Now celebrated in more than 40 countries around the globe, today is a day to applaud the egg-ceptional benefits of eggs.
According to the website Australian Eggs, these superfoods are packed with 13 different vitamins and they contain all nine essential amino acids needed to meet your body’s needs.
John Lewis hatched a plan to talk to a Goulburn Valley producer and restaurant to find out the best way to grow and eat these little golden nuggets.
So let's get cracking!
Out at Zanker's Farm at Mundoona, north of Shepparton, the chooks are about as free range as you could get without getting lost.
Two thousand chooks spend all day pecking over wide open acres of lush rye and barley grass, guarded against foxes by three Maremma dogs. At night they wander into their mobile sheds to rest and lay eggs.
The sheds are moved a few metres each day by farmer Tim Zanker, so the grass is continually fresh.
Chicks are raised on organic feed from a day old and the adult chooks are also fed on grain and bran soaked in milk from the Zankers’ small herd of cows.
Their eggs are marketed under their Organic Ways Pasture Raised Eggs brand.
Tracy Zanker said raising chooks and producing eggs was all part of their regenerative farming approach, based on reducing the use of chemicals and fertiliser and improving the soil.
“It has to do with nutrition and the health of animals, and people and the soil. They all go together. We believe that healthy food begins with healthy soil,” Tracy said.
The Zankers also organically raise beef and dairy cattle and pigs, which along with their eggs are sold either on-farm or at Eden Farm Produce in Numurkah.
Their three sons all have jobs on the farm, including the youngest Kyle, who has his own business producing duck eggs.
“I have nearly 50 ducks laying anywhere between a dozen and 30 eggs a day,” Kyle said.
He said duck eggs were larger than chicken eggs, they had more yolk, meaning slightly higher protein content and they were great for baking, producing fluffier cakes.
To find out more about Zanker's Farm go to www.zankersfarm.wordpress.com or find them on Facebook.
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