Yes, this is a real city slicker question, but who knows -- maybe there is a good answer out there.

My good friend in southern NJ is raising chickens. Right now she has mixed-breeds laying, but she has just started out some chicks (Leghorns, Araucana, Ancona. I find the taste of the mixed-breed eggs pretty darn strong, very "eggy" to the point of being unpleasant. Her chickens are VERY free-range, pecking through her woods for part of the day and in a large chicken pen for the rest, where there is some forage as well as feedings of Layina. When I scramble up these eggs I end up watering them down with a quarter cup of milk or water...is it just my being used to weak dull supermarket eggs, or is it possible her chickens are not really getting what they need to produce tasty eggs? I'd like to talk about this now, before the chicks grow up and start laying.

-- brooklynsheep (robbins@informinc.org), November 13, 2001

Answers

Yes, home reaised eggs do have more flavor than store-bought. Newt time you scramble eggs, try removing one-half of the yolks. With a fresh egg that's easy: the yolk won't break easily! Since the white of the egg has no fat in it, this also cuts the fat content of the dish in half.

-- terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), November 13, 2001.

hi.

i found that when i first started raising chickens that my farm fresh eggs did have more flavor than store bought eggs. i love the taste of my fresh eggs and have not bought store bought eggs in 6 yrs.

when i eat out i can tell a store bought egg from a fresh egg. i find that fresh eggs have a sweeter flavor wheras older store bought have a bland watery taste.

-- george in nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), November 13, 2001.

Brooklyn, You say these chickens are "very" free range, that means they may be eating something that does flavor the eggs. Your friend might want to limit the free range and encourage them to eat a little more egg mash. I am very curious as to what a "eggy tasting egg" really tastes like??? My homegrown eggs have more flavor than a "store bought" egg but they taste very good and I add milk to my scrambled eggs to make them fluffier.

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), November 13, 2001.

karen did bring up a very good point. the chickens could possibly be eating something in the yard that give the eggs their flavor. also, like karen i add milk to scrambled eggs to make them extra fluffy.

-- george in nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), November 13, 2001.

If kept penned so they can't forage & on a diet (laying mash, grains, scratch, etc...) of common feed (without bugs, fresh greens, or garden produce or waste of any kind), the eggs will be closer to store bought eggs. However, if let to range for forage (bugs, greens, etc...) & given things from the garden (& sometimes extra milk) the eggs will have a stronger flavor. I had a friend in California that kept his birds penned but gave them vegi scraps & the occational bug or two from the garden (with regular laying mash & scratch). The eggs from these birds were stronger in flavor then the store. It is in the diet, that makes the eggs taste strong, not the breed of bird.

animalfarms

-- animalfarms (jawjlewis@netzero.net), November 14, 2001.

I'll define what I mean by "very eggy to the point of being unpleasant." There is a certain sulphurous quality to eggs, which you can sense the most when they are hardboiled. I find even these chickens' freshly scrambled eggs to have a bit of this sulphurous taste. It's a taste that's somewhere between dusty and burnt. If you asked me what my first impression was of tasting these eggs, I'd say "not fresh." But I know these were fresh -- my friend had gathered them the same morning.

-- brooklynsheep (robbins@informinc.org), November 14, 2001.