BABY CHICKS AGAIN

Not ours, we don't have chickens yet.  These belong to 2nd Family.  "J" texted me this picture yesterday with the caption WHAT THE...??

Baby chicks (click to enlarge)

They had no idea these had been born until Mama hen just strolled out from underneath the house with six seven little chicks following behind her!  

They are pretty adorable, that's for sure.  She said these seem to reproduce like rabbits, ha.  This is their third clutch of chicks.  They spent yesterday getting them into their protected coop area that has a wire mesh "ceiling" to protect them from flying predators.

She asked us if we knew anyone who wanted some free chicks but of course we don't think any of our city friends will take us up on that offer.  If we still had a house in town with a regular yard, we might be persuaded to step into the world of raising chickens for eggs so we could learn for the time when we are at the farm to live.  Alas, we don't think the apartment would appreciate egg laying hens on a high-rise balcony.

Hope you are having a great day, the long weekend has arrived but it's going to be hot and quite possibly, rainy here in this part of the country.

We'll see how the weekend goes!

FARM FRESH EGGS WITH BONUS PULLET EGGS

Farm fresh egg variety

2nd Family gave us a couple dozen more eggs from their hens.  They have more than they need.  We of course LOVE LOVE LOVE to have them as there is just no comparison to store bought.  Of course, it's a random variety of eggs from their random variety of new and older hens, ha.  In this batch though, we noticed the small, tiny eggs.  What the heck?  

We had to do some research on them.

Regular egg vs Pullet egg

Turns out, they are called "Pullet Eggs".  See the photo above, they are tiny when compared to a regular egg.  Almost a third smaller in size.  At first we thought "well those are just too cute" and didn't think much more about it.  

Pullet eggs

After some more research, it turns out that pullet eggs are A THING. 

Here is an article about them:

PULLET EGGS

Pullet eggs are the first few eggs of a hens lifetime.  This makes them rare.  The flavor is more intense with the yolk being rich and velvety smooth.

Pullet eggs and ham

We fried some up (with slices of ham) and the flavor was amazing.  Like the richest egg you can imagine.  You can see on these over easy eggs, the yolk takes up more volume than the white.

We won't get these treats again as their new hens will begin laying regular (but wonderful) size eggs.  For a few brief meals, we had a rare treat!

Who knew?  

Have you heard of/eaten Pullet eggs?

BABY CHICKS

Got these pictures in my email box a couple of days ago.

2nd Family got some new chicks for their coop a few months back that I blogged about HERE.  Among them was an odd little chick that looked kind of like a black bird that somehow got mixed in.  She was smaller than all the others.  

There was also one that turned out to be a rooster.  A TINY rooster.  I've never see such a small rooster.  He has all the attitude but none of the aggression, oh and did I mention he's tiny?  All of the hens are bigger than him by at least two times the size.

Anyway, "birdy" as they named the odd little black chicken, sort of stayed to herself.  In their chicken yard, she made her own nest away from the other hens.  They didn't notice that she had laid some eggs in a hidden spot.  

Hen and chicks 

And then they went out the other morning and saw little fluffy black things running around in the yard.  Baby chicks!

Baby chicks

Yep, they now have five more baby chicks.  They, along with mama, have since been moved to the safety of the enclosed coop to give them their own space and "R" is building a new, larger coop using reclaimed wood (I'll have to get some pics next time we're out).  

I told them that with the tiny black hen and the tiny rooster, creating tiny chicks, maybe they have created a new variety of miniature chickens, LOL!  Can't wait to see what size egg they end up laying.  

My guess would be "small".  Very small.

MORE FRESH EGGS

We came home from a house showing last night and our amazing realtor had left us a dozen fresh eggs from her hens at their farm! 

A variety of sizes and colors from a variety of chickens!

Farm Fresh Eggs

She and her husband have a farm outside of Houston and of course they have chickens.  She said she wasn't sure if we'd like them.  Um, yeah, she knew us way better than she realized, ha.  Gotta love fresh eggs!  Between our realtor sharing her eggs and 2nd Family sharing theirs, we get the fresh eggs experience without having the chickens (for now!).

Hope you are having a good weekend.  We are dodging rain showers today...and it looks like some heavy rain is heading this way later.  We made a run to the farm to take a few things and check the house but are back in town now.

More later!

