Eggs can be purchased as conventional, cage-free, pasture-raised, organic, free-range, vegetarian-fed, or supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids. They come in a variety of sizes and colors as well, ranging from browns and tans to light blue, turquoise, speckled, and the common white. You can find quail, duck, goose, balut (fertilized egg), and pickled eggs at our farmers’ markets.
Eggs have seasons just like produce. When the weather gets colder, the level of production slows, and hens take a break from laying. Early in the spring, you'll find pullet eggs which are smaller, very flavorful eggs from young hens who are just learning to lay eggs.
A pullet is a hen who is under one year of age. Pullets first lay very small eggs, then by the time they’re around 6 months old more than half their eggs are large. The birds lay for roughly a year and then lose their feathers, stop laying, and go through a 2-4 week dormancy period. Then they begin another production cycle.