Very strong eggy taste, more so than usual!!

[Seamus]

Hey, first post so please be gentle!

We've got 4 chickens, they're all hybrids and eight months old. They roam free in our patchy grass covered garden, with a diet of juicy worms and organic layers pellets. Occasionally they get left over scraps from the kitchen, but no garlic/onion, just peelings and vegetarian stuff. Since they started laying at 21weeks, they've been on layers pellets, and the eggs have tasted superb, no smell. Being vegetarian in our house, and wanting to encourage organic laying, we switched to the only vegetarian (&organic) feed at the suppliers. That was 1 month ago.

Since the switch we haven't baked with the eggs until now, and the results are very disappointing. The eggs have a VERY STRONG eggy taste. I know what eggs taste like, but even in a flavoured cake, its soo strong it overpowers everything. Even the smell of cakes are eggy. We've only fried/boiled our eggs until now, and the baking surprise is off-putting.

Could it be the organic vegetarian feed? Has anyone else experienced the strong aroma of egg after organic feeding? The bag of feed goes out of date in 2 months, might that have an affect?

Any help or input would be very much appreciated.

Seamus, on behalf of Treacle, Peanut, Swam & Snowflake.

 

[luvinrunnin]

Does the bag have an ingredients list?? I'm wondering if there isn't fish meal or something else in there that's making the eggs smell and taste strong. I have chickens for eggs precisely because I can't stand a real "eggy" egg which is what the store bought ones taste like to me.

I'd switch them back over to the other feed and see if that makes a difference. I'm sure it will take a few weeks to get the organic food out of their systems.

Also

 

[Seamus]

Thanks Luvinrunnin,

The organic feed ingredients are pretty basic, no fish or meat bits, just grains and the usual feed requirements. We took one back back to the supplier yesterday, who swapped 20kg of organic feed for 40kg of the regular specialty feed. Its a trusted brand as we've used it before. Going to use up the last few ounces of the organic and switch them over to the new stuff. Then its just the waiting game!

I'll post an update when they're organic free and we've done some more baking!! Thanks

 

[alhanse77]

By "very eggy" do you also mean they kind of smell like chicken manure? We had this problem for a while and after ruling out numerous factors, decided they had gotten a funky bag of feed. I switched to a new brand of feed and have not had the problem since. Our eggs were so bad cooking them would smell up the whole kitchen! It took about a week or so after introducing the new feed that the problem subsided. Good luck!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I bet it's the feed. Try flock raiser by Purina - it has no animal by products in it.

 

[Seamus]

Thanks for the replies guys!

The eggs seem absolutely fine now! They're back to a normalised egg taste, as we've just started them on the non organic feed, alls well back in the hen house.

alhanse77, it was definitely the feed, and its great to be rid of that smell!

Happy Chooks, once we've finished the enormas stack of feed we'll try the sunfresh layena! Looks rather appetising if I may say so! Cheers for the heads up

All the best

 

[sheaviance1]

I'm glad you figured it out! That's awesome.

 

[BigJ65]

I'm glad someone else out there in egg land has experience the taste also. I notice when I buy my eggs at a store call Price Rite I get eggs with a overwhelming taste and smell to the egg once cooked. I'm not sure how or what there feeding the chicken but its disgusting. I'm backing off from eggs and for years they have been one of my favorite source of protein. I wish I knew what they're doing to the eggs in this 20th Century, I almost thought the eggs where being produce some other way besides CHICKENS. Let me know when someone find out what is going on.