Full House Today

It's crowded 

In the Coop:  Ms Buff Orpington, Ms Rhode Island Red, Ms Plymouth Rock, Ms Speckled Sussex and Ms Araucanus.

and crowded in our Country House. 

Have a great week my dear 

Blogging Friends.

I would love to hear from you in English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, Polish and don't forget Latin.

Gina 

 

 

Joining http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/
Also joining  http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/
Joining  http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

 

 



Darn the Torpedoes, Full speed ahead!

How long has it been 

Since you have eaten a Torpedo Egg?  

What do you think?  Does this Torpedo Egg have a yolk?  And, if so, is the egg yolk round or is it oblong?

A new Plaque in my Etsy Shop.

Actually, two new plaques in my Etsy Shop.

Enjoy the rest of the week my dear 

Blogging Friends.

Gina 





What was she thinking?

My Hen left me a little surprise.  

A little egg  laid by one of my full grown chickens. It should be the size of all the other eggs.  

 I think it was my golden Buff Orpington.  She is the clever one in the bunch.

 How many yolks do you see? 
Yep, that's the little egg.  All complete, egg white and egg yolk,  only in miniature. 

I'm still on vacation but just had to send you a happy Hello. 

Gina 

The Truth about Chickens

Answers 
for an earlier post

here

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 

Lazy Chickens

It took our chickens longer to lay these eggs,

than the time it took for me to paint an order of Delft Tiles.

An order for a newly renovated bathroom.

Three eggs is all they laid in two days. 

We have a dozen hens, normally each hen will lay 2 eggs in three days.  

But they're on strike because it's so cold.

   A few questions to ponder while you have nothing better to do.

Are brown eggs more nutritious,

do they contain less cholesterol,

do you think that a hen house needs a rooster,

do you know the body temperature of a chicken,

which breed of chickens lay the most eggs,

which breed of chickens lay blue eggs,

why are grocery store eggs white,

what is a pullet egg,

what is a capon,
how many eggs does a chicken lay in a year,

And most importantly, do they taste better?


The fascinating truth about chickens will be told in a couple of days.

Have a happy week my dear 

Blogging Friends.

Gina 



Hand Paintd Easter Eggs

It's the perfect time to get out your paints

And paint a few Easter Eggs 

I paint Duck eggs, they drop them willy nilly all around our pond.  We also supplement our chicken feed with Abalone shells.  Eggs are not as fragile.

Maybe throw in a few golden eggs, antiqued to make them more interesting

Place them into a bowl, hang them into a few forced blossoms or hide them under a cloche, on a bed of fresh moss.

 And if you have a little extra time why not gild a few eggs.  I will show you how

here and my goose that laid the golden egg here

Paint with a lot of different colors and don't forget the important white.

They don't have to be Faberge eggs, just begin and have a lot of fun.

Gina

Pullets

Pullets and Pullet Eggs

Pullets are chickens which are under one year old.  These came as "Day Olds"

This is how it works;  You order your chicks from a breeder and a few days later your Postman calls with a message that a box has arrived, a box that is making chirping noises. 

As soon as you get the chicks home you must dunk their beaks into a watering dish.  They seldom learn how to drink on their own.

 This is a Buff Orpington.  You can always tell when they get serious about raising little ones.  They start clucking incessantly and will also try to hide their eggs. 

Eggs were always more important to my Mother, so she would place the clucking chicken in a gunnysack and let the chicken  think for a day or two.  It always worked.

We also have a few older chickens.  Can you see the difference in egg size?  The small eggs are known as "Bakers Eggs".  Bakers like small eggs because they are super fresh.  Small eggs are never stored. 

 Did you know that large eggs are sometimes stored for 4 months or more before they are delivered to your Grocer?

Pullets start laying eggs when they are about 4 months old.

Gene was raised on a chicken farm.  He and his older brother, Blaine, took care of 5,000 chickens and collected a little over 4,000 eggs a day.  That is where the boys learned their work ethic.

I named him "Rocky".  He was a very fine and gentle rooster.  We have had others.  Alturro, the South American rooster was mean but beautiful.  Like our neighbor's bull, he was sent to another zip code.  Then  "Whitey" came along, not as handsome but very protective of his ladies.

We raise Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Reds, Speckled Sussex and Buff Orpingtons, they all lay brown eggs. However, we do not raise Araucanus even though they lay beautiful blue eggs, that is when they are in the mood to lay eggs.  After all, they are from South America and it gets cold in Utah.

Gina