they have their own swiss chard patch.


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## SueMc (Jan 10, 2010)

Even my three year old granddaughter say her chicken's eggs are better than those from the store! Of course she loves her chickens. I was surprised when she commented that the color of the yolk looked different in the frying pan.
Besides grass, weeds and bugs, these girls are getting every peach and tomato/vegie peel from food processing as well as all my muskmelons that split and couldn't be saved, watermelon rind, corn husks, leftovers, etc, etc. 
I don't care what a study say; you are what you eat and that goes for the chickens too!


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## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

SueMc said:


> Even my three year old granddaughter say her chicken's eggs are better than those from the store! Of course she loves her chickens. I was surprised when she commented that the color of the yolk looked different in the frying pan.
> Besides grass, weeds and bugs, these girls are getting every peach and tomato/vegie peel from food processing as well as all my muskmelons that split and couldn't be saved, watermelon rind, corn husks, leftovers, etc, etc.
> I don't care what a study say; *you are what you eat *and that goes for the chickens too!



You mean if I eat a lot of chicken, I'll turn into a chicken. WOW...ound:

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## SueMc (Jan 10, 2010)

ninny said:


> You mean if I eat a lot of chicken, I'll turn into a chicken. WOW...ound:
> 
> .


I sure hope not!


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

Well, of course there's going to be no difference. When the author of the study is on the Board of the National Egg Quality School and your _donors_ are :bow:BIG EGG:bow:, what did you eggspect their finding would be?


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## whiskeylivewire (May 27, 2009)

My chickens are completely free range, we don't feed them feed at all right now. The egg hunt is sometimes interesting-they were laying in an empty igloo dog house until DH took out the egg I had put an X on. I kept it in there so they would keep laying there and as soon as he took it out they quit doing it! They also lay in the shed and in the coop.

My biggest problem with my free rangers is that some of them are roosting on my back steps and it is a MESS. We have a nice coop for them with roosts but will they go in there? Nooooo!


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

whiskeylivewire said:


> My chickens are completely free range, we don't feed them feed at all right now. The egg hunt is sometimes interesting-they were laying in an empty igloo dog house until DH took out the egg I had put an X on. I kept it in there so they would keep laying there and as soon as he took it out they quit doing it! They also lay in the shed and in the coop.
> 
> My biggest problem with my free rangers is that some of them are roosting on my back steps and it is a MESS. We have a nice coop for them with roosts but will they go in there? Nooooo!


We've occasionally had that problem, and the way I fix it is to close them up in the coop for a couple of weeks. Once I let them out again, they have become accustomed to the coop again and it's usually a while before I have to repeat the process.


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