# Brown Eggs/White Eggs



## Andy M. (Aug 30, 2017)

For several months now, our go to super market has been pushing white-shelled eggs over brown-shelled eggs.  For example, this week's flyer has white eggs at $0.69/Doz. while brown eggs are $1.39/Doz.  That's double the price!

I know the difference is the type of chickens the eggs come from and that they are no different in flavor.  

I assume it's because egg farmers have switched to white egg hens for some reason or other.  Around eastern MA, brown eggs have always been prevalent with white eggs just showing up around Easter.

Has anyone in other parts of the country experienced this??


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## CharlieD (Aug 30, 2017)

Interesting. Brown eggs here are of course available. But it is white eggs that are predominant.


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## skilletlicker (Aug 30, 2017)

The average supermarket has 38,000 different products that all need to be differentiated in some way. The color of an eggshell may be meaningless but seems like a harmless advertising gimmick. Nefarious strategies abound on almost every shelf in the store.

I have no way of knowing what color eggs were most common in my area before the beginning of the agro-industrial era. I'm only 65 years old after all.


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## Andy M. (Aug 30, 2017)

CharlieD and skilletlicker, do you see significant price differences between the two different egg colors?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Aug 30, 2017)

I don't see that big of a price difference, 5-10 cents at most.  See bigger differences in free range and organic.  I get my eggs from the farmer up the road $2 for a dozen and a half.


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## CubsGal (Aug 30, 2017)

I've lived half my life in the Midwest and half in the south, and white eggs were definitely predominant in both places, at least at your average grocery store. That being said, I've been seeing a bit more brown in the last decade at regular grocery stores. I've only been shopping Whole Foods for about a decade, and they have always had about 50/50. I buy brown. My husband swears he can taste a difference and that brown are better. I can't see any taste difference, but the price difference isn't big enough for me to fuss over it, so I just go with it.


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## skilletlicker (Aug 30, 2017)

I think brown eggs are about twice the price. White shell mass production eggs are usually "on sale" for about $.79 a dozen. I don't look closely at the Kroger alternatives because I don't trust the "organic" or "cage free" labels to represent better product quality or humane animal treatment.

I wish I had a farmer up the road. Or even decent access to a farmers market.


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## GA Home Cook (Aug 30, 2017)

My bet is that chickens that lay white eggs are more productive, therefore cheaper per egg.  Here is GA the browns are about 2X more expensive and I neither can tell the difference.


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## Steve Kroll (Aug 30, 2017)

Andy M. said:


> CharlieD and skilletlicker, do you see significant price differences between the two different egg colors?



I live in the same part of the country as Charlie and I don't see any price differences at all. Some stores carry mostly white eggs; others carry mostly brown. Around here color seems to be driven by the supplier more than any consumer demand for one over the other.

I usually buy whatever the store carries, and I couldn't even tell you which kind I have in the fridge at any given time.


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## tenspeed (Aug 30, 2017)

There's no difference in the eggs.  People in New England prefer brown eggs, so white eggs are less expensive (at least in New England).


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## GotGarlic (Aug 30, 2017)

I've become addicted to eggs from friends with backyard chickens. They're all different colors. I think they're beautiful as well as delicious.


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## Andy M. (Aug 30, 2017)

tenspeed said:


> There's no difference in the eggs.  People in New England prefer brown eggs, so white eggs are less expensive (at least in New England).



That's true.  But giving them equal shelf space and pricing them so far apart is new.


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## Cheryl J (Aug 30, 2017)

Those are pretty, GG.  Every now and then I'm able to score a couple of cartons of those "Easter eggs", as my grandson calls them.  

As far as my local supermarket eggs, they charge quite a bit more for brown eggs. I just go for the 18 packs of white, if I'm not able to get fresh eggs from the local farmers market or my car mechanic - I save egg cartons for both and get a good deal on fresh eggs in return.  Reminds me, I have about 20 egg cartons I need to drop off to them pretty soon.


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## Addie (Aug 30, 2017)

For those who would like to know:

Brown egg shell are thicker and stronger than white eggs. That makes a difference when you are cracking an egg and only want the yolk for the dish you are baking. 

If you crack a white egg on the edge of the bowl, a piece of the shell is more likely to break off and end up in your egg. If you crack a brown egg on the edge of the bowl, this is not as likely to happen.

