Over the last week our chickens finally started laying eggs-aren’t the colors beautiful? So far-we’re getting brown ones-and 2 lovely shades of green.
Even the girls are excited about the eggs, they couldn’t wait to brag to their friends at school about our pretty eggs. They were surprised to learn many of their classmates have chickens too. Describing the students Chatter said “Momma it was people you wouldn’t think would have chickens.”
Way back in 2009 I wrote about the urban chicken phenomenon-apparently the popularity of keeping a few chickens for egg production is still going strong.
Come back by in a few days for a chicken update.
Tipper
Appalachia Through My Eyes – A series of photographs from my life in Southern Appalachia.
Yes, they are beautiful colors!
My Captain has begun to make plans to build a chicken house. Yippee!
I love colored eggs. When we had chickens it was always a treat to gather the eggs. Interesting there is a trend for having chickens.
FranE
Sadly here where I live they recently passed a law that people who live within the city limits can no longer keep chickens. Not even 1. They site them as being nasty and loud and destroyers of others property. Makes me sad.. I had to get rid of my beautiful little chickens which I had watched grow from the time they came out of their shells. Sad days..and all because some people are so ignorant.
Just looks like dumplin seeds to me!
I’ll bet your two biggest chicks did an eggstrordinary job at the folk school today. Their kind of clogging ain’t bad for your arteries.
my,my those “home grown eggs” takes me back to a time when things were simple and how much fun it was to go get the eggs but not so much fun when the old hen pecked you to death, just the fear of getting pecked would send you running
My grandmama took me to rob her hens when I was four or five years old. I thought getting the eggs fresh from the birds was the greatest thing. Later my aunt kept some guineas around her place. She robbed their nests of eggs to keep down the population. Mama cooked lots of those. Aunt Lib mostly kept the guineas for pest control. Every morning during the growing season, the guineas strolled through her garden eating almost every bug off her plants.
Unfortunately I cannot raise my own chickens where I live, however, we are blessed to receive a bounty of eggs every week or so (just got 3 dozen the other day, from a friend who is raising them. My husband has gotten to know the chickens well and they run to him when he stops by. There is nothing like freshly laid eggs from chickens raised at home – especially these chickens – they are spoiled and loved by our friends! I think all that love helps make the eggs taste even more delicious – and those plump orange yolks! We’ve had many colors: white, brown, pale blue, a sort of pretty green; some very tiny and others, more recently, really jumbo! A rooster has just joined the clan too. He seems friendly enough for now, but we are waiting to make a final judgement on his personality, LOL.
Tipper,
I got a friend who gave me a dozen
of those green eggs last year. He
said they were cholosterol free.
Don’t know about that! But when I
was a little feller growing up, we
had about 50 hens and roosters.
All that crowin’ so early (and I’m
not a morning person) made me go
under the covers. But those boogers were smart! Daddy got us
two ducks and they taught the
chickens to come off the roost
and pull ’em a fill of night-
crawlers for an early breakfast.
Enjoyed the night of friends and
all that Bluegrass Gospel music
at the Folk School last night.
…Ken
Tipper,
I’ll trade you a hen (Ameraucana) that lays blue eggs for one of yours that lay green eggs…Maybe by next Easter we can find one that lays Yellow eggs…Just think how much egg dye that will save?
I love my chickens and it was exciting when the pullets we got in the Spring started laying late this summer..
We had a straight run years ago of White Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds…Had to kill off the roosters…we had so many eggs, but we were eating more eggs at that time…I don’t feel guilty just using a whole bunch of whites now like I did when I had to buy eggs…
Brown eggs here are up to 2.79 a dozen…so my kids are tickled to get free brown eggs…
We had to trade off our two Wyandotte roosters, (they were beautiful) since I didn’t want fertile eggs..Do have a couple of fiesty banties…that strut their stuff…and now a bunch of new banty Old English chicks, thanks to the fiesty Roos….
