We finally got rid of the hens! :dance1:
I never wanted the danged things, too expensive to keep and not worth the hassle.
We spent more on organic feed than it cost to buy good quality store bought eggs. At one point, we went to a non organic feed and the hens were laying less as a result so we went back to the expensive feed. While the feed was organic we bought it because of the type of feed. The feed had more seeds that a chicken should eat instead of corn. The hens were let out late in the morning after the hawks had eaten and were left out to feed on their own all day.
We could see a difference in the yolks and the shells were very hard. I think the shells strength was because of the grit we were feeding the hens. The yolk color is just a function of what the hens eat which may or may not mean the egg is better nutritionally.
I could not tastes the difference of the eggs either. From what I have seen of commercial egg laying, the egg is removed from the hens cage as soon as it is laid and moved to cold storage. This certainly did not happen at our place since the eggs were usually collected at the end of the day. I can't remember the exact numbers but the nutrition in an eggs falls of very quickly in warm temperatures.
Our eggs would have blood spots and we did not have a rooster.
Thankfully, the hens are in a new home and I don't have to deal with them anymore! :cool2:
Later,
Dan