It is safer for you to crack the white eggs on a flat service. Also with white eggs, crack them into a small bowl. Should any shell fall into the egg, use the bigger piece of shell to get that small piece of shell out. The piece of shell will be drawn to the larger piece of shell. 

In the Northeast, most farmers have Rhode Island Red hens. They lay the brown eggs. 

If you don't believe me, just ask CWS. Her chickens lay all different colored eggs.


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## dragnlaw (Aug 30, 2017)

Hate to burst a few bubbles here... _ in the chicken world_ there are only two colours of egg, *white and blue.* (I know nothing about ducks (usually green) or wild bird eggs, not to mention Emu eggs - WoW google them!)

Brown eggs are actually white eggs that have been coated with a varying layer of ...a brown dye! shortly before being laid!  Crack open a brown egg and it is white inside. Rub a freshly laid brown egg and the colour will come off.  

Crack open a blue egg and the inside of the shell is blue.  If it is a green egg, or varying shades thereof: it is still blue inside and it is the same coating that has turned a white egg brown on the outside.

Flavour of an egg is strictly due to the diet of the chicken. "Free range chickens" with access to green grass and other herbage, bugs and other goodies, will have delicious, and rich looking, yolks. During winter months chickens fed a supply of heat producing corn (so to speak) will have yolks that are an incredible colour of almost orange/yellow.


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## Cooking Goddess (Aug 31, 2017)

*Addie* and *dragn*, I'm calling foul (fowl?) on both of your posts. *Addie*, the color of the shell does not determine the hardness of the shell. Per The Kitchn: If you've ever noticed that an eggshell seems tougher, it's because of the age of the chicken, and not the color of the egg. Younger chickens tend to lay eggs with harder shells, while older chicken lay eggs with thinner shells. In my time, I've run across some mighty tough white shells.

In that same article, *dragn*, the breed of the chicken (or the color of the hen's earlobes) is indicative whether they lay brown or white shelled eggs. Whether or not the last few layers of shell are "coated" by the hen's secretions just before laying, it comes out of the bird brown-shelled. And no one is out in the barnyard painting those things as they come out of the bird!  There are also breeds that lay blue, green, and speckled eggs. When our kids were little, I would buy green-shelled eggs to serve up along with...ham. 

If you want to read even more about brown hued egg shells, there is a lengthy article from a chicken momma: Which chickens lay brown eggs?


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## Cooking Goddess (Aug 31, 2017)

*Andy*, I'm guessing that the store (Market Basket, perhaps?) is using the low price on white eggs as a loss-leader. Before we left for our trip, there was only a 20-cents difference between white and brown.

If you live near enough to an Aldi, I recommend you buy eggs there. The most recent price I paid was 53 cents (up from 47!) about a week before we took off. I've compared store-bought (MB), Aldi, and fresh farmers' market eggs side-by-side. Aldi eggs look way more like those fresh farmer's eggs than they do grocery store eggs...and taste really good, too.


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## rodentraiser (Aug 31, 2017)

I don't know about color, but I do know that the Jumbo eggs (white) that I get at the supermarket have lots harder shells than the regular eggs.


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## medtran49 (Aug 31, 2017)

In the regular stores here, there are more white eggs than brown. We normally buy Eggland's best and I don't think they have anything other than white.  On the rare occasions that we need eggs and 1 of the "premium" brands goes on sale that have white and brown, they are the same price.  The place we buy fresh milk also has organic eggs.  I don't remember how much they were, but they were a lot more than the grocery.  And they were different colors like GG's pic.


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## Rocklobster (Aug 31, 2017)

Try peeling a boiled brown egg..it is much harder to peel than a boiled white egg..that membrane under the shell is harder to get off...


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## dragnlaw (Aug 31, 2017)

CG - although _*in general*_ the colour of the ear lobs is _usually_ but _*not always*_ indicative of the egg colour.  Also, sometimes it is difficult to even see the lobes.  So I still stand by my statement. 

Pigment is released on to the shell shortly before the egg is actually laid.  Pick up a freshly laid brown egg, one that is still warm from the chicken, and you can rub the brown pigment. I was flabbergasted one morning placing my eggs away in the kitchen to see my fingerprints on an egg! 