NEW CHICKS

Not for us, we're not quite ready for that.  Bees yes, but chickens, not quite yet.  Recently however, 2nd Family got some new chicks.  Of course, with the rainy weekends, we weren't able to see them until now and they are not so much "chicks' anymore, ha.  Tween chicks?  Twicks?  LOL!

Chicks

Anyway, one of "R's" coworkers decided to get some now that they live in the country.  They thought a couple dozen would be a good start.  "R" promptly reminded them, "um, you DO know that means you'll be getting a couple dozen eggs per DAY, right?".  Apparently they hadn't thought that far ahead! 

Seeing as how 2nd Family's girls are getting older, they decided to take a few off their hands.  A random assortment of six, mostly the same.

One of the six however is this adorable girl.  A black "Silkie".  Oh my gosh, it's the softest, fuzziest thing.  The feathers almost seem like fur. 

Black Silkie

And the neatest thing is the feet.  The feathers go all the way down and fluff up around the claws.  It looks like the Clydesdale horse version of a chicken, ha.  Tried to get a good picture but this was the best I could get in a coop full of excitable chickens.  We can't wait to watch her grow up.

GOTTA LOVE FARM EGGS

We used up the last of the farm fresh eggs that 2nd Family gave us recently.  We needed six and only had five...

Fresh farm eggs vs store bought

Of course we still had 'regular' store bought eggs in the fridge so we cracked one into the measuring cup.  WHAT THE HECK?

Amazing difference...

It's funny, I showed this picture to one of our dear friends and she said it has kind of creeped her out toward buying eggs at the store, LOL.  Chickens are on our someday list of course, so for now, we can enjoy the fresh eggs provided by 2nd Family's ladies at the other end of the driveway.

NEW CHICKS

I wish I could say these are additions to our farm, but they are the newest additions to 2nd Family's homestead.  Born just a few hours ago.  This is their first ever batch of newborns so they are excited and we are excited for them.  Side note, what is a group of baby chicks called?  Clutch?  Brood?

There are 5 eggs that they have been waiting on to hatch and these are the first two that made it into the world.  Love the little "eye stripes" on this little gal (or guy?).  Should, hopefully anyway, be three more coming soon.  Can't wait to see them all this weekend.  Yes, we're suckers for baby anythings.

I can't wait until the day when we can have our own.  Until then though, we will live vicariously through theirs (and we get eggs!)

HOMELESS HENS AND UNWANTED CHICKENS

I read this somewhat disturbing article about 'city folk' that want chickens only to end up dropping them off at shelters in their towns. The numbers have been rapidly increasing in urban cities as those who get hens, change their minds.

Chickens in the yard, image courtesy of davesgarden.com

Apparently, they raise them with visions of baskets full of fresh eggs every day, only to quickly realize that they require more work than they imagined.  Feed, water, letting them free range for a bit, keeping them safe from predators, warm in Winter, dealing with their occasional health problems, cleaning out the coop, and then as they age and stop laying, they still live for years.

Then they just throw in the towel and drop off their hens at nearby shelters.  It's definitely a side of a popular trend that is often unreported.  I know that in our neighborhood in town, there have been people who have just let chickens go in the street when they tired of them and of course, then the birds have to get picked up by animal control.

Basket of eggs, image courtesy of backyardchickens.com

We definitely want hens at the farm, I'm even planning the area they'll be in and prepping for it, but we also understand the work involved, and that it's a commitment you just don't undo when you get bored with it.  So we'll wait until the time is right and we have everything in place.

Now in all fairness, the article does mention that hundreds of thousands of people are raising chickens in their backyards and loving every moment of it so it's just a small fraction of chicken owners that are causing issues.

Still, it's a fascinating read that makes you think.

CLICK HERE to read the full article.

A great resource for information on raising chickens is backyardchickens.com

FARM FRESH EGGS

Fresh Eggs

When we were out there this past weekend, 2nd Family had some good news; their hens, that had stopped laying a couple of months ago, started back again and they are getting about 6 per day.  We're not sure why they stopped, could be the time of year, but more likely, there have been some traumatic incidents in recent months...a hawk snatched up one of them while they were free ranging, and they think it was a coyote that got into the hen house another time and they lost two more.  "Security" has since been beefed up and it seems the "girls" are more relaxed and the eggs are coming regularly again.  Apparently, a happy hen is a laying hen!  They've had laying hens for years, and she said she hadn't purchased eggs in the store in so long, it was like a new experience having to do while they weren't laying.

