How Do I Know Which Eggs are Fertilized?

Good question:  How do I know which eggs are fertilized? 

Answer:  If you have roosters, the eggs are fertilized.  

Most likely.  If you live on a farm, you probably eat fertilized eggs.

We - I suspect almost all chicken keepers- collect eggs each day.  Why?  Because an egg may be fertilized but it won't begin to become a chick embryo in that egg until the hen starts to sit on that egg.  Or until you put the egg into an incubator.  Until heat is added, no chick will develop.

So- a hen may lay eggs for about ten days in one spot...and when she has a collection, she'll sit down, warm them up, turn them and rarely leave that nest for 21 days until the chicks hatch.  Fascinating, right?

Easiest and best ever breakfast casserole!

    Easiest and Best Ever Breakfast Casserole

Make this the night before and you'll just have to get up an hour early to put it in the oven!

Here's what you need:

Cook the sausage and drain the fat.  Give this a bit of sweetness if you want by adding some maple syrup to the sausage.  Yum and your house will smell so good when it's cooking! 

Put the eggs in a bowl, slightly mix the eggs.  Add milk, dry mustard and mix some more to distribute the mustard.  Add the cheese, the sausage and the bread crumbs.  I use white bread and cut the crust off of about three or four slices, then cut the bread into little pieces.  For you health conscious people reading, I've tried this with whole wheat or grain bread and it isn't quite as tasty.  I suggest white.  You can use the extra to make some grilled cheese sandwiches this week.  Which I also think taste better on white bread.

Pour the mixture into a baking pan. 

Put some saran wrap over this and put it in the fridge overnight.  Then grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine and go watch TV with your family.  We're watching "Hachi" and Dicky is enthralled.

The next morning, pop this in the oven an hour before you need it and voila!  Everyone will wake up to a deliciously scented house.  Mine is a bit crispy but I like it that way.  

Here's the recipe:

How can you tell what color egg a chicken will lay?

Recently someone asked me how I can tell what color egg a chicken will lay.  Did you know chickens lay many different colors of eggs?  We are used to the brown and white eggs we can buy at the grocery store, but eggs come in the colors of very dark brown, blue, and olive green.  Sorry, but I only have hens that lay white and brown eggs and you can see a sample of each days collection below:

So how can you tell what color egg a chicken will lay?  I wanted to introduce you to two of my hens to explain.  But first, did you know chickens have ears?  Yes, they have ears.  Their ears are covered with little, tiny feathers.  Below the ear is an ear lobe.  You can see both in this picture. Do you see the ear and the ear lobe?

A chicken with a white ear lobe will only lay white eggs.  Here is my little hen whose name is Fluffy. I named her Fluffy not only because she is cute and fluffy but also because she likes to eat dog food.  She's one of my favorite hens because each time I come out to the chicken field she comes running.  I think she wants to check if I have any dog food with me.

Can you see her ear?  Can you guess what color eggs she might lay?

If you guessed white, you are correct!  Here is one of Fluffy's eggs. She lays a very large, white egg almost everyday.

How about this hen?  Do you see her ear area?  What color eggs do you think she might lay?

A chicken with a red ear lobe will often lay a brown egg.


How about this one?

If you guessed brown or white, you are incorrect.  Because this is a rooster!  A male chicken.  He doesn't lay eggs.  Only hens lay eggs.  We'll talk about the difference between roosters and hens at another time.

The only certain way to tell what color eggs a chicken may lay is to know what breed of chicken you have.  Fluffy is a Leghorn.  Leghorns lay white eggs.  The black and white hen is a Barred Rock.  Barred Rocks lay a light brown egg.  Easter Eggers, Araucanas and Americaunas are the chickens that lay the blue, pink tinted or green eggs.

Want to know a secret?  We're getting some of these in the Spring.  Yay!

Thanks for visiting and we'll see you soon!  Next up:  How can you tell the difference between a hen and a rooster?

The End of January in Farm Photos

It seemed cold and dreary this week at the farm.  Many of the animals stayed huddled together.  

Everyone in the chicken house getting ready for bed!

This little hen is a guest in the chicken hospital- a straw filled dog crate in my warm office.  She has been keeping to herself and not eating much so I want to keep an eye on her and make sure she gets some extra healthy food and lots of warm water.  Cute isn't she?

Waking up...

A close call with a goose beak..

Couldn't give this chicken a blond wig again if I tried.  What do you think of the look?

My shoulder makes a nice perch.

"It's cold out.  May I come inside?"

Whose print is this?  This belongs to Cherokee, our male (Tom) turkey.

With increased hours of sunlight each day, the hens start to lay more eggs!

"Do you have any food for me?" asks Traveler.

The Mystery of the Squishy Egg Solved

Hi everyone!  I few months ago I showed you a video about a squishy egg that I found in one of the nest boxes here at the farm.  If you don't remember that video, you can see it here:
Squishy Egg Part 1: Click here to see the Squishy Egg

It is best to watch part 1 first!

Yesterday, I found another squishy egg and was able to solve the mystery of what might be inside of it!  You can see the video here!
Squishy Egg Part 2: Click here to solve the mystery of what is inside!