I hope you folks have a great day at the Festival..It’s rainy here and our Fast Pitch tournament for the Grandchild is still going to be played although late…
I wish I could be in both places…
Thanks Tipper,
PS Just wait until one of them gets broody and hides her eggs…then the fun really starts…
Fresh eggs compare to grocery store eggs about the way just-picked from the garden tomatoes compare to hothouse tomatoes.
I have been told that some chickens are amusing little characters and can become almost like pets. I look forward to hearing more about yours!
Wow, beautiful colors, now you won’t have to dye eggs for Easter!
You beat us to it! 🙂 I so hope to have my chicken house finished by this Spring. We are going to get Buff Orpingtons. BTW I could not help but think that you should be careful eating any of those green eggs with ham! 😀
My cousin (who I would never have thought would have chickens) built a little chicken coup and raised her some chickens this year. Her eggs are multi colored, some people call them Easter eggs.
Beautiful eggs! I love that folks are still really into producing something from their backyards! Good to hear.
The eggs are beautiful and today’s post made me remember how I loved gathering eggs on the farm where I grew up in Choestoe. But green eggs?? Are you sure some Easter-egg coloring didn’t reach them somehow before you photographed them? The brown one looks familiar, but green? Give us a little more explanation, please. And best wishes to all the Blind Pig Gang and their chickens!
Never seen eggs that color–except at Easter!The green one with the “seam” could be a frog’s face with just a little work. I like chickens, but since the price of feed has gone up it’s cheaper for me just to buy eggs.
Got any ham to go with your green eggs?
Your post has me singing this morning…
Chickens crowin’ on Sourwood Mountain
Hey da ding dong diddle all day
So many pretty girls I can’t count em
Hay da ding dong diddle all day…
Fun to see this song was first collected by Olive Campbell:
http://www.folklorist.org/song/Sourwood_Mountain
Wishing I was at the folk school with you all today!
We used to get a couple of baby chicks from aunt’s farm in northern NJ at Easter time. When they got too big to keep in the box in the bathroom, it was time to bring them back to the farm. That we did. They were a bit messy, but we only had white eggs when they were mature enough to lay eggs. The Biltmore farm has chickens that lay different color eggs. Those chickens are quite a variety. I hope the girls continue to enjoy the “egg layers!” You, too!
I want to see what color the yolks are. Preferably on a plate sitting in front of me;-)
For those who couldn’t make it to John C. Campbell last night but have any thoughts of going to Brasstown this weekend, by all means go. Or if you don’t have any thoughts of going, you might ought to have a change your mind.
An especially good time to be there would be Sunday afternoon at 2 pm when the Blind Pig Gang will be singing and playing again. They were great last night, and thoroughly enjoyed by a big roomful of people who had the the place plumb packed. In fact, if you weren’t there a half hour ahead of time, you did well to find a seat in the peanut gallery.
Not surprised by the excitement 🙂
I don’t know any hen wranglers who don’t feel a little thrill when the first eggs appear. Even years (or, ahem, decades) after that very first year with the Very First Egg.
Beautiful colors! I would love to have a few chickens but with the coyotes and hawks around here , don’t think they would last long.
Nothing like a fresh egg. Looks like you have heirloom chickens
Now you need you some bees.
Oh! I forgot to wish the girls Good Luck! Some performers say “break a leg.” I say “shake a leg”
Beautiful eggs indeed! It’s been such a long time since we’ve had chickens. Nothing better than fresh yard eggs!
As a self proclaimed eggspurt on all things fowl, I would say you washed and polished them eggs before you photographed them. As a kid I scraped and wiped enough chicken poop to know chickens just ain’t that clean. Unless you have a rare breed that cleans itself. One of your eggs seems to have a seam in it. Are you sure you didn’t gather the nest egg? Crack it on the counter first so you don’t break the edge of the pan.
Do love me some home raised eggs. You can certainly see the difference in the yellow color when you make a banana pudding. The way they keep the chickens all cooped up, I doubt the store bought ones are as healthy as they want us to think. Am glad the girls are enjoying theirs.