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I was getting whatever was on sale cheap up until around a year ago when I met a woman who has a farm and sells eggs from her free-range hens. They have a coop they "live" in at night (there are predator animals in the area so not a good idea to let them roam free 24/7), and a fenced-in grazing area. I discovered the yolks were this amazing deep reddish-yellow color, and realized I hadn't ever seen eggs like this before. They cooked up much tastier than the cheap white eggs.
So now at the supermarket I pay a premium for cage-free eggs, and when I see my friend at the local farmer's market, I get a dozen or two from her instead. Hers are expensive - $8/dozen. But these eggs really are spectacular. Different colors too because they come from a variety of hens. She also has duck eggs but they're too big for my needs.
At the supermarket I pay around $4 for a dozen of Nancy's Cage-Free.
It's worth it to me because they just plain taste better when I make omelets.
This is what a true free range egg is like. I really miss my flock since I moved. Mine were true free range on many acres running loose. My yolks were dark orange and packed full of nutrients.
The natural diet of a hen includes lots of live insects for protein. "Cage free" and "free range" eggs in the grocery are mostly a rip-off, and eggs listed as "vegetarian" are even worse, this totally goes against the natural and species appropriate diet of a laying hen. They are mostly fed grain based gmo feed. A hen called "free range" under labelling laws usually only has a small period outside in a pen where there are no bugs, weeds, and grasses to eat. It's comparable to shoving them out the door a few minutes on a bare dirt floor in order to slap on a fancier label and increase the price 2.00 per carton - same unhealthy eggs.
Chickens are by nature nasty at times and maintain a pecking order. Weaker submissive chickens will get bullied and pecked to death by stronger birds when left to their own devices. This is going to go on at "cage free" and "free range" facilities. They even go after each other when left to roam 100% free on a farm.
Egg labels and increased pricing on factory farmed eggs are very deceptive. I only pay more for an egg if I know it's eating a true free range diet on an actual family farm. I'm in the city now, but I do plan on setting up 2 laying hens in the next year or so. There is nothing better, and 1 hen will normally yield 1 egg per day.
I grew up with free range eggs on our family farm. Fresh (just gathered that day) eggs are richer, have darker yolks, taste better, etc. Will I pay grocery store markup for them? HELL, no.
Ditto. I miss having fresh eggs from my chickens. Eggland's Best are a pretty close second, but nothing beats freshly eggs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa
I grew up with free range eggs on our family farm. Fresh (just gathered that day) eggs are richer, have darker yolks, taste better, etc. Will I pay grocery store markup for them? HELL, no.
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If I had my druthers, I'd buy Sam's Club 18 cage free brown eggs for about $3.50. I haven't been there since the egg shortage, so I don't know if the price has gone up. I want cage free, and I want them to be brown, just because our eggs were always brown when I was a kid, so I think they're better.
This is what a true free range egg is like. I really miss my flock since I moved. Mine were true free range on many acres running loose. My yolks were dark orange and packed full of nutrients.
The natural diet of a hen includes lots of live insects for protein. "Cage free" and "free range" eggs in the grocery are mostly a rip-off, and eggs listed as "vegetarian" are even worse, this totally goes against the natural and species appropriate diet of a laying hen. They are mostly fed grain based gmo feed. A hen called "free range" under labelling laws usually only has a small period outside in a pen where there are no bugs, weeds, and grasses to eat. It's comparable to shoving them out the door a few minutes on a bare dirt floor in order to slap on a fancier label and increase the price 2.00 per carton - same unhealthy eggs.
Chickens are by nature nasty at times and maintain a pecking order. Weaker submissive chickens will get bullied and pecked to death by stronger birds when left to their own devices. This is going to go on at "cage free" and "free range" facilities. They even go after each other when left to roam 100% free on a farm.
Egg labels and increased pricing on factory farmed eggs are very deceptive. I only pay more for an egg if I know it's eating a true free range diet on an actual family farm. I'm in the city now, but I do plan on setting up 2 laying hens in the next year or so. There is nothing better, and 1 hen will normally yield 1 egg per day.
I'm learning this about eggs. My friend's eggs don't come with labels on the cartons. They're just generic cartons, with nothing written on them at all. You never know what she'll give you til you open the carton, and they ALL have to be rinsed off before you crack them open. The last dozen she sold me had two blue eggs in it, and I'm pretty sure one of the bigger eggs was actually a small duck egg she'd put in there by mistake. They ranged from what you'd consider "medium" in a supermarket egg, to a super-jumbo-plus that barely fit in its niche in the carton.
At Trader Joe's, which has the cheapest eggs in town, a dozen eggs were $2.99 last week. At Rite Aid, which is usually comparable, they were $3.79. I haven't looked at my local supermarket.
Washington (AFP) - US farmers have been forced to kill almost 40 million chickens and other birds, causing egg prices to soar as a deadly version of the avian flu attacks the poultry industry.
This might explain why yesterday I paid $3.69 for 18 Smith's Large Grade AA eggs, when for the past few months I was paying $2.79. I actually did a double take when I picked up the eggs and saw the price. I stood there thinking that maybe it was a misprint
Thanks for sharing the link.
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