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We raise chickens on non-GMO feed and collect over a dozen eggs per day. The eggs available at Walmart are utter garbage compared to those raised locally on go

We raise chickens on non-GMO feed and collect over a dozen eggs per day. The eggs available at Walmart are utter garbage compared to those raised locally on good feed and pasture. There's no comparison. Farm fresh egg yolks are the same orange color as the HN banner, while Walmart's eggs are pale imitations that were raised with copious antibiotics and literal shit in their feed. I would go so far as to say that their eggs help define the absolute bottom of this particular barrel. I would be ashamed to be a producer for them, and it is upsetting to see their prices held up as some kind of standard. We could do better, but our metrics for success have been boiled down to little more than current clearance sale prices.

93po 4y ago
I started buying the really expensive pasture raised chicken eggs for ethical reasons and can't go back to normal eggs anymore. They taste so much better. I'm sure yours are even better.
- steve_adams_86 4y ago
  Though the ethical choice is better in your case, I came to realize that chickens (as they exist for agriculture) are kind of strange abominations of what they came from, and they really do live bizarre lives of eating and pumping out eggs. As soon as they're spent they get turned into dog food or similar. Ethically it's better if they aren't trucked around and crammed in cages, but the end result is still servitude in which your body is used until it stops working the way people want it to, at which point you're disposed of like garbage. In my mind I thought "If I care enough to reduce suffering to an arbitrary point, why not just eliminate it from my diet entirely? Why do I get to decide at which point the chickens suffer the correct amount?". Especially when the more ethical choice still involves the exploitation of the chicken, it seemed like the right choice to stop eating the food they make. I don't miss eating eggs so it wasn't a hard choice to follow through on. I know some people depend on them far more than I did, or fewer foods are available to them. It's an interesting quandary though and I don't think my decision was the objectively perfect conclusion or anything – it's just worth considering over time.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    If you get some backyard chickens you'll realize that 1. they don't need to suffer to produce an egg and 2. they can live a long damn time.
    - steve_adams_86 4y ago
      Certainly, I had backyard chickens for most of my childhood. I'm not sure the relationship makes sense for me is all. Within a strictly ethical context, it seems to me that abstinence from eating chickens or eggs is the only answer yielding the most completely satisfying results. It's a very subjective thing though. I've had people argue that simply having the chickens offers them a chance to live whereas if everyone thought like I did, all the chickens would die. I don't agree with the "benevolent master" kind of rhetoric and it shifts the analysis of the problem, but it demonstrates the breadth of perspective on the matter quite well.
      - bombcar 4y ago
        At that lengths would there be any reason to have a pet? A cat, perhaps? Now imagine said cat lays eggs ...
        steve_adams_86 4y ago
        Haha, it's a great question. My conclusion at this point is that caring for a rescue makes sense. I wouldn't buy an animal from a breeder. I don't have pets, but I do like the idea of a rescue in which the benefits are more evidently mutual, and the relationship isn't initiated like a purchase.
  - dumpHero2 4y ago
    You're comparing a good life with bad death.
    - steve_adams_86 4y ago
      I don't see why you think so, but I'm interested in understanding better. I might explained myself poorly and infer the meaning of my words differently than you do without prior understanding. Or you're right and I'm not realizing how I'm doing this. I don't mean to make a comparison between a good life and a bad death, though.
dylanz 4y ago
I read somewhere that you can manipulate the yolk color through different types of feed, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. I used to raise a bunch of hens and yeah... nothing beats eggs from healthy ones. I "did" however get sick of eggs for a while... they're almost too productive! I finally built a network of neighbors who were gladly willing to take them off my hands.
- algoatecorn 4y ago
  That is 100% the determining factor in yolk color. It comes down to carotenoid content of feed. Also, in reference to the original comment, there is no difference between GMO and non-GMO feed either. Some may claim that high carotenoid feed results in more nutritious eggs. That's debatable. Even super-cheap eggs are packed with nutrients. It's an egg, after all. However, the nutritional difference in conventional eggs vs backyard eggs is practically irrelevant. The differential nutrient contents are not significant and come in higher quantities in other foods that we all have cheap access to.
  - narag 4y ago
    The differential nutrient contents are not significant and come in higher quantities in other foods that we all have cheap access to. That's a fact that gets so often overlooked. Some food you eat just because you want a particular nutrient. Anyway, there's a huge difference in taste. We had chickens when I was a child and later we bought from others that also fed weed to the chickens.
- lbotos 4y ago
  Yep -- You can change the feed to change the yolk. These are the "standard" colors: https://www.dsm.com/anh/products-and-services/tools/yolkfan.html https://www.dsm.com/anh/products-and-services/tools/yolkfan....
jjeaff 4y ago
Serious Eats did a taste test between home grown and store bought eggs. They found that if they added food coloring to the store bought eggs to make the color more orange like the home grown eggs, that taste testers were just as likely to prefer the store bought.
- dumpHero2 4y ago
  It's not just about the taste is it? I'd eat junk all day, if I only cared for the taste. Different color (without food coloring) signals different nutrients: https://www.justchartit.com/egg-yolk-color-chart/ https://www.justchartit.com/egg-yolk-color-chart/
dokem 4y ago
Is there any macronutrient differences, though? And i'll be honest every egg I've every tasted has just tasted like egg.
- bombcar 4y ago
  The main differences that I noticed was the thickness (strength) of the shell, and that you can change the taste somewhat by modifying the feed.
- earthling8118 4y ago
  Do you scramble the eggs mostly? I find I notice the most specific things about eggs when I leave the white and yolk separate. Scrambled eggs can be different too but it's harder to notice IMO.
metadat 4y ago
What happens to the chicken system when you go on vacation? Edit: @voakbasda: thank you for the prompt and courteous reply, good info :)
- voakbasda 4y ago
  I have not taken a vacation away from my farm in over ten years. I have had no interest in doing so, because I have everything that I want here. But chickens? You can load up a feeder and provide ample water that would last for many days without supervision.
orbital-decay 4y ago
Isn't yolk color mostly related to the amount of carotenoids in it? I regularly see yolks of all colors in grocery store eggs, and they don't taste any different.

