Our eggs taste.... normal.

[chickenmomma16]

I agree with others, I’d feed an all flock (something between 18-20% protein) and oyster shell on the side. Works well for me. I’ve generally liked Nutrena products over Purina products. With Dumor I had bad results and the smell of the food was almost stale.
But if you want rich, thick yolks, free range your girls as much as possible and let them choose their own salad and “toppings” (bugs) save an egg from before free ranging and then free range them for a week and then compare your eggs, side by side one week apart.

 

[JPchicken]

I don't free range anymore due to losses from predators. I do feed my birds according to the seasons. During the summer months I lay off of the higher protein feed but the rest of the year they get it especially during molting and the breeding season. I do give them grass clipping to scratch through in the summer months and alfalfa in the winter months. The yolks are orange. I sell a lot of eggs because my customers all love the orange color of the yolks.

Mr Hawk and Mr Fox have both stopped by to watch the "chicken show ".... so the only free ranging they do is when I'm out with them. What brand of feed do you use?

 

[Beaglegal]

What do you feed your chickens for the best tasting eggs? We were sadly underwhelmed by the taste of the first two our chickens presented to us.

We are doing Dumor layer pellets, mealworms, scratch, and occasional table scraps.

I feed my chickens Purina and they free range... I think the eggs basically taste the same, maybe slightly better than store bought eggs.... slightly...

 

[cmom]

Mr Hawk and Mr Fox have both stopped by to watch the "chicken show ".... so the only free ranging they do is when I'm out with them. What brand of feed do you use?

I use FRM. It is only available in the SE US. A breeder and president of the Rhode Island Club of America turned me on to it. When they came out with the Show Gold, which I use, his farm was a test farm. His birds always do well at the shows and many times his birds have been champions. Very nice and humble fellow.

 

[Wezdin]

@jolenesdad has some amazing yolk colors from feeding paprika, maybe he can help!

 

[NatJ]

Eggs are eggs. I've eaten eggs from the store, from home-raised chickens fed only commercial feed, from home-raised chickens that got lots of free range and table scraps. I can often see a difference in yolk color, but they all taste like eggs to me.

In a deliberate taste-test of free-range eggs with nice yellow yolks vs. the cheapest store eggs, myself and three other family members couldn't tell the difference in taste. It was not a "blind" taste test, because everyone knew exactly which egg was which, but everyone had a plate of two eggs and was deliberately comparing them--and none of us could taste any difference.

So there's my anecdotal experience to add to the collection in this thread

 

[Phillyndilly]

I agree the eggs taste like eggs. To me it’s knowing they are healthier and knowing my girls are happy! If you want different taste you can go for duck eggs they taste different! Some of our friends like them better some hate them. But it’s a fun comparison

 

[cmom]

I have bought some eggs from the store and took some eggs from my birds and fried them. To me, my eggs did have a slight difference in taste but many people probably wouldn't notice as the difference is subtle.

 

[jolenesdad]

Thanks @BarnhartChickens98

I’ve done quite a lot of testing and comparing eggs.... especially with yolk colors. I also keep a lot of individuals of one breed, so I can really monitor which egg comes from which hen. Not all of them but at least 10-15 of the eggs I know right where they came from.

I’m just going to go through a few things I’ve found and thought about.

In general it’s freshness that makes eggs taste “better”. Fresh eggs taste a little better than store eggs. In many cases that may be the only thing that can set your eggs apart if you aren’t free ranging. As many have pointed out, it’s free ranging that will give you the absolute largest differences in taste and color.

Without free ranging, many times the nutrition of a backyard flock is actually LESS than commercial chickens. I hate to burst bubbles.... but when you can buy feed in bulk, it’s straight up fresher than anything a backyard producer can get their hands on, across the board. In fact many commercial farms or larger farms are actually milling the feed. Feed efficiency is a science and a huge part of profits, and it’s a well known fact that feed quality degrades rapidly. Those bags of feed we can get at the feed store have been sitting in multiple warehouses on the way to us. But now that I’m. Using in bulk, if I’m early to pickup, theyre grinding my feed right then.

so, feed additives....

You can supplement certain things into the diet, but you do need to be cautious that you don’t offset the balance of required nutrition elements. But, some things can make eggs taste a little bit richer, I have found. The best thing I’ve found is basil. It really darkens the yolks and I personally believe there’s a pleasant change to the flavor of the egg.

anything that you do add, will take 10-12 days to become noticeable in the eggs.

One of the easiest and best things you can do is a bale of alfalfa hay if you can’t do any free ranging. Just buy a bale and put it in the run. It’s a long lasting boredom buster too.

greens are only a part of the mix and the real missing piece without free ranging is bugs. I tried growing mealworms so I could free feed them without having to watch the protein ratios of dried and I haaaaaated it. I don’t know how many chickens you’ve got but two ways to drastically increase bugs safely for confined chickens is a Black Soldier Fly larvae setup or easier is just keeping a compost pile and bringing bits of fresh compost into the run.

 

[Phillyndilly]

Thanks @BarnhartChickens98

I’ve done quite a lot of testing and comparing eggs.... especially with yolk colors. I also keep a lot of individuals of one breed, so I can really monitor which egg comes from which hen. Not all of them but at least 10-15 of the eggs I know right where they came from.

I’m just going to go through a few things I’ve found and thought about.

In general it’s freshness that makes eggs taste “better”. Fresh eggs taste a little better than store eggs. In many cases that may be the only thing that can set your eggs apart if you aren’t free ranging. As many have pointed out, it’s free ranging that will give you the absolute largest differences in taste and color.

Without free ranging, many times the nutrition of a backyard flock is actually LESS than commercial chickens. I hate to burst bubbles.... but when you can buy feed in bulk, it’s straight up fresher than anything a backyard producer can get their hands on, across the board. In fact many commercial farms or larger farms are actually milling the feed. Feed efficiency is a science and a huge part of profits, and it’s a well known fact that feed quality degrades rapidly. Those bags of feed we can get at the feed store have been sitting in multiple warehouses on the way to us. But now that I’m. Using in bulk, if I’m early to pickup, theyre grinding my feed right then.

so, feed additives....

You can supplement certain things into the diet, but you do need to be cautious that you don’t offset the balance of required nutrition elements. But, some things can make eggs taste a little bit richer, I have found. The best thing I’ve found is basil. It really darkens the yolks and I personally believe there’s a pleasant change to the flavor of the egg.

anything that you do add, will take 10-12 days to become noticeable in the eggs.

One of the easiest and best things you can do is a bale of alfalfa hay if you can’t do any free ranging. Just buy a bale and put it in the run. It’s a long lasting boredom buster too.

greens are only a part of the mix and the real missing piece without free ranging is bugs. I tried growing mealworms so I could free feed them without having to watch the protein ratios of dried and I haaaaaated it. I don’t know how many chickens you’ve got but two ways to drastically increase bugs safely for confined chickens is a Black Soldier Fly larvae setup or easier is just keeping a compost pile and bringing bits of fresh compost into the run.

Those are amazing tips and I LOVE basil so much I wonder if the ladies will like it.
Also the alfalfa hay duh I can’t believe I didn’t think of that the girls love to pick at the straw bale when I bring it in so they would love hay I’m going to pick some up for them! Thank you!