If you have never eaten really nice eggs, please try and get some!

[BadGardener]

OK I'm going to be a bit evangelical here.
About 9 months ago dh brought a box of eggs home which were a gift from one of his colleagues who keeps chickens.
They were a complete revelation - enormous dark yellow yolks, and flavour which made us realise we had been eating crap eggs all our lives. It was like the difference between instant coffee and real coffee. I made a batch of perfectly normal fairy cakes for dd's birthday party and all the grown-ups were raving about how nice they were, simply because of the eggs (I am not that great at baking.)

We had always bought free-range/organic eggs where possible, but honestly, the ones you buy in supermarkets are nothing like these were.

In the end I had to get my own hens, just to ensure our supply

It bothers me that there are so many people going through life not knowing how nice eggs can be. Please, if you have never had Really Nice Eggs, find a neighbour who keeps chickens, or stop at one of those places by the road where a backyard chicken keeper sells their eggs from their gate, and get some that are only a few days old and just see how nice they are [deranged evangelical smile]

Agree with Riven on all points.

BG here

and here

we only have Rita left, Sandra died after about 6 months. but now you can't tell Rita from a normal chicken!

(reading the rest of the comments! )

I wish Xenia could spend half an hour in a battery farm.
the stench is awful.
even when ours came out, they just smelled like tramps. worse than that!
and they were hot and grimy.

and the noise!
Rita has a call that sounds like she's screamed herself raw.

and they really are so affectionate: even though they'd been treated like they were scum and not worth having alive, they always came running to us, and jumping up for a stroke and a cuddle.
I can't believe Xenia thinks animals don't have souls. I believe that the soul is what gives you the force to live (it's like a kettle being plugged in: the electricity is the kettle equivalent of a soul)
all animals have that, whether human or farm animal.

Thanks for coming Xenia

Thing is though, the fact that one can't always tell the difference between battery and normal free range is the reason I started this thread. Lots of people think that normal free range or even organic is as good as eggs get, when actually real free range eggs are much better.

I wasn't in the least surprised when that man got done for passing his battery eggs off as organic and tbh I think it's quite telling that the thing that found him out was not loads of complaints from the people who were buying his supposedly organic eggs but discrepancies in paperwork at a routine inspection. I think Xenia is right to some degree in that people are paying extra - sometimes quite a lot extra - for a product which is only marginally better - you can get a free range or barn egg label without having to do an awful lot to make the hens' lives better and certainly not enough to impact noticeably on the quality of the egg. I can see why someone might be cynical about it.

If you are buying 30 eggs a week though Xenia, and you really think they are lovely, I can only guess you haven't recently tried really high welfare eggs or there is something wrong with your taste buds! As for not caring about welfare, well, look at the state of the birds in Nickelbabe's link and ask yourself if you really do feel happy about the fact that you are personally responsible for keeping 5 birds in that condition. If one of your children had a pet in that state around your house I imagine you would be ashamed & embarrassed & not allow it. Animals having souls or not isn't really the point - I think it was John Stuart Mill who said (something along the lines of) 'the question isn't can it talk, can it think, can it reason, but can it suffer?'
Life is too short to stuff a mushroom....yes, but it takes no longer to buy the higher welfare eggs, and as you are v v rich you could probably even afford those Waitrose Cotswold Legbar ones which people on here have said really do taste different for £2 a half dozen which would only cost you £10 a week, and you could congratulate yourself on the fact that you are intelligent and chose a job which pays well so that without the hassle of cleaning out a chicken coop, you not only don't have to torture chickens to save a few pounds a week but you also get to eat delicious eggs.

Re diseases, Riven said what needed to be said. If more people kept chickens there probably would be people who would do it badly and neglect their birds or get diseases from them, but compared to a system where the neglect and the risk of disease is basically built into the system, there would still be an improvement overall.

" I think Xenia is right to some degree in that people are paying extra - sometimes quite a lot extra - for a product which is only marginally better - you can get a free range or barn egg label without having to do an awful lot to make the hens' lives better and certainly not enough to impact noticeably on the quality of the egg. I can see why someone might be cynical about it."

actually, BG, i think that's a very good reason to quote for buying higher welfare eggs: you pay more because the farmers get paid more and that means they can then spend money on making the chickens' lives better.
It does actually cost the farmer a lot to convert to higher welfare (even from battery to barn costs a lot as they can't stock as many chickens in the same space)
and although it costs everyone more, you don't have to do that much to impact on the quality of the hens' lives.
just twice the space a battery hen is given, and something to scratch at and to be able to flpa their wings.
it makes such a difference to them! (and it' not just about the quality of the egg)

that last post is very moving.

I just have very different views. Let's ensure humans are okay first on the planet before we move on to animals which are a resource for us but the British will never agree with that. For over 100 years they have always given more to the RSPCA rather than NSPCC.

There will always be something that tastes better wherever you come on the food spectrum but we all pick the point we want to be on and go from there. I can think of things I'd rather spend £10 a week on than better eggs.

We were amazed this week that EVERY egg in our 2 boxes from Asda (Happy eggs or similar free range brand) were double yolks!

Not seen those for years. DS was photographing them as we fried some. Mainly poaching them for breakfast.

I would love to keep chickens (we have room) but don't fancy cleaning them out - or dealing with the foxes. Our neighbouts have also just lost all their chickens to a virus

Well said, badgardener.

Xenia, how does your preference for buying cheap battery eggs from Tesco help to "ensure humans are okay first on the planet"

Nickelbabe - yes, you're right of course, being able to flap its wings would make a big difference to the chicken. I suspect the supermarket takes a pretty big wodge of the mark-up on organic eggs but that doesn't mean the improvements at the production end aren't important too.

Actually one thing that strikes me about sales of eggs from someone's back garden is how cheap they usually are - I sometimes see them at £1.50/dozen around here which is not that much more than Xenia's battery ones.

that's the beauty of surplus, i suppose!

i got chickens because i lived in the countryside and they appealed to me as a pet.
(you know, one that earns its keep!)
they are sooo totally addictive!
and people use the eggs they need and give away or sell the rset.
especially in summer when it seems they're just laying machines!

I get 40+ eggs from my 7 chickens each week,we eat them all - 3 of us! I also use them for my minded children who love my eggs and tell their parents that my eggs taste better than mummy's eggs

They make the most amazing poached eggs, just drop them in the pan, they come together beautifully. DS eats 3 for breakfast , or 5 scrambled, golden yellow, rich, buttery and delicious. ( he's a healthy lad!)

I haven't bought shop eggs for 2 years now, if I have any surplus I give them to my neighbour.

Yes there is a breed called Araucana that lay blue eggs, they originate from Chile, my cousin breeds them, I now have four of them, they lay between 2/4 eggs a day that are all a pale blue/green colour, the colour of the egg depends on the colour of the chicken laying it.

There is nothing like a poached egg that you have cooked whilst it's still warm

Can anyone keep chickens in their back garden? this thread has really inspired me to look into the possibility we live in a conservation area can the council or neighbours object (could bribe them with freshly lain eggs )

You need to check your house deeds, some say you can't keep chickens.