Are you aware that real eggs are seasonal ?

With the advent of commercial egg factories, supermarket eggs are identical just about all year.  The hens receive the same ground up feed (very cheap), are kept at the same temperature via air conditioning/heating,  are about the same age, ( old hens get the boot quick), are sprayed for lice and other parasites on a routine basis, and are never, never allowed to - huh - (don't let your children read this) consort with roosters !  And many commercial egg producers are finding ways to feed ingredients that change the yolk color.  This will hopefully give an egg yolk from a confined hen the same "look" as an egg yolk from a pasture based flock ! 

Starting with winter - hens are staying warm, conserving body heat and producing fewer eggs.   They forage every day, but the forage time increases on bright, sunny days.  Cool season rye grass and winter greens are relished by the hens as is hay.  Hens will spends many hours scratching though a bale of good grass hay (organic from our farm, of course).  The competition is great as the hens search out the dry blades of grass, dried seeds and the best treat in deep winter -  dehydrated insects.  Some grasshoppers, crickets, etc. always get baled into the hay and the hens love them. 

Spring has sprung  -  Egg production soars !  Green grass/legumes/forbs are everywhere and are a living, growing salad bar.  Chickens love to consume the tender, growing grass and other plants.  The trace minerals and proteins in the plants help to replenish those used over winter.  Hens graze down the grasses and eggs start to deepen in color as antioxidants peak.  The deepest yolk color is found in our hen's eggs from late spring until early summer.  They are tasty, nutritious and relished by our most discriminating egg customers !

Summer sets in and the insects emerge.   Hens prefer the live food over the plants, even though grass is easier to "catch", in summer grass can get mature and tough.  Hens running after grasshoppers lowers egg production but has many other benefits.  It provides a clean source of protein,  keeps the hens exercising and relieves boredom. Summer egg yolks are somewhat lighter in color than spring youks but contain a good mix of source proteins -  green plants any many types of insects.   Everyday we are thankful that our customers want to pay for a better egg produced by healthy hens free-ranging out on pasture.  As summer temperatures peak in July and August, egg production slows.  The hens eat less when they are hot and seek out the cool shady spots to wait out the heat. 

Fall arrives and brings with it the welcome rain.  New cool season growth begins in the fields as the insect population wanes.  Hens forage for seeds as the summer grasses mature and go to seed.  The seed head (grain) is the most nutritious part of a plant in its reproductive stage.  The hens are literally looking high (seed heads on top) and low (new fall grass) for a combination of plant material.   As leaves, wild fruit (wild persimmons), and seeds drop to the ground, the hens find new things to scratch around and/or eat and "build" a tasty egg.