I kept Black Copper Marans for a while. They lay the darkest eggs, you'd think they were pure Belgium chocolate! Some show breeders in France carefully keep these eggs on cotton so they aren't scratched or marred before the show.

Mine certainly didn't make show quality like these ones but I had fun!


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## CharlieD (Aug 31, 2017)

Andy M. said:


> CharlieD and skilletlicker, do you see significant price differences between the two different egg colors?





Brown ones are significantly more expensive. Can't remember exact numbers. Would have to look next time I'm in a store.


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## buckytom (Aug 31, 2017)

Brown eggs used to be more expensive here, but now they are the same price as whites. Maybe only a few cents difference.
 The only division in price here seems to be the ridiculous cage free/free range/organic/daily massage and facial raised eggs.

From what I've learned here, the color of the shell isn't a factor when it comes to the quality of the egg.

And I'm sorry Addie, the color of the shell has nothing to do with its thickness. The color has to do with the breed or bird, the thickness of the shell has to do with the calcium (and other dietary factors) available to the bird at laying time, and the frequency of laying.

We recently found a farm that sells truly free range, free of any additive eggs. The chickens eat what they can find in huge fields with just a little natural supplement. Their eggs are huge (what would be considered jumbos), thick shelled, and the yolks are a rich, deep yellow.

Back on topic, the dozen we bought were 8 brown, 4 white. But they all had the same exact characteristics.

Btw, the FBI now has dragn's fingerprints on file, and have contacted the Mounties with info...


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## dragnlaw (Aug 31, 2017)

Darn Chicken...  but she was tasty in the end


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## Annageckos (Aug 31, 2017)

Cooking Goddess said:


> *Addie* and *dragn*, I'm calling foul (fowl?) on both of your posts. *Addie*, the color of the shell does not determine the hardness of the shell. Per The Kitchn: If you've ever noticed that an eggshell seems tougher, it's because of the age of the chicken, and not the color of the egg. Younger chickens tend to lay eggs with harder shells, while older chicken lay eggs with thinner shells. In my time, I've run across some mighty tough white shells.
> 
> In that same article, *dragn*, the breed of the chicken (or the color of the hen's earlobes) is indicative whether they lay brown or white shelled eggs. Whether or not the last few layers of shell are "coated" by the hen's secretions just before laying, it comes out of the bird brown-shelled. And no one is out in the barnyard painting those things as they come out of the bird!  There are also breeds that lay blue, green, and speckled eggs. When our kids were little, I would buy green-shelled eggs to serve up along with...ham.
> 
> If you want to read even more about brown hued egg shells, there is a lengthy article from a chicken momma: Which chickens lay brown eggs?



Actually earlobe color does not indicate egg color. True that many/most chicken breeds with white ear lobed birds will lay white eggs, and red ear lobed birds will lay brown eggs it's not always the case. Then you have green or blue egg layers. A mixed breed bird may have red ear lobes but lay white eggs, or vise versa.


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## Cheryl J (Aug 31, 2017)

Before reading this thread, I never even knew that chickens *have* earlobes.  Shows how much I've been around the little feathered darlins!


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## Andy M. (Aug 31, 2017)

I spoke to the store director while doing ur weekly shopping.  He surmised  the pricing was due to a glut of white eggs.  He said he'd ask headquarters for an answer.  

A while ago, there was a price hike for eggs because a lot of chickens had to be killed as disease carriers.  Perhaps they were replaced with a different breed or different supply chains were created that have more white eggs.


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## dragnlaw (Aug 31, 2017)

Thank you *Anna*!    and BTW, Welcome to DC! 

Is that an albino ferret or something from the weasel family? (in your avatar)

*Andy*, I'm not sure but I believe the simple answer is that "back in the day" when mass egg production began, the breed that was the most prolific egg layer was a white egg laying chicken. 

Like everything else, someone jumped on the band wagon and claimed that (by this time the now slightly more rare) 'brown egg' was "tastier", "healthier" and more desirable to the up and coming more affluent society. Ergo more expensive. Rather a simple answer, no?


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## CWS4322 (Aug 31, 2017)

Fwiw, the thickness of the age of the hen. All eggs contain the same amou shell. Breed deteemines egg color. Heavy layer breeds average 250+ eggs annually. Price... marketing. People think brown eggs are better 4 you.


