Ask anybody which eggs taste better, store bought or homegrown, and the answers the same. Homegrown eggs taste better, but the improvement goes beyond taste. However, in blind taste tests in countless studies, the results show that people can't tell the difference. But that's were the similarities end.

The egg on the left is a pastured eggs vs store bought on the right
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Eggs raised yourself are actually better for you and more nutritious. Research has concluded that free-range eggs contain:

• more omega-3 fatty acids
• less cholesterol
• increased vitamins A, E and D
• less saturated fat
• increased vitamins A, E and D
• more beta carotene

Chickens eating things like bugs, greens, seeds and flowers, ingest nutrients and that are not available in commercial feeds and are happier, healthier chickens.

Eggs found in a store can be weeks old by the time you get them as opposed to eggs gathered the day they were laid in your backyard and may have something to do with the perceived difference in taste.

We harvest about two dozen eggs a day from our thirty hens and they keep well, with no refrigerating, for about five weeks as long as they're not washed. Washing eggs removes the protective bloom surrounding the egg, requiring you to refrigerate them.

When it rains, the eggs get dirty from the chickens tracking in mud from their feet and then we need to wash them and chill them.

I once had fifty Rhode Island Red's that produced about forty eggs per day and traded them with a local baker for fresh baked goods.

The baker raved about the quality of the eggs and the noticeable difference in the results of her products. It seemed that real, free-ranged eggs improved the quality and texture of the pastries when using my eggs. I couldn't supply her with enough eggs, but she did use them all and I got fresh, baked goods everyday.

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One of the reason I grow my own food is I don't trust the food industry in the United States. Their definition of free-range is misleading and unacceptable to me and my chickens.

The USDA, or US-Duh as I like to call it, requires poultry producers claiming to raise free-range eggs or poultry as follows;

Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

In many cases the only change producers have made to essentially what is still a CAFO (Contained Animal Feeding Operation) is to attach a small, fenced, outdoor area, often no larger than ten by ten feet, to the building.

The birds live in such crowded, unhealthy conditions and find it difficult to find the door leading to this "free-range access" area.

Not happy or healthy chickens

Happy chickens credit

Raising chickens yourself, or buying eggs from someone who does, is the only way to be sure you're getting the best eggs.

@lyndsaybowes recued some battery chickens from a factory farm. You can read her heart-warming post about it here.
We Rescued Laying Hens From A Battery (Factory Farm)

My mom used to tell me not to play with my food, but I didn't listen. I play with my chickens all the time and they do a lot of work for me growing my garden. You can learn how to manage them to grow gardens for you by reading my earlier post: Chickens Planting Gardens - How To Get Chickens To Plant Gardens, Not Destroy Them. It's easy to do and they're really fun to watch.

If you have a smaller space and would like to raise chicken on pasture, then a chicken tractor is your best bet. I'll let @papa-pepper explain that in his post called, CHICKEN & RABBIT TRACTORS – Why I am Building MOVEABLE Cages for our Animals That Allow Them Free Access to Green Grass

@whatsup has a cute story here about Polka and Dot

Eggs Are Eggs

What's the difference

All eggs come from chickens, but they vary depending on how the chickens were raised and what they were fed.

Conventional Eggs – These are your standard supermarket eggs. The chickens are usually raised in an overfilled hen house or a cage and never see the light of day.

They are usually fed grain-based crap, supplemented with vitamins and minerals. May also be treated with antibiotics and hormones.>

Organic Eggs – Were not treated with antibiotics or hormones and received organic feed. May have had limited access to the outdoors.

Pastured Eggs – Chickens are allowed to roam free, eating plants and insects (their natural food) along with some commercial feed.

Omega-3 Enriched Eggs – Basically, they’re like conventional chickens except that their feed is supplemented with an Omega-3 source like flax seeds. May have had some access to the outside.

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Conclusions

If you can’t get home-grown, pastured eggs then Omega-3 enriched eggs will be your second best choice. If you can’t get either pastured or Omega-3 eggs, your next best bet is either free-range, cage-free or organic.

Thanks for reading and up voting my post and remember to;

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