Forum Topic

Eggs

Our shopping habits have changed for obvious reasons and we now get nearly all our groceries delivered by Sainsburys including Happy Eggs.I have recently read a report about the way they are produced which didn't make for good reading so my question is can you suggest a brand which genuinely treats the hens with care? It would better if Sainsburys stocked them but not imperative.

Adrian Irving ● 2055d23 Comments

Adrian Asda's Purely Organic Free Range and only £2.80 for 10 eggsThere's an Asda in Park Royal

Loraine Pemberton ● 2055d

I bought Happy Eggs once and the first one I cooked had a weird taste. Somebody told me that the taste of eggs depended on how the chickens were looked after and fed, something that had never occured to me. I buy Sainsburys English Free Range now and have never had a problem with them.

Cindy Carloss ● 2055d

..try Burford Browns.  We've been on them for five years (also delivered by Sainsbury).  Can't vouch for how they're made but the the shells are hard (not brittle and anaemic like a battery egg).  And the yolks are orange - and they sure taste like eggs should...

Stuart Kerr ● 2055d

I think eggs from The Black Farmer which I get on Ocado Zoom are great.  Think they used to be available at Waitrose but not sure if anymore. I am happy to pay a bit more as they taste great and feel as fresh as supermarket eggs could be (I got used to having eggs literally just laid by the chickens and ducks we had where I used to live so got fussy).

Jeannie Shapiro ● 2055d

Second vote for Burford Browns or Marin Island (I think that is nem) from M&S

Janice White ● 2055d

Without going to much into the care of chickens I can confirm that the taste can depend on what they eat.  I believe that they are often fed on fishmeal so too much and the eggs can taste fishy.  A friend who keeps free range hens on his small holding had a problem a couple of years ago when it was very windy and several of his polytunnels blew down.  The hens had a whale of time and ate everything new young and green they could including all his leeks pecked down to ground level.  Some plants too tall for them to reach escaped this fate.  Now I think I'd be choosy what I used their next eggs for - Spanish omelettes perhaps!Due to an Avian Flu pandemic aren't all free range ones having to be kept indoors at the moment?  There are special regulations when this happens that allow eggs to still be called free range.

Philippa Bond ● 2055d

I often buy Morrison'e The Best range of their free range and they are excellent.I can't tell them from Burford Browns, which are also excellent.They go AT £1.90 for 6.

Keith Iddon ● 2055d

Always buy Burford Browns now, the best tasting eggs to be had from any supermarket.

Elizabeth Ross ● 2055d

We like Burford Blues.  They also taste great and have the deep yellow yolks.  No idea how they compare to Browns taste-wise.

Alastair Banton ● 2055d

Don't be fooled by the yolk colour, commercial chicken feed sales reps carry a colour card showing the different colours of yolks which can be achieved by varying what additives they put in the feed.  I saw it on't telly.

Viv Griffiths ● 2055d

Thank's for all your repies.We changed our last delivery from Happy Eggs to 12 British Free Range Eggs from Sainsburys.I poached one this morning along side the last remaining Happy Egg to compare. Trouble was I forgot which was which!Anyway I have for the first time ever read the information inside the box lid of Sainsburys eggs.Points of interest were, one pence per dozen goes to the Woodland Trust, RSPCA assured and there is a Meet The Farmer tracker to see where the eggs come from.Also there is an Egg Code. Who knew!0= organic1= free range2= barn (which I read as battery shed) I have taken on board your kind suggestions and now I'm off  to track me down and "Meet The Farmer"

Adrian Irving ● 2055d

Viv is correct. The same thing happens in farmed salmon.https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/the-costliest-part-of-feeding-farmed-salmon-a-pill-that-turns-them-pink/387586/

Marlene Plimley ● 2055d

Avoid farmed salmon like the plague.

Russell Pearson ● 2055d

I eat a fair bit of white fish, high protein and very low fat.I am not sure if there are cod or haddock farms,if anyone knows?

Keith Iddon ● 2055d

Good point about yolk colour being a result of hen feeding regimes.  Also, apparently, deep yellow yolks don’t taste any different in a blind (I.e. eyes closed) testing, nor are they any healthier than paler ones.But, our sense of taste is affected by what we see so for me,  the yellower the omelette the better!  But never at the cost of battery farming.Has anyone checked out Mackens eggs?  I imagine they come from properly happy hens.

Alastair Banton ● 2055d

https://www.soilassociation.org/organic-living/what-is-organic/organic-eggs/Above is a link to the Soil Association which I found after a brief search.Told me quite a lot I didn't realise about egg production.

Adrian Irving ● 2055d

Absolutely  Adrian, there's a difference between Free Range and Organic Free Range, the former generally permits the clipping of hens beaks, the latter doesn't as they have more space.

Loraine Pemberton ● 2055d

Has anyone tried eggs from Hen Corner in Brentford - that lady also bakes delicious bread I'm told.

Jennifer selig ● 2055d

How many eggs does a Frenchman have for breakfast?Just the one because one’s un œuf .

Stewart Jones ● 2055d

Well scrambled Stewart.Moi enjoyed.Some 20 years ago I had 6 double yolks in a single box of 6. How could that have happened? Probably purchased from Waitrose at West Ealing.

Jim Lawes ● 2055d

Yes, I buy eggs from Macken's. I understand they are free range.

Joanna Biddolph ● 2055d

The fruit stall next to Campbell's Chemist sells free range eggs - they are very tasty, and you would be supporting a local independent business.

Gail Busza ● 2054d

Come along now, follow the leading California "Earth Mother"  who has hunkered down in the dirt of her back yard to fully embrace the Good Life and come to the rescue of formerly abused chickens.  How very grateful they must be scratching and pecking away in such exalted ground and fed real seeds by THE celeb, with her obedient husband down in the dirt too  and OW chatting on the telly no less.    It's back to nature, nothing phoney or fake out here, just simple plain caring and goodness.  Such an example for all the World to see. 

Jennifer selig ● 2054d