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## Mad Cook (Sep 4, 2017)

Andy M. said:


> For several months now, our go to super market has been pushing white-shelled eggs over brown-shelled eggs.  For example, this week's flyer has white eggs at $0.69/Doz. while brown eggs are $1.39/Doz.  That's double the price!
> 
> I know the difference is the type of chickens the eggs come from and that they are no different in flavor.
> 
> ...


Almost all supermarket eggs are brown now in the UK. Just because they look prettier and those who know no different think they are "better for you". They have the same food value as white ones. Colour of shell depends on breed of chuck, thass orl!

I get my eggs from a lady who keeps "rescued" chickens. Their eggs come as white, brown & greenish blue (quite rare those as far as buying them is concerned. ) They all taste the same.


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## CakePoet (Sep 5, 2017)

My eggs are mixed, yes store bought but both brown and white in one box.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Sep 5, 2017)

Andy M. said:


> Brown Eggs/White Eggs


Is this the beginning of a Dr. Seuss book? 

BROWN EGGS WHITE EGGS
DULL EGGS BRIGHT EGGS


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Sep 5, 2017)

Where I buy eggs, the white eggs come in generic 1 dozen and 1½ dozen cartons, while the brown eggs come in fancy printed cartons with adjective like ORGANIC, NON-GMO, and CAGE FREE (I have no idea why eggs kept in cages, baskets, or burlap sacks would be any different). I bet the packagers pay more for the fancy egg cartons than they pay for the eggs themselves.


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## Andy M. (Sep 5, 2017)

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> Is this the beginning of a Dr. Seuss book?
> 
> BROWN EGGS WHITE EGGS
> DULL EGGS BRIGHT EGGS



I didn't include green eggs as they require the inclusion of a pork product and that's outside the scope of this thread.


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## Addie (Sep 5, 2017)

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> Is this the beginning of a Dr. Seuss book?
> 
> BROWN EGGS WHITE EGGS
> DULL EGGS BRIGHT EGGS



 Oh Dear!


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## Addie (Sep 5, 2017)

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> Where I buy eggs, the white eggs come in generic 1 dozen and 1½ dozen cartons, while the brown eggs come in fancy printed cartons with adjective like ORGANIC, NON-GMO, and CAGE FREE (I have no idea why eggs *kept in cages, baskets, or burlap sacks *would be any different). I bet the packagers pay more for the fancy egg cartons than they pay for the eggs themselves.



Did you take one of those silly lets laugh today pills? I want one. In fact I need one. Thanks for the laughter.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 5, 2017)

Green Eggs are only found under Cabbage Leaves. 

No green eggs allowed in the box, it will just attract the fox. (ohh, that's lame)

No green eggs allowed in the carton 'cause the maid don't know how to 'barton'.   (aghh..  even lamer!)


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## larry_stewart (Sep 5, 2017)

Since Ive had chickens ( the past 10 + Years), Ive never had to pay much attention in the stores as to the price difference.  Mine have always laid either brown or pale blue.  The brown layers, in their peak, would lay about 5 eggs a week.  The blue would lay about 3 eggs.  On occasion, when they stop laying for a few weeks, and we run out , we have to buy from the store.  My wife usually buys the eggs, so Im not sure the price difference.  But , I think here , the price will vary more on if the chickens are fed organic or free range, than the color of egg laid.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Sep 5, 2017)

I was thinking about keeping chickens but the city only allows you to keep two, which would result in a lot of eggless breakfasts each week, so why bother? If I want a pet I will get another cat, and if I want a bird for a pet, I will get one that talks. I have always wanted to get a parrot that I can teach to say "Yeah, can you fly?" So every time someone comes up and says to the parrot "Can you talk?..."


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 6, 2017)

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> I was thinking about keeping chickens but the city only allows you to keep two, which would result in a lot of eggless breakfasts each week, so why bother? If I want a pet I will get another cat, and if I want a bird for a pet, I will get one that talks. *I have always wanted to get a parrot that I can teach to say "Yeah, can you fly?" So every time someone comes up and says to the parrot "Can you talk?..."*


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## buckytom (Sep 6, 2017)

dragnlaw said:


> Green Eggs are only found under Cabbage Leaves.
> 
> No green eggs allowed in the box, it will just attract the fox. (ohh, that's lame)
> 
> No green eggs allowed in the carton 'cause the maid don't know how to 'barton'.   (aghh..  even lamer!)




