Organic cage free eggs?

cbg

Tue, Mar 01 2016, 3:08 pm

I want to start using more organic animal proteins.

I saw them in Costco today $3.99 for 24 eggs.
I think this is a great deal.

Question
Do organic cage free hormone free eggs only come in brown?

Do they have more chances of having blood spots?

Am I going to end up throwing out 1/2 the box, if yes then it's not such a great deal.

amother

Black

Tue, Mar 01 2016, 3:15 pm

Are you sure they were organic and not just cage free. Many many eggs are cage free but much less are organic. Also free roaming is "better" than cage free. Cage free means they are inside all day just not in a single cage but can still be crowded. Free roaming has at least some access to sun (albeit most likely tiny). Pastured are the best.
I shop in Bjs who has similar prices to costco and the organic large eggs there are much more than that. Also what size are the eggs?
Alderfer is the only company I have seen with organic white eggs but I do not like alderfer quality.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Mar 01 2016, 3:18 pm

The one and only time I bought brown eggs at Costco, I did have to throw out over half of them. There were most definitely blood spots.

Brown eggs are much harder to candle, and many organic places use roosters to boost egg production. Battery hens never see a rooster, and have to be fed hormones to keep them producing. By introducing roosters, you have a much higher chance of getting fertilized eggs.

When I was in the US, I liked Eggland's Best. Cage free, no spots, and (I think) they were organic. They were a bit more expensive, but I found the quality was much better.

The best sign of quality that I know of, is to judge by the thickness of the shell. The thicker the shell, the healthier the hen is. Battery eggs have paper thin shells. I've actually stuck a finger into an egg just by gently picking it up. shock

Battery eggs have NO flavor, either.

amother

Amber

Tue, Mar 01 2016, 3:27 pm

Different breeds of chickens lay different colored eggs. You may see more brown cage free eggs because some of the hardier breeds (orpingtons, for example) lay brown eggs. If you aren't using huge amounts of antibiotics, you want to use a hardier breed of chickens. But I also know plenty of farmers that have leghorns (white eggs) and don't always use antibiotics.

There would be no reason why cage free eggs would have more blood spots than caged. Blood spots in the yolk are caused by diseased chickens. Blood spots in the white are caused by fertilized eggs. Since farms that produce eggs don't have a reason to have roosters, it would be difficult for there to be fertilized eggs. Hopefully, cage free hens would have lower disease rates than caged hens.

Anon because I am a former egg farmer, and there just aren't that many of us here on Imamother.

cbg

Tue, Mar 01 2016, 4:20 pm

amother wrote:

I know the price was unbelievable. The package said organic, cage free, hormone free, 24 large eggs. It was a clear plastic egg box $3.99 I said wow, but I didn't buy them because I was afraid that too many may have blood spots.

cbg

Tue, Mar 01 2016, 4:22 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Battery eggs have NO flavor, either.

All Eggland's Best are Cage Free? Or does the package need to say cage free.

cbg

Tue, Mar 01 2016, 4:26 pm

amother wrote:

The few blood spots I ever found were always in the yolk.