Help me choose eggs

[cristeen]

So I just got an email from my veggie CSA that they're going to start offering eggs, and I was so excited!!  And then I read a little further... less excited now.  So I wanted to get some TF opinions on my egg options.

Up until now I've been buying eggs from an organic farmer @ the farmer's mkt.  He keeps an organic farm (obviously), and feeds the chickens whatever veggies don't sell at the market (I don't know if they receive any grain - I've asked what they're fed and he's never mentioned it, but it would be organic if they did).  They are cooped part-time, and free-range the rest of the time.  I pay $6-7/dozen depending on who's working the booth that day (if it's him, I get $6, if it's someone else the regular price is $7).  At this time of year, there are limited to no eggs available.  I lucked out a couple weeks ago and got 2 of only 3 dozen eggs he had that day, since i was the first person in the market that day.  But because there're no eggs available right now, I've been eating organic/cage-free supermarket eggs for the last month. 

My 2 new options with my CSA are:

Free-range chickens that receive (some) conventional feed in addition to the organic veggies they get.  These are kept in a walnut orchard at a local farm and penned at night. $7/dzn

Organic "cage-free" chickens.  These are your regular cage-free battery chickens, with "access to the outdoors".  But receiving organic feed (presumably grain - no details were given).  $6/dzn

Both of these would be delivered to my door with my veggie box each week.  They're first come, first served, so if I want some, I have to call first thing in the morning and hope I can get on the short list. 

So I'm curious to know if anyone thinks it's worth it to switch to the CSA eggs.  Pretty much the only reason I even go to the farmers market now is for eggs, and I'd love to have my Saturdays back... but is it worth compromising on the quality for that?  Or is it that big of a compromise? 

[Smidge]

I think I would choose the first ones, but I can't believe you have to pay that much for eggs.  We buy direct from a local farmer and get them for $3.50/dz.  They're free range and receive some grain, but it's grown locally and sustainably.

And I agree you shouldn't have to waste your Saturday just for eggs :)

[weliveintheforest]

I'd go with the first option, but keep looking because that is a lot of money!  We pay $4 a dozen for pastured but not organic eggs.

[Chamomile Girl]

Hmmm....Having truly free-range chickens makes a huge difference in the nutritional content of the egg yokes, so I think I would opt for number one. The second choice doesn't sound that different from a slew of local supermarket options (like Clover or Judy's organics). Having organic feed isn't actually all that great for you or for the chicken if that is all they get (as I am sure you know).

But there is nothing saying that you cannot try the CSA eggs once and then opt out (especially as you have to call in advance anyways). You could actually do the CSA and the farmer's market really.

I don't think that $7dz is outrageous for true free range eggs, but I do think that $6dz is too much for standard organic cage-free.

For PPs who said you are paying too much...that is unfortunately one of the sucky things about living in the Bay Area.

Maybe you need to find a friend with chickens? Some community gardens even have 'em.

[CherryBomb]

First option, definitely, but holy crap!!  That's expensive.  $3.50/doz is the most I've ever seen them.

Honestly, can you just find a local farmer's wife to buy from?  The one down the road from me sells for 2 bucks a doz.  I sell my excess in the summer for the same price. They aren't "organic" but they're pastured, which matters more to me.

[CookAMH]

I also would go for the first ones, especially since the price is so close to the others. Granted, as spring and summer come, there will be more available. Get as many as you can and maybe you could get 2-3 weeks worth.

I found my source on craigslist. Try that and see if you can find something cheaper. I pay $2-3/doz here in Seattle which is half that of the farmer's markets here.

[cristeen]

LOL!  I find it hilarious that you all think the thing to be outraged about is the price.  Like Cham said, that's just what they go for around here.  Even organic battery eggs at WF go for minimum $5/dzn. 