93po 4y ago

I started buying the really expensive pasture raised chicken eggs for ethical reasons and can't go back to normal eggs anymore. They taste so much better. I'm sure yours are even better.

steve_adams_86 4y ago
Though the ethical choice is better in your case, I came to realize that chickens (as they exist for agriculture) are kind of strange abominations of what they came from, and they really do live bizarre lives of eating and pumping out eggs. As soon as they're spent they get turned into dog food or similar. Ethically it's better if they aren't trucked around and crammed in cages, but the end result is still servitude in which your body is used until it stops working the way people want it to, at which point you're disposed of like garbage. In my mind I thought "If I care enough to reduce suffering to an arbitrary point, why not just eliminate it from my diet entirely? Why do I get to decide at which point the chickens suffer the correct amount?". Especially when the more ethical choice still involves the exploitation of the chicken, it seemed like the right choice to stop eating the food they make. I don't miss eating eggs so it wasn't a hard choice to follow through on. I know some people depend on them far more than I did, or fewer foods are available to them. It's an interesting quandary though and I don't think my decision was the objectively perfect conclusion or anything – it's just worth considering over time.
- bombcar 4y ago
  If you get some backyard chickens you'll realize that 1. they don't need to suffer to produce an egg and 2. they can live a long damn time.
  - steve_adams_86 4y ago
    Certainly, I had backyard chickens for most of my childhood. I'm not sure the relationship makes sense for me is all. Within a strictly ethical context, it seems to me that abstinence from eating chickens or eggs is the only answer yielding the most completely satisfying results. It's a very subjective thing though. I've had people argue that simply having the chickens offers them a chance to live whereas if everyone thought like I did, all the chickens would die. I don't agree with the "benevolent master" kind of rhetoric and it shifts the analysis of the problem, but it demonstrates the breadth of perspective on the matter quite well.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      At that lengths would there be any reason to have a pet? A cat, perhaps? Now imagine said cat lays eggs ...
      - steve_adams_86 4y ago
        Haha, it's a great question. My conclusion at this point is that caring for a rescue makes sense. I wouldn't buy an animal from a breeder. I don't have pets, but I do like the idea of a rescue in which the benefits are more evidently mutual, and the relationship isn't initiated like a purchase.
- dumpHero2 4y ago
  You're comparing a good life with bad death.
  - steve_adams_86 4y ago
    I don't see why you think so, but I'm interested in understanding better. I might explained myself poorly and infer the meaning of my words differently than you do without prior understanding. Or you're right and I'm not realizing how I'm doing this. I don't mean to make a comparison between a good life and a bad death, though.

