Eggs!

downshifter

Where do you buy eggs? I usually just pick up a box of free range as I'm flying round Aldi but while down in Devon I got some free from a farm shop (Greendale I think it's called, it's fab!) and realised what I've been missing. The yolks were bright orange, they were fresh as anything, and the taste out of this world.

Unfortunately I live 250 miles away or I'd go back weekly. I live in a rural area and there are lots of eggs for sale at farm gates but tbh, they're no nicer than Aldi's and sometimes I think the freshness is questionable, the whites spread like water when poaching. How do I know how long they've been at the gate? They are also expensive considering the low overheads.

Up until last year I had my own hens, completely free range, grass eating etc but although I knew the eggs were fresh, the flavour/colour still wasn't like these. Maybe it's the breed.

So where do you get your eggs from? Any supermarket? Suppliers etc to recommend?

Thanks

DS

TravellingAbuela

During caravan season (March to October) I get my eggs from the farm next to the caravan site (rural North Yorkshire) and they must be the nicest eggs in the world!! The chooks have three fields to roam around in all day and even the farmer says we won't find a nicer egg anywhere. The yolks are golden and we know they are fresh as most days he sells out and has to cover his sign up!

I hate it in the winter months when I have to buy tasteless eggs with pale yolks from the supermarket!

Eenymeeny

I'd be interested to know this too, thanks for posting. I'm always a bit wary of buying eggs from allotments etc as you don't know about their hygiene practices.
I'd love to know somewhere that I could obtain lovely fresh farm eggs while doing my normal shopping, hopefully we'll get some good suggestions.

Mojisola

A fresh egg will have a firm white so it shouldn't spread out too much when you break it.

Yolks become very yellow when the chooks have access to plenty of grass and other plants - or when they are fed a feed fortified with a colourant additive.

You can test the freshness of an egg by putting it in water - a very fresh egg will sink quickly and lie horizontally. The more it tips up and rises through the water, the older it is.

downshifter

Yes that's how I knew the farm gate eggs weren't any fresher than Aldi's. Also you sometimes get a mixed box, some fresh, some not so. My own hens, though fat with grass, didn't produce yolks like these so maybe a colourant or just the breed? I wish I knew.

Has anyone else any recommendations for buying good eggs with normal shopping or do I have to drive over 250 miles to Devon every time I run out? (they do mailorder but really, for a doz eggs which they've been giving away recently anyway!)

DS

KxMx

I think it's a case of trying local producers until you find the best ones.

I did this before finding a local farm sold through the Butcher I'd never buy supermarket eggs again tbh.

Stompa

I was initially a bit sceptical, but having now tried them, I prefer Aldi's Blue Eggs. These ones:

http://myphotojourney.co.uk/blue-eggs/

though the reviewer on that site doesn't seem quite as impressed as I was. They certainly make pretty good omelettes IMO.

Eenymeeny

I have bought them from my local butcher and the local 'fruit' shop but since the sign just says 'local eggs' ...
I suppose that I'm used to the rubber stamping on eggs now, maybe there's some other way of knowing that they've been produced to a good standard?

KxMx

The eggs i get from butcher come in a branded box from the local farm.
I know some though sell the eggs as loose which they then put into plain cartons.

Livelongandprosper

I sell my eggs and they are never more then 24 hrs in the box at the gate. Over heads aren't low, point of lays start from £15 upwards, one breed I'm on the waiting list for is £45 :eek:

Raising our own hens usually means we end up with more cocks then hens, and they need dispatching. Seeing as I can't kill a new chick I have to feed them till they are big enough to eat and I have to pay for them to be dispatched and returned oven ready. People don't want to buy those as the meat is very strong and is only really good for stewing. When we have an abundance of cockerals we don't have room for more hens which means we have less eggs to sell, hence I prefer buying POL

The colour of the yolk is determined by what they eat. Mine are free to roam. They are fed a commercial feed, corn, kitchen waste and whatever they dig up and what ever plants they find. We seed grass areas for them so once one patch is stripped bare, there's another one for them. Their yolks can vary from pale yellow to deep orange. The amount of greenery they get really make for dark strong tasting eggs.

I sell mixed boxes. Small ones are used up at home, as are the giants:). I just sell large and extra large mixed At £1.20 for 6 I think I'm selling at a bargain price for high welfare eggs

I would love to have more hens, I was up to 17 last year and that really was the max I could have without renting a field. I'm down to ten laying hens ATM so get around 8 eggs a day now we are into summer, that drops to 3 or 4 during the winter because I refuse to force them into laying by keeping a light on for 14 hrs a day

My hens are pets. They come running when I whistle, shoot in the back door if I leave it open and raid the cat bowl and happily sit on my knee or come for a cuddle

I have had strangers to the area stop for eggs and they have asked to come see the hens, presumably to see that they are free to roam. They are welcomed. They see inside the hen house , the clean nesting boxes, their dust bathing area, see that they have free access to clean water and food and grit, and watch them roam across the bank down across the fields


I would say if you are wary about the welfare of the hens, ask to meet them. Most of us hobby owners are proud to show them off

A._Badger

As a fellow chicken keeper I'd just like to say I agree with all the above.