In a message dated 7/5/99 7:34:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<  to wash my eggs before I use them. I buy mine from a farmer that
 has
 >>free-range chickens. This means his chickens drop their eggs all over the
 >>barn yard. So they are often covered with sticky stuff, straw, and who
 >>knows what. Many of his customers don't like these dirty eggs, so I get
 >>them for $2 a dozen instead of his usual $2.50 a dozen. >>

You are mistaken in what free range means:  these chickens certainly have a
coop of some sort to lay the eggs in - I dont think free range means they are
coop-less; chickens do not just lay the eggs all over the barnyard - when we
raised Rhode Island Reds in Virginia they had large areas to be in but always
returned to the coop to sleep and lay eggs.