Is this true?

[Glo]

I found a source near where I live for brown real country eggs. (Yes, I do know that brown makes no difference.). The first dozen was as expected; dark orange yolks and the taste was amazing. Then I bought three more dozen. I was very disappointed as they eggs looked and tasted like the eggs I buy at Aldis, which cost a third of what I paid the egg man. I called the egg man asking why the eggs were so different. He said his chickens are free range and as the seasons change, they don't get the same nutrition as the grass is not as green, there are fewer insects, etc. Then he said he supplements their food with organic chicken feed.

All this doesn't seem right. Could he be buying grocery-store eggs and passing them off as fresh? I'm asking because when I lived in a different place, I bought eggs from an Amish lady and they were always the same no matter what the season. In fact, in winter I used to have to call her to see if she had eggs since chickens don't lay as many during winter. My current egg man says he has plenty year round.

Am I being ripped off? TIA!

[early morning]

Fresh eggs generally have thick albumen and yolks that are dense and "stand up" as opposed to flattening out when you break the egg. Yolk color does depend greatly on what the birds eat - when I had more hens (down to one now...) the yolks of most were less orange in the winter, whey they would lay at all. And some of the varieties had a more pronounced shift in color than did others. I can't tell you if your guy is honest or not, but what he says seems plausible to me. However, I'm not an expert - this is just my personal observation.

[CathyA]

The eggs my hens used to lay were great. The biggest difference I noticed was that the shells were very hard, compared to the grocery store eggs. But I've been buying Kroger's cage-free eggs for awhile and their shells are hard too (which I see as a good sign).
I think it's impossible to know if he's pulling a fast one or not. What they eat definitely makes a difference. I say try to find another home-grown source and see if they are like the first guy's original eggs.

[JaneV2.0]

A friend of mine used to have chickens--the most pampered pullets on the planet. They ate grubs and weeds, cereals, and yogurt (!) ranged freely in their tractor, were petted and generally treated like part of the family. I couldn't tell the difference between their eggs and the ones I bought at the store--organic, free-range, or battery. The shells were more colorful--and probably stronger--but the taste was the same.

[Glo]

Cathy A: good idea. I will try to find another source.

[Gregg]

Not sure where you're located, but the chickens around here are having a feast right now as all the bugs scamper to get ready for winter. A month from now we will be out of bugs for the season and the chickens will have to have their diets supplemented. That will cause the yolks to be more pale yellow than bright orange and not quite as firm or flavorful. The guy's story seems reasonable, it just seems early for that to be taking place. We're at 41* N latitude and usually figure the chickens can't make it on bugs and garden scraps alone starting in late October or early November (ish).

[Glo]

TX, Greg. We're in NE Ohio.