We gathered a freshly laid egg from Cheesy, the brown egg pictured below, and an egg from our neighbor that they recently purchased at Yoke's, and set out to make an observational comparison. They are both the same size, the brown shell doesn't make a difference in the contents of the egg. Cheesy eats standard chicken feed from Aslin Finch plus some scratch grains (crushed corn), oyster shells and crushed granite. She also spends much of her day free ranging around the yard eating grass (a good source of beta carotine that makes the eggs darker and healthier), bugs, our compost pile scraps and pretty much anything else she can get her beak on. Cheesy has never had any antibiotics or medications.

I'm not sure where the egg from Yoke's originated, but it's probably a large producer with thousands of chickens housed together, and it's probably several weeks old and eats a feed similar to the one we use from Aslin Finch.

Cheesy's egg has a very clear egg white, almost like water, whereas the store egg has a cloudy egg white.

Cheesy's egg white above has some real body to it.

The store bought yoke is cloudy and runny. Notice how it oozes over the whole plate. If I were a pastry chef I'd definitely want Cheesy's egg. Imagine the difference in the firmness of the whites when they are whisked up.

The store bought yoke is surprisingly puffy. It is probably very fresh because over time the yokes will sag and will lay more flat.

Cheesy's egg to the left is much darker and richer looking. All that foraging and free ranging really make a difference in the nutritional value as evidenced by the color.

And the winner is - Cheesy. We didn't have a taste test component to our comparison but the kids report that the home grown eggs are much more rich and buttery tasting.