AIBU...Burford Brown Eggs...what else compares?

[TwinsandTrifle]

Please help. We get through so many eggs and the only ones we've found and loved are the Burford Browns which are £4.50 for ten. We use at least a box a day (5 of us.) We've tried all local recommendations of "oh the most wonderful eggs from the farm shop/at the side of the road" and honestly, they've all been crap in comparison.

On the basis that (unless you live next door to us and don't want to give location away in case outing) local recommendations aren't really of any help, has anyone found nationally available eggs that are as good or surpass Burfords? Must be some way to get our eggs for less than £35 a week!

This is such an intriguing thread. Why can’t you feed chickens stuff from a kitchen that’s had meat in it? And how in god’s name is anyone eating eggs Benedict and then a quiche and then their tea? I am somewhere between impressed and horrified at OP’s family’s collective egg consumption. We buy Burfords but we struggle to use half a dozen before the best before date. They are the nicest though, no doubt, although I like chestnut marans too.

@MiddleParking I'm guessing they clamped down after BSE?

@MiddleParking

This is such an intriguing thread. Why can’t you feed chickens stuff from a kitchen that’s had meat in it? And how in god’s name is anyone eating eggs Benedict and then a quiche and then their tea? I am somewhere between impressed and horrified at OP’s family’s collective egg consumption. We buy Burfords but we struggle to use half a dozen before the best before date. They are the nicest though, no doubt, although I like chestnut marans too.

It remains illegal to feed catering waste, kitchen scraps, meat or meat products to farmed animals. This is to prevent the introduction and spread of potentially devastating notifiable animal diseases, such as African and Classical Swine Fever, and Foot and Mouth disease. These diseases cause significant animal health and welfare problems and damage to the economy

Bse was probably caused by feeding cattle groud sheep. The last foot and mouth outbreak they believe was caused by pigs eating catering waste.

The problem is they aren't always quick to point out that you don't have to be a farmer to have animals that are classed as farmed- if you've got the pet/small scale version of any animal that would also be farmed then the rules apply to them too, it's by species not by business. With all the diseases mentioned affecting four legged animals it can also be hard to make the link to poultry being treated the same but it's the same principle of preventing disease.
Major worry at the moment is African Swine Fever (not swine flu!)- there was even a national preparedness exercise a couple of weeks back as they're so worried it will end up here, it's just been seen in Germany so it's moving across Europe. Al this stuff goes on at high level then trickles down to hobby keepers but sometimes the messaging isn't clear enough for everyday use, in my opinion, although it is getting better.

I wonder if Buford add something to their eggs to make them taste nicer…..like McDonald’s adding msg or whatever they add to their food. I’m going to have to try some.

I’m happy with feeding scraps to my chickens. Like I said we have no meat in our kitchen. Ok, so I slipped up with the pad Thai…..I wouldn’t purposefully feed them egg. Saying that chickens will happily peck their own eggs and eat them so I can’t get too excited about that. If I drop one on the floor they’re all over it.

I think the main risk is with big professional units and feeding them animal derived food which rightly is banned. As a kid on a farm I remember the cow feeders getting chocked up with feathers……that was from the animal feed/cow feed that was bought. Back in the 80s I guess cattle feed was a high content of mashed up chicken.

I think it’s largely in your head. Be interesting to do a blind test. I buy organic eggs from Aldi. They test eggy.

Taste

Although this may be a marketing thread

Well it's got me sucked in. I put Burford Brown eggs on the shopping list before I'd got to the end of the thread.

We probably eat eggs at a similar rate to the OP, we've used 20 in the last week and there's only 2 of us, that's typical.

As a PP has said, Morrisons sell them at £3.50 for 10, so that's a bit of a saving. Or you could contact BB and see if it's possible to buy in bulk from them, but they might not be cheaper because supermarkets generally get such huge quantity discounts.

Or really consider keeping your own hens if you have the space. It sounds like you need a certain breed and to give them a certain diet, but after that, you should make a significant saving.

Jesus! Very high stakes consequences. I thought they’d be like dogs and just eat whatever (I’ve never had a pet!) I was only a kid when BSE was about, all I can really remember is walking on sponges on the ground between fields and things, but my husband talks about all the farmers where he grew up moving their animals to different fields in the middle of the night trying to get them infected with it so they’d get money from the government for having them put down. Grim.

Out of interest - How much do you pay a dozen for your farm bought eggs ? Ours are £1.50 a dozen.

I'm obviously not a connoisseur of eggs - they all taste the same to me

OP, you’re eating too many eggs and you need to have more variety in your diet.

The OP asked for egg recommendations, not an opinion on her diet

OP - have you tried the M&S ones which a previous poster mentioned? I find they’re the ones closest to the BB taste.

I'm also wondering if there's something 'suspicious' in BB hen feed, in the words of Mike Myers on KFC in one of his films, So I Married an Axe Murderer I believe, 'they put addictive chemicals in so you crave it fortnightly' or daily in the OPs case.

I'd also definitely be interested in a proper blind taste test a la Eat Well for Less where the participants are rarely able to pick out 'their' brand that they insist they have to have and often favour a cheaper version.

Lol ok 👍 local eggs are crap you sound a proper prat.

If you want cheaper Burford Brown eggs you could buy your own hens. They’re very easy to look after and lovely pets. £45 each and they lay about 240 eggs per year so better value!

That’s for Burford Brown hens from the Legbars of Broadway company

I think I saw a piece on TV about egg yolks being yellow because of something they put in the feed. It’s just cosmetic and does not influence taste.

Particularly yellow, that is.

Hens are not easy to look after unless you have a fair bit of land and never go away overnight. DM rescued some battery hens and they did well but what a mess they make and even though they had a secure shed at night, all succumbed to Mr Fox eventually.

I put Burford Brown eggs on the shopping list before I'd got to the end of the thread.
This made me laugh so much.

@BarbaraofSeville

I'm also wondering if there's something 'suspicious' in BB hen feed, in the words of Mike Myers on KFC in one of his films, So I Married an Axe Murderer I believe, 'they put addictive chemicals in so you crave it fortnightly' or daily in the OPs case.

I'd also definitely be interested in a proper blind taste test a la Eat Well for Less where the participants are rarely able to pick out 'their' brand that they insist they have to have and often favour a cheaper version.

I was going to say this. Get Greg Wallace round and do a blind taste test, he'll sort you out.

After seeing last reply, good call on the marketing thread.

Ohhh the cholesterol.

It’s funny how everyone on here who has had Burford Browns understands what OP means.
The ones who haven’t had them think eggs are eggs, it’s in our heads and we couldn’t tell from a blind taste test.

No one so far has been on and said they’ve had them but they don’t find them all that special or different to any other egg.

Leghorn eggs are even better than burfords but I don't think this is going to solve your price problem......

£35 a week (£1800 a year) on eggs - only on Mumsnet