Of course, 6 per day 7 days a week, is over 3 dozen...in a week!  They are a family of three, so the best part of their over abundance of eggs is that we get to share and will have some farm fresh eggs every time we go out there!  Those of you with chickens will understand when I say, there is NO comparison to the eggs you buy in the store.  2nd Man LOVES using fresh eggs like this in baking/cooking.  She gave us a dozen and we are so excited.


Their chickens lay these awesome blue/green eggs.  For those of you who don't know, yes, these are the way they come out, exactly this color.  It's pretty cool.  The color of the shell varies from breed to breed.

We have hopes of one day of having our own chickens out there, as I blogged about HERE, but being part timers for now, that can't happen.  Luckily, we don't have to wait and we get to reap the rewards of "chicken ownership" through the generosity of our "2nd Family"!

Those dozen above are now gone, used in some fresh pasta, a batch of cookies, and a breakfast of bacon of eggs.  Hope to get more this weekend.


So when they read this, a big THANK YOU, as always!

RED CHICKEN COOP DREAMING

How cool are all these chicken coops?

Red Coop 1

This one above looks like a smaller version of the barn I posted the other day, and then the one below is a homemade project that someone did a great job on.

Red Coop 2

What brought this up is the other night, when I was looking at the red barn, I mentioned the chicken coop that was next to it to 2nd Man and he said "well look them up online".

So I did some research and found all sorts of cool designs for 

chicken coops that look like they were inspired by the classic, large, red barns.

Red Coop 3

Some of these are pre-built by different manufacturers and some are 

really neat, homemade jobs.  They look so cool and would be neat on our 

property, somewhere near the barn.

Red Coop 4

The one above is all enclosed, kind of a nice touch to keep the chickens all in one spot.

Red Coop 5

I like this one with the enclosed side yard.  I think some combination of this with our barn, at a future date of course, would be a nice touch.

Red Coop 6

This is so pretty, in the wide open space, but I'm afraid that the Hawks that circle the property on occasion, might like the "all you can pick up buffet" this might provide,

but it's still beautiful with the green grass and blue sky.  

As I said, we can't have chickens right away, but we do want them at some point, especially as we become more self sufficient.  Not for meat, I couldn't bring myself to do that, but eggs, absolutely, we'll definitely have chickens that can provide us with all the eggs we will ever need.

CHICKENS EGGS CHICKENS EGGS...

The front of our property is sectioned off and family lives there.  They have lived there for a long time now and it's their forever home as well.  Cool thing is, because they live there 24/7, we get to live vicariously through their experience with chickens!  Not to mention share in the bounty of fresh eggs.  Last October, the 21st to be exact, they got a box full of baby chicks in the mail!  It still amazes me that baby chicks are being shipped around all over the country at any given moment, but I digress.  They got the hens they ordered, and then ended up with a few roosters too!  The company apparently puts roosters in the box, for no additional charge, to keep all the hens warm!

Boy chicks give off more body heat than girl chicks!  Who knew?

The chicks were adorable.  We even got the honor of naming a couple of them.  

Here they are at only

a couple weeks old.  Can you say, a-dor-able?!

Now though, they are egg laying machines, she said they are getting almost a dozen a day!  Once we are out there full time, we'll be in egg heaven.  In case you've never had a farm fresh egg, or as we call them, a "REAL EGG", they are nothing compared to what you get in the store.

My stomach just growled, ha.

Hard to believe but these aren't "dyed" eggs, these are the way the come naturally from the chicken!  It just depends on the breed.  The chickens out there now are two different types and will produce both brown and greenish colored eggs.
(and yes, the inside is the same in all colors, hey, it's ok, I wondered too!)

2nd Man LOVES to cook.  In another life, he probably would have been a chef at a restaurant.  So he'll come up will all sorts of great things to cook with lots of eggs.  Anyone have some suggestions out there?  He makes a pretty mean Frittata, which uses a dozen at a time.  And of course there is ALWAYS room for an Angel Food Cake.  And naturally, who doesn't want to wake up in the morning to the smell of bacon and eggs frying in a cast iron skillet, with some great, homemade, buttermilk biscuits........dang, stomach growling again!

Anyway, does anyone have any great ideas for use of extra eggs?

Maybe a great old family tradition or recipe or idea?

We want to be able to make some great stuff and share it with the family that gives us the eggs!