The link: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentuck...ing/9036334.htm

The article:

Melissa Miller, executive director of the Kentucky Poultry Federation, said a June 6 Herald-Leader article on eggs should have clarified some information.

This information is from Anthony Pescatore, poultry extension specialist at the University of Kentucky:

• Egg-laying hens need a complete diet containing protein, energy vitamins, and minerals. Scratch feed is like a reverse Atkins diet: all carbohydrates and little protein. Hens need protein, or egg production will drop.

• There is no difference in the freshness or storage needs of fertilized eggs and non-fertilized eggs. They are equally perishable and must be refrigerated.

• Fertilized eggs are not more healthful than unfertilized eggs. The shell membranes are present in all eggs, and there is no magic lining in fertilized eggs that prevents bacteria from entering. The incidence of salmonella in all eggs is less than .005 percent (1 in 20,000 eggs).

• Commercially raised chickens are not fed chemicals to boost production. They are fed corn, soybean meal, vitamins and minerals, including calcium for strong eggshells.

• Yolk color is a result of the amount of xanthophylls (natural yellow pigment found in corn, alfalfa and green grass) consumed. The more pigment consumed, the deeper the yellow. An organic diet does not deepen the color. An organic wheat-based diet would yield a pale yellow yolk.