dylanz 4y ago

I read somewhere that you can manipulate the yolk color through different types of feed, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. I used to raise a bunch of hens and yeah... nothing beats eggs from healthy ones. I "did" however get sick of eggs for a while... they're almost too productive! I finally built a network of neighbors who were gladly willing to take them off my hands.

algoatecorn 4y ago
That is 100% the determining factor in yolk color. It comes down to carotenoid content of feed. Also, in reference to the original comment, there is no difference between GMO and non-GMO feed either. Some may claim that high carotenoid feed results in more nutritious eggs. That's debatable. Even super-cheap eggs are packed with nutrients. It's an egg, after all. However, the nutritional difference in conventional eggs vs backyard eggs is practically irrelevant. The differential nutrient contents are not significant and come in higher quantities in other foods that we all have cheap access to.
- narag 4y ago
  The differential nutrient contents are not significant and come in higher quantities in other foods that we all have cheap access to. That's a fact that gets so often overlooked. Some food you eat just because you want a particular nutrient. Anyway, there's a huge difference in taste. We had chickens when I was a child and later we bought from others that also fed weed to the chickens.
lbotos 4y ago
Yep -- You can change the feed to change the yolk. These are the "standard" colors: https://www.dsm.com/anh/products-and-services/tools/yolkfan.html https://www.dsm.com/anh/products-and-services/tools/yolkfan....

jjeaff 4y ago

Serious Eats did a taste test between home grown and store bought eggs. They found that if they added food coloring to the store bought eggs to make the color more orange like the home grown eggs, that taste testers were just as likely to prefer the store bought.

dumpHero2 4y ago
It's not just about the taste is it? I'd eat junk all day, if I only cared for the taste. Different color (without food coloring) signals different nutrients: https://www.justchartit.com/egg-yolk-color-chart/ https://www.justchartit.com/egg-yolk-color-chart/

dokem 4y ago

Is there any macronutrient differences, though? And i'll be honest every egg I've every tasted has just tasted like egg.

bombcar 4y ago
The main differences that I noticed was the thickness (strength) of the shell, and that you can change the taste somewhat by modifying the feed.
earthling8118 4y ago
Do you scramble the eggs mostly? I find I notice the most specific things about eggs when I leave the white and yolk separate. Scrambled eggs can be different too but it's harder to notice IMO.

metadat 4y ago

What happens to the chicken system when you go on vacation? Edit: @voakbasda: thank you for the prompt and courteous reply, good info :)

voakbasda 4y ago
I have not taken a vacation away from my farm in over ten years. I have had no interest in doing so, because I have everything that I want here. But chickens? You can load up a feeder and provide ample water that would last for many days without supervision.

orbital-decay 4y ago

Isn't yolk color mostly related to the amount of carotenoids in it? I regularly see yolks of all colors in grocery store eggs, and they don't taste any different.