Eggs

We love our hens. We have all hens. No roosters in the mix. I was worried for awhile. Everyone I knew thought they were buying all girls, and ended up with as many as half roosters.

But, on three separate days, we've gotten 11 eggs. And that totally confirms that our 11 chickens are all hens. Whew!

We have five araucana hens. Their feathers are so unique. As unique as their eggs. Two lay blue eggs. One lays green eggs. And two lay pinkish eggs (see front left egg). They were the last of our egg-layers to start and their eggs are a little small, but we have hope to believe that their eggs will get larger.

We not only enjoy eating our eggs, but baking the shells, crushing them, and feeding them back to the chickens. What pretty colors. (The blue and green eggs are slightly tinted on the inside of the shell, too.)

We've enjoy fried eggs, scrambled eggs, egg drop soup, crepes, and quiche, among other things. And it's so nice to use a fresh egg, right from the hen's bottom, for baking. The yolks are so bright and vivid. So much more yellow than store-bought eggs. I can't imagine a life without chickens. I think I'll always be a chicken farmer.

(We have a few broody hens. They all seem to like the same nesting box, and when several eggs are sitting around in the box, they will sit on the eggs to keep them warm. For hours at a time. We've literally had to move the hens to get the eggs out from under her. I kind of think it's mean, but sometimes if we need to go somewhere, we can't keep coming back to check if she's gotten down. I just love how motherly they act towards the eggs.)