Helen's Hens - Fresh Eggs from Pastured Hens
Pastured eggs are better! They are a nutrient dense food that is sustainable, local, fresh, humane, tasty and nutritious.
Where to Buy
Our eggs are available at Cox Farms in Centreville.
Egg Subscription
Our eggs are available by subscription. This means you commit to a regular weekly purchase and pay at the beginning of each month. The price is $4.50/dozen. We have free delivery in The Plains, Marshall and Delaplane areas. Pickup can be arranged. Send us an email for more info. helen@helenshens.com
Our farms are located in The Plains, Virginia which is in Northern Fauquier County.
Our hens have a large enclosure made of portable electric net fencing. This keeps them safe from most predators. Their chicken house is portable and moves with their fence. We move the fence through our cow pastures. The grass they eat given the opportunity, along with the bugs they scratch up, make a world of difference in egg quality. Pasture also makes a world of difference to the quality of life for the chicken. They must be moved to fresh pasture every few days to avoid killing the grass, so they get constant access to fresh greens, bugs, sunshine, and space to move around as they fertilize the pasture.
Our eggs are available at Cox Farms in Centreville.
Egg Subscription
Our eggs are available by subscription. This means you commit to a regular weekly purchase and pay at the beginning of each month. The price is $4.50/dozen. We have free delivery in The Plains, Marshall and Delaplane areas. Pickup can be arranged. Send us an email for more info. helen@helenshens.com
Our farms are located in The Plains, Virginia which is in Northern Fauquier County.
Pastured eggs are more nutritious
In fact, eggs from pastured chickens may be substantially more nutritious. The 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing found that, compared to official USDA nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:
- 1/3 less cholesterol
- 1/4 less saturated fat
- 2/3 more vitamin A
- 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
- 3 times more vitamin E
- 7 times more beta carotene
- 4 to 6 times more Vitamin D
- Click here to read more
Our secret ingredient is love. We give these chickens care and attention. We feed them treats and enjoy hanging out with them. We are hands on farmers who take excellent care of our chickens.
The yolks of our eggs are rich and deep yellow orange in color. The whites are thick. You will be getting and eating your eggs within a few days of laying. They are delicious and nutritious.
What is the difference between pastured, cage free and free range?
A "Free Range" label on an egg carton almost invariably means the chickens were raised in a crowded shed with limited outdoor access and almost certainly no fresh grass. A chicken fed organic feed in a confinement barn with a tiny dirt yard (read: "access to the outdoors") does not represent ethical or sustainable farming even though it may be organic and free range. "Cage Free" does not mean outdoor access. Cage free just means the chickens are in a barn without cages. Pastured chickens are living outdoors on grass pasture. Just look at the photo of our hens in their pasture (below) and you will understand why pastured hens are cleaner and produce more nutritious eggs. Sunshine means they can make vitamin D which winds up in the eggs and fresh grass means lots more nutrients.
About Pastured Eggs from LocalHarvest.org
Grass-fed/pastured hens are raised on pasture, as opposed to being kept in confinement and fed primarily grains. Eggs from pastured hens contain up to 20 times more healthy omega-3 fatty acids than those their less fortunate cousins, factory hens.
Pastured hens' diets are naturally complemented with bugs, earthworms, and other such critters that give their eggs a huge nutritious oomph. Although not necessarily organic, pastured hens are usually much healthier and happier than their space-restricted and antibiotic-pumped industrial cousins.
Pasturing is the traditional method of raising egg-laying hens and other poultry. It is ecologically sustainable, humane, and produces the tastiest, most nutritious eggs.
Pastured eggs also have 10 percent less fat, 40 percent more vitamin A, and 34 percent less cholesterol than eggs obtained from factory farms.
Grass-fed/pastured hens are raised on pasture, as opposed to being kept in confinement and fed primarily grains. Eggs from pastured hens contain up to 20 times more healthy omega-3 fatty acids than those their less fortunate cousins, factory hens.
Pastured hens' diets are naturally complemented with bugs, earthworms, and other such critters that give their eggs a huge nutritious oomph. Although not necessarily organic, pastured hens are usually much healthier and happier than their space-restricted and antibiotic-pumped industrial cousins.
Pasturing is the traditional method of raising egg-laying hens and other poultry. It is ecologically sustainable, humane, and produces the tastiest, most nutritious eggs.
Pastured eggs also have 10 percent less fat, 40 percent more vitamin A, and 34 percent less cholesterol than eggs obtained from factory farms.
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