Buying “free-pastured” eggs from a coworker produced one of those Eureka! observations in our kitchen. Just look and you see how different organic or natural food can be. The yolks were bigger and brighter than anything we got at the supermarket. Tastier, too, which isn’t always the case with the back-to-nature examples.
The shells, I should add, came in lovely pastels, depending on the breed. The light green was my favorite.
And then he moved on, and so did I. Or maybe winter came first, with the annual drop-off in hen productivity.
Still, we see a difference in the free-range eggs we’re buying these days, rather than the supermarket’s own brand.
Jnana's Red Barn 
We just picked up our first farmer fresh eggs of the season yesterday. We have a few farms that sell here, but they are all small scale producers and since the hens produce so much less in winter, they only sell from spring til fall. It was a thrill to go to the farm yesterday morning! My daughter calls them “OUR” chickens and pets them and says thank you every week. True signs of happy weather to come!
How delightful. I love your daughter’s connection to the source, too … beats the impersonal supermarket shelf.
Agreed! Farm fresh eggs are a completely different treat, I will never go back to the store-bought variety. My farmer gives her hens marshmallows, not sure what it adds but they sure are good!
Marshmallows? Don’t think we’ll do that if we ever get our own flock.
3 years ago I had 3 hens, like the red ones you have pictured. I let them forage in my yard. The fresh brown eggs still warm from being laid that morning made the best breakfast. The hens were also entertaining to watch scratching and clucking around. I think its the grass and bugs that keep free-range hens happy and yolks dark.