Category: eggs

Egg!

On By CarynIn chickens, eggs

A few days ago I noticed one of the hens exhibiting squat behavior, which usually means they are getting ready to lay eggs. Sure enough, I found our first egg of Spring! It is a month later than last year, which was a month later than the year before. The hens are nearly 5 years old, so not terribly surprising. Spring tends to have a higher mortality rate as their reproductive track kicks back into gear, so I’ll need to keep a closer eye on them. We are down to five hens at the moment. They all weathered the Winter just fine, although I’d hesitate to call the last three months “winter” here in TX. It was more of a long wet fall.

Morel mushrooms

On By CarynIn eggs, Fungi

I went to check the trail cam and found morel mushrooms growing in our woods!

Morel mushroom
Three more morel mushrooms

I did a triple verification of identity: I cut one in half length-wise to verify the inside was hollow, I put them on a dark colored sheet of paper to verify the spore was light in color, and I sent a picture to my Dad, who confirmed the identity.

Morel mushrooms are completely hollow
Spore from a morel mushroom

Once identified, I washed the mushrooms and sliced them, then sautéed them in olive oil. I read that morels need to be cooked or risk stomach upset.

Sautéed morel mushrooms

To complete the meal I added eggs from our chickens to make a mushroom scramble. Breakfast was provided by items gathered from the yard, which is always neat.

Egg and mushroom scramble

Strange egg shape

On By CarynIn eggs

This egg is nearly round. I’m not sure what caused my hens to lay a round egg, when I cracked it open it only had one yolk. It also happened on a day that six of the eight chickens produced an egg, which is unusual. My hatchery quality Faverolles usually lay every other day or so.

Nearly round egg

Egg!

On By CarynIn chickens, eggs

Then hens are laying eggs again! (And I can’t help the sound track in my head of “We’re in the money”, even though the price of keeping the chickens is far above even the current cost of a dozen eggs.)

First spring egg

It has been four months since my hens have laid an egg. I saw one do the ready squat the day before I found this nugget in the nesting box. Admittedly, I do not make them into production machines by giving them more light in the morning, so their winter laying break is a long one. The hens are also going into their third summer, which is past a production bird’s peak performance, and eight hens lay enough for my family and the occasional gift of a dozen. I don’t get enough to sell regularly.

White speckled egg

Still, it is nice to have fresh eggs again, knowing where they get their nutrition.