Watching our hens (AKA “the fat ladies”) run around with a snake or grasshopper (while the others chase after, clucking all the way) is my kind of entertainment. I know, I know–it doesn’t take much. But besides the joy and entertainment they bring to our backyard, they supply us with delicious and nutritious eggs. Daily. Beautiful, colorful eggs.
When our younger nieces and nephews and friends’ kids visit, they always run straight to the nesting boxes to look for eggs. It’s like a little Easter egg hunt that they don’t have to wait for all year. They love it. And I love that they love it.
Here’s a funny tidbit:
When I was pregnant, my friend Missy told her boys that we were going to have a baby. The oldest one (6 yr-old) said, “A baby chicken?”
It took her a while to convince him that I was having a real little baby boy and not a chicken.
We can tell which hen laid which egg, because they’re all a little different. Mary lays long brown eggs. We call them bullets. Ava’s are ivory, and so are Sweetie Pie’s. Bevo’s are brown, but not long like Mary’s. Lucy (the duck) lays light green eggs. They have been pretty large lately, but we’ve had a few irregulars. See below.
Those are both Lucy’s eggs. Regular sized to the right; weird, miniature size to the left.
In case you’re wondering, the duck eggs taste the same as the chicken eggs, but the shells are different. For one thing, the duck eggs are often dirty. Not because of how they come out, but because the ducks bury their eggs in the dirt, and they use their bill, which is usually wet/muddy. (So if I give you eggs, and the green ones are dirty, you know it’s not poop. That’s would be gross.)
The other thing that makes the duck eggs different is that the membrane/lining is really strong. If I am cracking eggs to bake something, I have to crack the chicken eggs before the duck eggs. Otherwise, I’ll end up smashing the chicken egg shell to bits, because I’m used to having to use so much more force with the duck eggs. I wish someone had told me that… But now I know.
Once you get used to “real” eggs, it’s hard to eat the store-bought ones. Yard eggs are just better. They look better. They taste better. AND they are better for you (see the chart below). It’s no surprise when you think about it. Our chickens are roaming around a nice yard eating fresh grass and bugs (we don’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides) instead of spending their lives crammed in a cage eating only pellets. (Not that yard life is all fun and games–there is the hawk issue.)
Have you ever had yard/pastured eggs? Have you ever thought about raising your own little flock? You don’t have to live in the country!
I really love reading your posts but, this one really hits home for me! We really need to talk so you can get the facts from both sides. You can’t imagine all of the regulations that are required in order to put a safe product on the shelf.
Hi, Abby! First, let me say that both sides of my family are Texas farmers and ranchers, so I know that reputable people in the agricultural industry (like your family) work very hard to provide safe food for consumers. I would never want to say anything that would hurt your family business. In fact, your family business is the reason I didn’t even mention the safety of store bought eggs, because (hopefully) people in our area that don’t have access to pastured eggs are buying a local product from a reputable farm like yours. Last year when there was the salmonella outbreak, I thought about y’all and how it would be a good time to interview you to show Texas LIVE readers the measures that good farmers take to meet safety regulations. Unfortunately, a sensitive pregnant nose kept me from wanting to visit an egg farm. But maybe now would be a good time. If you’re really willing to sit down with me, I would love to photograph/write about your family business. I don’t think there’s anything that would make me change my mind about my preference for our eggs and the way our chickens are raised, but I think I can still be objective—especially knowing that most readers don’t have access to yard/pasture eggs.
It would also be a great excuse to come meet your handsome little boy!