Gluten Free Eggs

Two cute pullets resting in the garden

Gluten sensitivity is a far wider problem than the more well known Coeliac Disease. In Coeliac disease the villi of the intestines are worn away by gluten. The intestines are not able to absorb nutrients from food. Gluten sensitivity reaches many more people.

Nauseous from Eggs
Many people have difficulty when eating eggs. In our family some members would feel nauseous after eating eggs. I have a lovely flock of chickens. I decided to do an experiment with their food.

I know from experience that when we are breastfeeding we have to be careful what we eat as the food gets transferred through the milk into the baby. I began to think that this same thing must be happening with the hens. The food they eat must make up the eggs they lay.

Chicken Food
The food usually fed to hens is Commercial layers pellets which are pre-formulated. The basis of the feed is wheat.

Before the experiment we could only eat 2 eggs  3 days a week or so and after a couple of weeks started to feel sick from them. Then we would have to wait a few weeks before trying the eggs again. After changing the chicken's food to gluten free I haven't felt ill from eating their eggs.

The eggs also have a different texture from those bought in the supermarket. The bought eggs have a gel like consistency in comparison to gluten free, free range eggs. Also, I find no difficulty in peeling our gluten free eggs whereas the store bought eggs stick to the shell and it is difficult to get a nicely peeled egg.

Keeping Chickens

To get gluten free eggs you will most probably need to keep chickens yourself. It is becoming quite the fashion to have chickens in the backyard again. These days there are some beautiful breeds around if you want pretty chickens. There are two sizes of chickens, the large size which are called standards, and bantams which are small. I keep bantams. They eat less food and lay just as many eggs although the eggs are smaller. You can just eat an extra egg if you are hungry.

Chickens are given a range of seeds and grains to eat each day. They are also given food scraps that are left from meals. They love lettuce leaves and grapes and the rind of bacon cut up into little pieces. They enjoy pumpkin seeds from the inside of the pumpkin and they like strawberries and lots of other good food.

If you are gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease, think about starting a little flock of hens and feeding them gluten free food. You will have lots of fun out of it.

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