Green eggs, you say, are loved by all foxes,
The best eggs they store in great big, bejeweled boxes.
Be they white, or green, or spotted, or brown,
Eggs are treated as if they're wearing a crown.


With trumpets, and schnozzhorns, and cymbals, and whockets 
(whockets are whistles you keep in your pockets)

Foxes make a big deal of the eggs in their boxes.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 6, 2017)

Love it Bucky!  Well done!  

Sir LOB, I'll have to get my sister to teach her 'Popeye' that!


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## Sagittarius (Sep 6, 2017)

In Barcelona  there is no price difference between Brown or White Egg shells however, I buy Bio or Organic Free Range and they are approx.  50 Euro cents more for a half dozen and 1.00 Euro more for a dozen  ..  

Brown Shelled eggs are more common here.


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## Merlot (Sep 7, 2017)

I have chickens and that certainly doesn't make me an expert but here is my thoughts, white eggs and brown eggs taste the same if you raise the chickens the same way.  The shell depends on their age.  The color depends on the breed.  The taste of the egg depends on what they eat.  It's usually stronger if they free range.  (Bugs and such) Brown eggs are usually more expensive because chickens that lay brown eggs are thought to eat more (therefore raising your cost to house them) AND people have a misconception that brown eggs are better for you.
And perhaps the white eggs are lower because of all the weather issues, maybe they are feeding cheaper feed?  I'm not sure


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## taxlady (Sep 8, 2017)

I have found that brown eggs *usually* taste better around here. I always assumed that it was because it was more likely that they came from the smaller farms as opposed to the big chicken factories. I never thought it was the shell colour that made the difference.

Edit, oh yeah, the brown ones usually cost a bit more than the white ones here.


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## buckytom (Sep 9, 2017)

taxlady said:


> I have found that brown eggs *usually* taste better around here. I always assumed that it was because it was more likely that they came from the smaller farms as opposed to the big chicken factories. I never thought it was the shell colour that made the difference.
> 
> Edit, oh yeah, the brown ones usually cost a bit more than the white ones here.


 

Foxes think brown eggs taste better, as well, 
served on a platter made from a special Neek shell.

Now, Neek shells are large shells that are particularly flat, 
which makes no sense at all, since all Neeks are fat.

But in their sleek shells the Neek live their lives with great glee,
thinking their fat selves are slimmer than you, or him - the next guy, or me.

They care not for shaming, of body, or mind,
which allows them to enjoy colored eggs of all kinds.


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## Andy M. (Sep 9, 2017)

buckytom said:


> Foxes think brown eggs taste better, as well,
> served on a platter made from a special Neek shell.
> 
> Now, Neek shells are large shells that are particularly flat,
> ...



BT, you've been feeling very Seussian lately.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 9, 2017)

Andy M. said:


> BT, you've been feeling very Seussian lately.



I believe that to be a very good thing 
Seussian thought is the essence of being.


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## dragnlaw (Sep 10, 2017)

I'm glad that my rhymes were so lame, 
As just to myself I lay blame, 

Hip hip hooray, can you see?
It brought out our own BuckyT 
whom which we'll all read with great glee

And Princess did say as she stood on the quay
'Oh your Seussian thoughts do so quench our drought
as we ponder the thought
of eggs, either white brown ....  or naught.'


sigh, will never be as good as Bucky's


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## buckytom (Sep 10, 2017)

That was good, dragn. 

Seussian anapestic tetrameter is easy and fun.

You just need to rhyme and think in 4s, then let your imagination go. Normally, the rule of threes works, but that has no soul. It's not musical enough, well, in the 4/4 of which we're used to.


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## larry_stewart (Sep 11, 2017)

Finally remembered to check the egg prices while I was out.

The white eggs ranged from about $1 - $1.50 a dozen, they were all store brand.

There was one other brand of white eggs that were in the $3.50 range, it was a specific brand and promoting 'vegetarian fed' chickens.

The brown eggs were all specific brands.  All mentioning one or more of the following : Vegetarian fed, antibiotic free, free range.  The least expensive were $1.89, but apparently that was a weekly special.  Not sure what they normally  go for. All the other brown eggs ( the ones not on special) were in the  $3 to $5 range.


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