Once or twice a year, my birds decide to drop all their feathers and grow new ones. It’s molting time, and it’s messy.  There are feathers everywhere, and the girls look a bit haggard. They also stop laying eggs during the molt, bummer! One way to help them move through the process a bit faster is to up the protein. Scatter a few handfuls of cat kibble in with their regular feed to help.

Anyway, the molt  reminded me of last year’s family vacation to Jersey Shore. We visited a small zoo. It was strapped for resources, but they obviously cared about their animals and were working hard to make a nice environment for them. The most memorable animal? Not the lion (although his roar was awesome!). The honor didn’t go to an mpressive wild animal, it went to Henry, the rooster. Check this guy out:

Apparently I was not the only one taken aback by poor Henry. They had this sign posted on the fence around his pen:

These days I am especially happy to have my own group of healthy hens. Their lives are much different, much healthier and happier, than their sisters in factory farms. Still, it’s not a bad idea to be on alert to avoid a bout of Salmonella and it’s suite of symptoms: fever, bloody diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

First step. Check your eggs to make sure you don’t have a bad batch. Read this page on the FDA site to learn how to identify the source of your eggs! If you’re not sure, toss them. Visit your local farmers market and buy happy eggs instead.

Ongoing Salmonella avoidance is not rocket science. Keep your eggs refrigerated. Don’t eat broken eggs, especially if they are covered in chicken poop. And cook them well – no raw egg a-la-Rocky. Here are some good resources for additional reading.

• CDC.gov
• WebMD
• IncredibleEgg.org

This is an excerpt/paraphrase from a document written by Francine Bradley and posed on the Univ. Calif. Coop Extension website. It was published in May 1997 – I can’t find it online.

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The egg is is considered the perfect protein – full of protein, unsaturated fatty acid, vitamins and minerals.

The following vitamins are found in significant amounts in the egg:  A, E, K and the B vitamins. In addition, the egg is an excellent source of Vitamin D. Eggs also provide phosphorus and trace minerals to the diet.

Eggs can be eaten by every segment of the population, from infants to senior citizens. Some people are concerned about cholesterol in eggs. Cholesterol is a sterol manufactured and needed by the human body. Research has shown that the amount of cholesterol eaten in foods has a variable and small effect on the amount of cholesterol in the blood. Reducing the amount of saturated fat in the diet, however, is very important. Eggs have a desirable unsaturated fatty acid: saturated fatty acid ration of 2:1. Even if your doctor has restricted eggs in your diet, you can probably eat egg whites, which are cholesterol free (I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice, don’t sue me, and ask your doctor etc.). A large chicken egg contains approximately 80 caloried and can be well utilized by the nutrition-conscious dieter.