missing egg taste and aroma

[CanadaEh]

Our 7 Barred rocks started to lay 2 months ago. The eggs are still on the small side. But what we are totally missing is that rich egg taste and aroma remembered from the childhood. I would say what we are getting now has even less taste/aroma than store bought eggs (blind test). The yolk is richer yellow than in store bought eggs, but that's it. They on free choice 18% meat grower, egg shells, food scraps, and and grass they can scratch from the leaf piles. Don't think they getting any bugs this time of the year.

Is it (taste/aroma) something that:
a) may improve as they get older? OR
b) need some supplement or absolutely requires bugs in their diet (i.e. have to wait till spring)? OR
c) Barred Rock is not a good breed for egg taste/aroma? OR
d) the grass was always greener and the sky was always brighter back when...?

 

[aart]

But what we are totally missing is that rich egg taste and aroma remembered from the childhood.

Could just be your nose is old......or you are mis-remembering.
Where did the aromatic eggs you remember come from?
....and how were they cooked?

 

[Melky]

Did you own the same breed before and did you feed the same? The Barred Rock is tried and true large brown egg layer. This is considered a good breed and in the top 10 to have for laying eggs.

 

[CanadaEh]

Could just be your nose is old......or you are mis-remembering.
Where did the aromatic eggs you remember come from?
....and how were they cooked?

they (about dozen "white" chickens - leghorns?) were penned in a maybe 5000 sq.ft. apple orchard overran by stinging nettles. They were fed old bread and cheap grains (millet I think) in small quantities. They were digging a lot of dirt searching for worms. The eggs were amazingly tasty, especially raw drunk from the shell - there was no internet at that time to tell us it could be dangerous. That was ~35 y ago.

 

[Melky]

Maybe it’s a Leghorn that you would enjoy more. As far as egg size they maybe smaller initially and pick up in size. My egg layer is increasing in size. The other option is to think on feed choice such as brand. Maybe a higher quality feed? I’m not sure what you use. My eggs are a yellow orange rich yolk and good quality egg. I think the flavor is better than what I would get in the store.

 

[PirateGirl]

More than flavor, when comparing my eggs to store bought I can notice a big different in consistency/texture and how they cook up. What you feed translates to how the eggs taste, so you could play around with this, whether it's different treats or different commercial pellets.

This feed comparison chart might help:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1upDVFXEQPK8PUIF6Sj3Bt5CUQfX1PlTEhg799sDT-qM/edit#gid=0

You could look at the different feeds offered by your local store and see which has the most different ingredients but still provides adequate nutrition and see if switching to this feed makes a difference.

 

[CanadaEh]

so what should I look for in the feed to increase egg flavor?

 

[PirateGirl]

so what should I look for in the feed to increase egg flavor?

Honestly, that I'm not sure, but if your current feed is not giving you the eggs you were hoping for, it wouldn't hurt to try something different.

 

[PirateGirl]

or for better eggs you could get some DUCKS!!!

 

[Melky]

Here is an article on egg quality and the desire for egg quality mostly focuses on disease free food layers on high quality feed for good flavor, color, and quality egg.
https://talkinghens.com.au/quality-of-your-chicken-eggs/