Hmm. To me the difference in store bought eggs vs fresh eggs is like the difference in homegrown tomatoes vs store bought or fresh sea food vs store bought. I do believe that free ranging them makes a big difference but not everyone can do that. I've ate Tyson hogs that were taken to the local butcher (long story) and the pork tasted just like Wally World pork. I think what they eat makes a difference. My oldest daughter has an FFA show hog that's going in the freezer in a few months. I'm looking forward to that. Also, I don't raise beef but from now on I'm buying beef on the hoof and having it butchered. We do eat lots of deer and wild hogs every year. Thinking about meat rabbits too. The wife grows a big garden for fresh veggies.
It does not take mine long to make dust around 2-3 days but in the spring and summer I put a bunch of weeds and off cast from the garden in there. Kind of like a big sheet composting type of deal. Whatever doesn't get shredded really good goes in the compost pile. The little buggers will eat anything the only thing I don't feed them is poultry. In the winter I run them on the garden but free range as much as possible to avoid over fertilizing one area.
I'm hardly a fussy eater, but I know it's not just me on the eggs. My sister and her husband was visiting and I cooked them eggs one morning. I used some from my chickens and some from the store. They couldn't tell which were which. They are harder to crack, but color and taste are eggactly the same. I started out with ducks and then switched to chickens. Between the cost of the birds, attrition rate (I've lost probably 80% of them overall), feed, care, electric, etc, etc it's not worth it for me. If it worked out to be even close to the cost of store eggs maybe then, but in the end I'm probably eating $10+ a dozen eggs when all factored in. To do it as a hobby I guess it doesn't matter, but I've got way too much going on that I need to dealing with hobbys that can't be ignored for more than a day or two! I'm not posting up to be a Debbie Downer, just I have a couple years into the ducks and chickens and it's the harsh reality.
^ To add to the list: My oldest daughter also has 10 commercial style broilers and 4 commercial turkeys to show. So, I have fried chicken, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner covered.
Too bad none of you are closer, I'd give them to you guys. I don't even want to bother with the work involved in getting them into the freezer.
I had to go lock up my compost pile, cause that was there favorite spot to forage in...Then I'd have to get the rake back out and put the compost that they scratch back in. .... I do try to let mine out as often as I can, but since I've lost 6 here this summer to either stray dogs or wandering off, I'm kinda of skiddish to letting them go to long without my oversight....
These are some hungry chickens. I'm sure it costs a little more but it's worth it. We can't get real good chicken in the grocery stores here. We had one butcher shop but they closed down. They had fresh chicken on Wednesdays and we would go buy 10-15 lbs and vacuum seal it.
I'm with Nate on this-- can tell the difference between store bought eggs and farm eggs either. And I've been sorely disappointed that our garden tomatoes are the revelation that every one makes them out to be.
My buddy has around 10 chickens and, call me crazy, the eggs taste waaaaaay better than store bought. The eggs are bigger, the yolks are more of an deep orange and much more heartier flavor..... A guy at work raises Americanas, their eggs are blue/green like a robins egg. They too are delicious ....
I can tell a difference between the day old eggs and the store bought. I figure those are at least a week old or more by the time they hit the store. You can do the float test on a lot of store bought and they will float the day you get them.
If I had more ground I'd have 8-10 chickens myself, but I'm limited in space. I may go "halvies" with my buddy and buy some, split the cost of feed and keep them at his place. Honestly I could eat 6 eggs a day, love 'em hard boiled and I've started a reduced carb/high protein diet, eggs are one of the staples of it....
That could very well be Grizz. Here in PA, store bought eggs SUCK. They are cheap (around 1.80-2.00/doz.), but the flavor leaves little to be desired.
The only thing I'd get store bought eggs for any more is boiled eggs for hot eggs. The seem to deshell easier.
No doubt! The yolk of commercially supplied eggs is a pale yellow. Ours are a nice deep orange with a rich, robust flavor. I like to think of it like a Coors Light as compared to a Yuengling Lager.
Here... pictures don't lie.. One is store bought, one is from my chickens, fresh, just pulled from the coop 10 mins ago. Which is which? I can't tell. Even the shell looks the same (just wet from me washing it off). The 3 in a row are from the store, the one sitting sideways is mine. And I have no idea why the pictures are fuzzy, it's a $400 fairly high end camera. Panasonic Z3 http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-ZS3-Digital-Stabilized-Black/dp/B001QFZMCO
Maybe up in Alaska they get eggs from rural sources that are more free range than our sources. Here, most store bought eggs come from so-called egg farms that are more like factories......not a natural environment to a chicken at all.