Backyard chickens are illegal in my city, and since we live downtown in a major metro area, there aren't a whole lot of options nearby.  I'd have to drive for something cheaper, and then I'd be paying it in gas.  The farmer's market guy I buy from is the cheapest of the (good) options at the mkt.  And I've been going to him for years, which is why I can sometimes get the lower price. 

And since we're now going through about half a dozen/day, a good egg source is necessary. 

Although a friend is planning on getting chickens in the spring - I'll have to talk to her about her plans for them. 

[DeerMother]

Egads! I am outraged about the price too! I wonder if it would be cheaper for me to send you some. We're still getting 10-14 eggs a day, for a family of 5. I sell mine for $3/dz.

[weliveintheforest]

Originally Posted by cristeen 

LOL!  I find it hilarious that you all think the thing to be outraged about is the price.  Like Cham said, that's just what they go for around here.  Even organic battery eggs at WF go for minimum $5/dzn. 

I can't help but be brainstorming ways for you to get eggs cheaper by starting a co-op or something 

It's true that you would be paying the rest in gas but it's still hard to think about paying almost double for something we use so much of! 
 

[Koalamom]

Yes that is so expensive!!  If you were in VT, I would give you eggs as we just got chickens and I am allergic to eggs.  The eggs keep piling up.  Can you ge chickens?

[Llyra]

I'm so sorry your options are so limited. I buy eggs from my liquor store guy, whose wife keeps chickens, for $2. Actually he just raised the price to $3, because the eggs were going so fast. She keeps them in the yard and feeds them whatever is leftover from the kitchen, plus they scratch for themselves. They do get some feed in the snowy months. And I'm in NJ, which is a high cost-of-living area, too.

I think I would go for the first option. My reason is because the chickens are in the orchard part of the day, which means they have the opportunity to scratch for themselves. It's the bugs and worms that make the eggs so good. Look at the color of the yolk-- it should be nice and bright, not pale.

Have you checked localharvest to see if there's anything else available?

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 



I don't think that $7dz is outrageous for true free range eggs, but I do think that $6dz is too much for standard organic cage-free.
 

Man!  I am totally under charging, then!  LOL!  And here I thought the little ogranic family farms that charge $3.50/$4 a doz were ripping people off! 

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by CherryBomb 

Man!  I am totally under charging, then!  LOL!  And here I thought the little ogranic family farms that charge $3.50/$4 a doz were ripping people off! 

Thats what conventional battery eggs go for around here.

[cristeen]

Double post

[Magelet]

I'd go for the first ones.  You're legally in Oakland right?  They aren't illegal here, but structures for them do have to be 20 feet from any residence.  We're thinking about getting chickens this spring as well. That said, using organic feed here apparently will end up not saving us much money, from what I've seen, but it's also about the experience and the food security.

I think I'd go with number one. good price, and they sound like good eggs. If you get them and they aren't nice and yellow, then stop getting them, they'll surely have a wait list it sounds like. Good eggs are so in demand here, that even in spring lately, there hasn't been an overabundunce, and they can be hard to get.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Magelet 

I'd go for the first ones.  You're legally in Oakland right?  They aren't illegal here, but structures for them do have to be 20 feet from any residence.  We're thinking about getting chickens this spring as well. That said, using organic feed here apparently will end up not saving us much money, from what I've seen, but it's also about the experience and the food security.

Umm... You've been to my house. You honestly think theres anywhere in this neighborhood thats 20 ft from a residence? Except maybe the middle of the street. One of the joys of a historic district.

[Magelet]

That was my point. that they are legal, but not in your space.  But at least in your historic district, you don't drive past prostitutes and pimps being arrested a block and a half from your house.

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by cristeen 





Umm... You've been to my house. You honestly think theres anywhere in this neighborhood thats 20 ft from a residence? Except maybe the middle of the street. One of the joys of a historic district.

Maybe you can chum up with the neighbors so they don't rat you out. Or go repurpose a nice empty lot a-la Novella Carpenter.