Friday, April 3, 2020

For my friend Mary who would like to have chickens




Answers 
to an earlier post






Are brown eggs more nutritious,  No, but it does matter what they eat.  When you give them a lot of greens, the egg yolk will be darker and taste less sulphur like.
do they contain less cholesterol,  Maybe. It is argued that Araucana chicken eggs contain less cholesterol. 
do you think that a hen house needs a rooster, No, not for egg production.
do you know the body temperature of a chicken,  Chicken body temperature normally runs about 102 degrees Fahrenheit.  A chicken heart beats 280-315 beats per minute.
which breed of chickens lay the most eggs,  Leghorns, the world record (1979) was set by a white Leghorn who laid 371 eggs in 364 days. In 1925 chickens laid an average of 100 eggs in a year. 
which breed of chickens lay blue eggs, The Ameraucana and Araucana, from South America. They are beautiful but most roosters are mean.
why are grocery store eggs white, Because Leghorn chickens, who lay white eggs, are the most prolific layers.
what is a pullet egg, It's the first group of eggs laid by a young chicken.  Bakers prefer to use these eggs because they are very fresh.  Large eggs are stored for months before they are delivered to the grocery store. Pullet eggs are not stored.
what is a capon, A young, male chicken that has been neutered, a relatively simple procedure because a chicken is easily hypnotized and their high body temperature prevents them from getting infections.  A caponized chicken grows to be very large and fat. 


how many eggs does a chicken lay in a year, Around 250, but depends on the breed.  Their most prolific laying time is in early Spring.  The time when chickens are thinking about hiding their eggs and sitting on their clutch of eggs.

And most importantly, do they taste better? Every egg tastes different.  Free Range chicken eggs are different from commercial eggs.  Commercially raised chickens are fed a prepared meal and sometimes marigold flower petals are added to make the egg yolk darker.  You are what you eat.  Right?



Have a wonderful weekend my dear
Blogging Friends.

And treat yourself to a big ole breakfast with steak and eggs and hash browns and home made biscuits with fresh butter and dollops of
home made preserves. 

Gina 


repost February 1, 2013

6 comments:

  1. I love this post and thank you for it Gina! I recall you still had your chickens when we visited and Gene cooked their eggs for breakfast, along with great toast, so tasty. Then you and I made that fantastic, gigantic deep dish quiche with your homemade pastry and eggs and fresh greens from the garden! Every time I make a quiche now (which is almost weekly) I recall that beautiful afternoon and thank you again.

    No, we won't be raising chickens, but Brian my new 'egg guy' is delightful and shared a lot of info on raising them. He built the chicken house, run etc. himself - and he plays saxophone, clarinet and viola and holds summertime concerts in that back garden - bet the chickens love that.

    Mary X

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    1. Dear Mary,
      Better yet. A charming neighbor who raises such beautiful chickens. Chickens have such interesting personalities. For that reason alone chickens are fun to have around,
      Yes, I remember your visit. A lot happened in only 3 days. I don't think that I could come up with another quiche quite so good. As I recall it had a lot of heavy cream in the filling and a lot of butter in the crust.

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  2. Great post. I love eggs but like Mary can't keep chickens here( its a rule in our subdivision....but you can keep dogs ( 20 or cats (2) so probably an unfair rule.)

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    Replies
    1. Hello Honey. Nice of you to stop by. Some people don't like roosters crowing so early in the morning. I love it. Thank you for commenting.

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  3. Great chicken information! I love the blue eggs from the South American chickens. So pretty.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Lorrie,
      South American chickens are also very colorful. Roosters especially. Often they are also very possessive and think nothing of attacking you as you're walking away.

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