Another Butt Nuggets Update

Boy do I have egg on my face today, alas.

My Butt Nuggets post from this past Thursday, and even though I updated said post later in the day on Thursday, needs yet another update...

That post was referring to only the 3rd egg, which had been laid on Wednesday, that the chickens here had laid since I've been in East Tennessee. Well, they've since laid an egg every day since, so Thursday, Friday and, today, Saturday!  Today's egg was laid by a different hen, as it is a white shelled egg and it's the first I've collected.

Had I known these old chicken soup destined ladies would react this way to my post, I would have posted it weeks earlier...

Butt Nuggets!

I can't believe it but as of yesterday I've been in East Tennessee for 33 days now!

In that time I've been tending to the three ladies below and enjoying it.  It's reignited my chicken fever and I'm already thinking about getting some for our new place come spring!

Keeping in mind that it's January, that it's cold out there and that the days are shorter, so egg production typically declines around these times.  I've had chickens most of my life so I get it, I understand the process.  However, even in these times the ladies often lay eggs occasionally.

These three old broads below seem to be on some sort of egg laying strike though -

I still check the nest box every day, often with optimism, hoping that there will be an egg or two or even three but nope, that has NOT been the case. Yesterday was the exception and I was pleasantly surprised to find a single egg, see below, waiting for me -

So, in the 33 days that I've been here, I've collected only 3 eggs, alas!

Seems the rooster in the above pic is laying about as many eggs as these old hens.

Stew pot maybe?!?! Show of hands

**** UPDATE ****

Of course, and to make me look bad, there was another egg laid this afternoon!  They must have received word I was talking smack about them on my blog. So long as they keep producing butt-nuggets, they can be as critical of me as they wish.

I see two farm fresh, over medium eggs sizzling away in the fry pan on my stove tomorrow morning!

Last Of My Eggs

Alas, I cooked my last two eggs this morning from the chickens I used to have.  Sadly too I bought my first dozen eggs at the market last week.  It's been over a year since I had to buy eggs.

I did savor and enjoy every bite.

New Egg Game

I've stepped up my egg game!

New egg cartons and new egg stamps!

I've started stamping the eggs with the date laid - not on these eggs pictured as they were older and predated this idea and the stamps arrival but moving forward all eggs will receive 2 stampings.

Charlie's Place -

Eggs Galore!

I can honestly tell you this is a good problem to have!

We've been getting about 4 eggs a day now for the last couple of weeks.  Of course, with 7 pullets, this could be better but under the circumstances of less daylight and much colder temps I'm pleased.

We're out of egg cartons, so have been storing them in saucers, the ones we're not eating.

I've adopted a new OCD tactic when it comes to our eggs, stamping them with the date laid.  I'm hoping this will help in identifying and using the older eggs first.

Good news is I have new egg cartons coming and a new special stamp I designed, which I'll be stamping the eggs with.  Stay tuned...

Shag This!

Good news is that we've getting 4 to 5 eggs a day for the past couple of weeks.  Delicious and as fresh as can be, YUM!

However, one of the Buff Orpington ladies does not use the next boxes for her egg laying, nope!  She prefers to lay her egg on the run floor and typically in the farthest corner from the door, see the red circle where.  She was being kind on the day I took the pic below, as I only had to crawl halfway through the run to shag her egg that day.

I've pulled her aside and spoken to her but she's a stubborn one...

And They're Off...

Our first egg, HOORAY!

A little on the small side but to be expected for new, first timers.  They'll get bigger as the chicken ages.  We have 4-different breeds, this was laid by an Amberlink!

The yolks are deep yellow, firm white and SO frick'n tasty!

It's The Small Things...

Opened a store bought egg the other day and it was a double-yolker!

I really wanted two eggs anyway.

Riddle Me This?!

What a nice surprise the other morning.

JoAnne cracked open two store bought extra large eggs and BOTH were double-yolked!!

So, let me ask you, would this be considered eating 4 eggs or only 2?!  I'm going with 2!!

Break Time, Perhaps

Our last egg.

With mixed emotions I'm out of the chicken business.  First time in 16 years that we won't have chickens in the backyard or daily fresh eggs.

It was time for a break...

1st Blue Egg of 2017

First blue Americana chicken egg of 2017!

Egg Shell Bumpiness

As expected the shorter days and cold weather has triggered a shutdown for the ladies of the coop.

This time of year they usually go through a molt.  As a part of that process they also stop laying eggs. Out of 8 chickens one is still laying, so we're getting an egg each day.

The eggs are coming out with a fancy end or tail, see pics below.  These are calcium deposits.  There are many reasons this can occur, from the chickens age, lack of day light (shorter days), temperature, etc.

No cause for alarm.  The eggs are still good and edible, in fact they're delicious!  We'll keep an eye an watch this but suspect it'll correct itself over time.  Certainly makes for interesting egg shells.

Re-purpose Egg Shells

Calcium!

This is the first time in all the years that we've raised chicken that we saved the egg shells.

We dried them out, then crushed them by hand, as seen in the above photo.  The shells were then added to the chickens feed for added calcium, which aides in strengthening their egg shells.  A nice way to save a couple bucks versus buying calcium supplements but also nice to re-purpose.

Already Scrambled??

I would think ouch!

Had a weird wrinkled egg waiting for us in the coop today, weird.

Work In Progress!

Two of the girls working -

Our rewards -

The Incredible Edible Egg!

Oh baby!

The girls have turned a corner and have finally begun expressing their happiness in a more consistant manner.  Thank you longer days and warmer weather and of course, thank you girls!

Five eggs out of eight hens yesterday!  Taking guesses on when we'll go eight for eight?!

Eggcicle!

This is how cold it was last Sunday here in New England -

One of the ladies laid this egg late in the evening on Saturday, after they were fed, watered and tucked in for the night.

With temps in the negative numbers over night and into Sunday, it wouldn't have taken long for this egg to freeze solid.

Where O Where Have Our Eggs Gone?!

Same feed, just new packaging

With the shorter days and colder temps we're only getting one egg a day now.

The older hens appear to be going through their molt.  Egg production typically stops when this happens, so that accounts for five eggs.  However, the three Americana pullets just started laying, so not sure why we're only getting one versus three.

They better get their coop in order and short this out and soon!

Ameraucana Eggs Have Arrived!

Oh my gosh my golly!

Our first two blue chicken eggs - November 11, 2015!

We bought our Ameraucana chicks back on April 22, 2015.

Typically chickens begin laying around the time their six months.  However, depending on the breed and time of year this can fluctuate by a month or so in either direction (earlier or later).

Our chickens took a bit longer, approx 3-weeks longer.  I'm sure the shorter days and colder temperatures played a role in the delay.

No worries now that they've begun,  They're delicious, so well worth the wait!

Can't Get Any Fresher!

Waiting on breakfast...