One of the most common reasons to have backyard chickens is because the hens produce such wonderfully healthy fresh eggs. Once you crack open an egg that was produced by one of your own hens, you will realize the true differences in flavor, texture and color that fresh eggs have over supermarket eggs. There really…
Eggs are not all the same. In fact, they come in many different shapes, colors and sizes depending on the breed of chicken. Larger breeds have bigger eggs than smaller breeds. Batams have the smallest eggs, for sure. The color of an egg can be white, brown, green or even blue. No matter what color…
The goal is always to collect eggs as soon after they are laid as possible. Occasionally though, you may run into a situation where you are not 100% sure how recently an egg was laid. In this circumstance, it’s a good idea to test the egg for freshness before putting it in your fridge. The…
Nobody wants to cook with or eat an egg that has a dirty shell. “Dirt” on the outside of a shell can range from mud to manure and anything in between. Regardless of what special combination of materials is involved, if the egg is visibly dirty on the outside, you will want to clean it…
Finding some imperfect eggs? It is likely that the vast majority of the eggs you harvest from your hens will be nearly perfect. Some may be oddly shaped, some make be larger than others, and some may be different shades of the same color. But, all in all, most eggs will be “normal”. In case…
One of the craziest realizations we all make as we first learn about raising chickens is that the live chicks are actually delivered in the mail. If you hadn’t made that realization that you can order chicks yet, don’t feel badly, but now you know! Because chicks arrive in the mail, there are several considerations…
If you are thinking about buying your first chicks, then you are getting ready to embark on a wonderful adventure filled with lots of learning and many fresh eggs! We are going to assume that you are starting from scratch. Here are a few of the basics that you will need to own before your…
There are some important steps you need to take to get ready for your shipment before your chicks arrive. Basically, your goal is to get everything you need set up and ready to go. That way, when your chicks arrive, you won’t have to worry about scrambling to keep them warm, protected, fed and watered.…
A brooder is a small pen designed to protect, warm, feed and water your newly born chicks until they are strong enough to survive on their own. Basically, a brooder takes the place of a broody hen who under normal circumstances would be responsible for taking care of her clutch. There are three primary types…
Some may consider incubating eggs under hens to be “old school” because of the availability of commercial incubators, but it’s hard to deny the many year of success that Mother Nature has under her belt. There are a few tricks to incubating eggs naturally that we cover in this article. Since you are not using…