FRESH eggs??

[Larro Darro]

Sometimes we get eggs from one of Margie's friends. She won't let us pay for them, but the ones she sells are only a dollar a dozen. There is no way she makes back her feed costs. These chickens are penned. We also get eggs from Sister. Both of her flocks of layers are in movable tractors, so they are always in fresh grass. {BIL keeps game cocks, but they all have a pen to themselves} This is what her eggs look like.

Larro

 

[Baby Grand]

^ Dinner's running late and that's making my mouth water!

 

[dave1949]

..........

So one day, a neighbor lady knocked on the door and told Mother the vendor was out there "and he has a good price on eggs today, but make him let you pick out your own because some of them are so old they've turned brown."

:laughing:

 

[Jstpssng]

The only way I could ever recoup my costs would be to find the hen that lays the golden eggs ... still, they're fun to have, it's a high point to come home and see how many I collect, my dog loves to chase them around... and the fresh eggs are a nice bonus! :thumbsup:

 

[Larro Darro]

I forgot to mention that Sister has peacocks too. So once in a while we get a couple of those eggs. As they used to say on Hee Haw, it don't take many of them to make a dozen.

Larro

 

[bigbull338]

ok ive read this whole thread.what the chickens eat free ranging such as bugs worms corn layer pellets hen scratch does affect the color of the eggs in the shell.and they taste alot better than store bought eggs.the blood spot in the egg yolk means a fertile egg.but not all fertile eggs have that spot in them.for that reason i never ran a rooster with my hens.so i didnt have those blood spots in my eggs.now ive had 1st time layers lay eggs that the shell is covered in blood.but never have i had a hen break a blood vessel and put blood in an egg.

 

[Reyer Farms]

Old Macdonald- do y'all wash eggs before you sale?

 

[OldMcDonald]

Old Macdonald- do y'all wash eggs before you sale?

Washing eggs for human consumption is contrary to the regulations in many countries, including everywhere I have farmed.

bigbull, Sorry but you are wrong about blood spots meaning the egg is fertile. If you had candled (rolled eggs over a narrow strip light) even a few thousand dozen eggs on an egg grading machine then you would know that hens that have never seen a cock bird in their lives can still lay eggs containing blood spots. That is one of the reasons they are candled, checking for internal faults and cracked shells.

 

[Reyer Farms]

I'm an outlaw here. I refuse to wash them.

 

[dmccarty]

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

 

[Bird]

i never ran a rooster with my hens

My family was the exact opposite. Dad ALWAYS had at least one rooster running with the hens.

 

[Mousefield]

We sell about 45 dozen eggs a week and are always sold out, Some days we have to use that mornings eggs to finish an egg order, so you are not going to get much fresher than that. Our girls free range into the pasture, forest, large compost area that has cow, goat, meat bird manure. They also get culled organic veggies we get from a health food store every week. We have had many compliments on our eggs, golden yolk and egg white that is firm. An interesting observation from a specialty bakery we sell to is our egg whites whip up much better than the "factory" eggs they sometimes have to use.