Fairy Eggs

February 25, 2018 Eggs 1 Comment

After a long drought of no eggs, we recently found a very small brown egg in the nest.

This little gift was apparently a precursor of good things to come!  Sometimes hens lay what is known as  a fairy egg when something has disturbed their reproductive system and or before the reproductive system has “gotten into gear”.  Fairy eggs are also known as dwarf or wind eggs.

Fairy egg shown in nest beside normal sized egg

Opening egg

Inside

In our case it signalled of new burst of daily egg laying.  Spring is in the air!

Our first chicken coop

February 23, 2018 Chicken coops No Comments

When we first started with chickens we built three chicken tractors to handle 20 hens our neighbor gifted to us in exchange for some fresh eggs.

 

After a couple years we decided to raise a flock of mail order chicks to replace those hard working hens and built this rough chicken coop.

 

We had a very limited budget and wanted to use as much recycled materials as we could and ended up making a very poor chicken coop.

 

It was big enough for chickens but I failed to make it big enough for easy clean out.

 

A future coop would be high enough off the ground so a wheelbarrow could be level with the floor to make clean out easy.

 

It would also have multiple chicken tunnels made from PVC conduit and chicken wire that extends out from the coop with doors for easy rotation.

 

A roll out nest box that worked and a feeder that kept out birds and rodents would also help to make raising chicken easier.

 

What innovation am I forgetting?  What feature would you add to a dream chicken coop?

How To Preserve Eggs

February 22, 2018 Eggs No Comments

If you followed the tips on our earlier post to boost egg production and now your cartons are overflowing, here’s quick way to preserve some of those eggs for later.

  1. Begin by deciding how many eggs you consider a “serving.” How many eggs do you typically eat at a time? How many eggs are in your favorite cake recipe?
  2. Crack as many eggs as you need for your “serving” into a bowl.
  3. Add just a small pinch of salt and whisk eggs. The salt will help with preservation. You may also want to add pepper or other seasonings if you are going to be using your eggs to scramble for breakfast.
  4. Empty eggs into freezer safe bags such as these Ziploc Freezer Quart Bags.
  5. Seal tightly and label to tell how many eggs are in the bag and the date.
  6. Lay freezer bag flat and freeze.

It’s as simple as that! I would recommend that you use the eggs within about 2 months to ensure they still taste their best but they will keep longer if needed.

This is also a good idea to do before an outing, such as a camping trip, when you’ll want your fresh eggs without worrying about breaking them during transportation. The frozen eggs act sort of like an ice pack when placed in a cooler and it’s much easier than juggling a carton full of eggs.

And don’t stop there! Get creative!

Do you like omelets? Try adding in some diced ham or shredded cheese for a ready to go breakfast. All these things freeze well for a short period of time and will thaw overnight in the fridge. Enjoy!