It’s not really bragging…

It’s more of a public service announcement when we say, once again, that home raised eggs are the best things in the world. I mean, look–even the whites are perky.

Remember, it’s easier to keep hens than it is to keep a dog…

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24 Comments

  1. The Organic Valley brand of eggs is pretty good – the only brand I will buy – but I am looking forward to the day when we have our own chickens.

    PS–Found you guys through Darcy at Stumbling Homestead.

  2. I have four two-week-old today New Hampshire Red pullets brooding in the guest room. They are my first chickens, and I’m looking forward to fresh eggs from the backyard very much.

    In the meantime, the local shi-shi grocery store down the street has started carrying pastured eggs (okay, the eggs aren’t pastured; the hens are) from Corvallis, which is about an hour and a half from here, so that’s what we’ve been buying. They are pretty perky in the pan as well. But at $5.29 a dozen, I figure my homegrown eggs are going to be cheaper (eventually) than buying eggs at the store. I guess it’s all relative.

    Hey- we’re doing what we can.

  3. Yum. Love my hens, they really are easy to raise. I just can’t stand using the store bought eggs anymore, with the flat pale yolk and the watery whites. Even the good “healthy” ones just don’t measure up to homegrown.

  4. Our chicky babies are teenagers right now… I am sad to see them grown up so fast but excited that we will have fresh eggs soon. Very easy pets but we spend more time/money on them than we need to because we spoil them.

  5. Please tell my city that 😉
    We are fighting though: chickensinnorfolk.blogspot.com

    @ Emily remember “organic” does not mean it regulates how the hens are kept, just what they eat. I am sure wherever you are there is someone selling local eggs (better for our country’s food safety too). Check out localharvest.org to see if anyone near you is selling them.

  6. I completely agree! We jumped into raising chickens with little knowledge and zero experience and have learned lots along the way. The best lesson so far is that, yes, fresh eggs are one of the best things on this planet! I doubt we will ever purchase another egg!

  7. Seriously, I love my girls and I love their eggs. The favorite part of this whole experience is sharing them with friends and family. People can’t get enough of them! I can’t imagine not going into the backyard and seeing the girls and their different personalities. I love Bragging about them!

  8. I am going taking my first chicken class this Saturday! Can’t wait to get my own hens, my city just made the urban chicken legal! Wahoo!!!

  9. Yay! I have my very first hens living in my coop now. Well, they are still pretty little. And I have 4 more eggs about to hatch on Wednesday. Chickens are so exciting!

  10. Everything Kelly said above I second. Nothing makes someone happier than handing them some fresh eggs. Everything tastes better, looks better (I made rhubarb tarts with egg yolks in the pastry–gorgeous!), knowing the quirky girls who brought the eggs to us.

    I read somewhere that keeping chickens is the “new iPod”–a fad that will quickly fade. Nope. If you actually have chickens, you’d never think that.

  11. Hmmm, I don’t fry eggs, but I just might in order to see one get such fluffy whites. Then, the hens can have it back. My hens’ eggs do make fluffy scrambled eggs. You are so right–hens are easier to keep than dogs. Or cats. I suppose a raccoon could have decided to kill and eat a dog or cat if I had a dog or cat. Besides, these hens scratch on the door to come in at night. And, they never want back out during the night. They do not like music playing while they sleep, especially the theme to Little House on the Prairie, which makes them squawk.

  12. We’re getting our first girls tomorrow hopefully. We are so excited! Especially my eight year old who is frantic that she won’t be able to see them until Sunday when she comes home from Grandma’s house! I do have a question for you, Homegrown couple. Do you have to use heat lamps in the winter where you are? And if so, do you? I’ve heard both sides of the arguement, just wondering where you folks stand on the issue. We’re in Southern New York, so we would probably have to just to keep them from freezing to death.

  13. @Steph: Congrats on your girls! Here in LA we have no need for heat lamps. I feel like the last person in the world who should be advising you. As I understand it, hens–esp. big, heavy bodied types– are wonderfully cold tolerant (it’s those down jackets). Extreme heat kills them faster than cold. Therefore, adult hens in a *well insulated* space may not need a heater–but I don’t know the temp. lows in SNY, so I may be talking out of my hat. It is important that they always have access to water, so even if you don’t heat the coop, you will probably have to heat the water somehow.

    Perhaps folks with more cold weather experience can chime in on this???

  14. Keeping hens in an insulated space will kill them. The moisture will gather on walls and ceiling and create a too-moist condition. Mine have lived through 9 degree weather,roosting on TOP of a Rubbermaid box with no ill effects. I thought the combs froze, but they did not. One guy raised chickens in houses with only three sides. The fourth side had wire over it, but no wall. He did have a space where they could escape from the wind. Maybe it was a walled off area with still three sides only, sort of like a stall where they could roost. I never even used a heat light when they were chicks, just a lamp set nearby.

    If I can find the article on that guy, I will share it.

  15. @Parsimony: Good correction. I didn’t really mean sealed–that would be bad. I’ve heard that people use lots and lots of straw to insulate the floor. I also understand it’s important to protect them from drafts and drips.

    General Note: Anyone starting off keeping chickens might want to look at Backyard Poultry magazine for answers to their questions. I don’t read the cold weather articles, but they always have stuff about freezing combs and heaters and things like that.

  16. The coops really do need ventilation but not drafts. Confusing? Put slits at top of house so moisture can get out without causing a draft. The drips won’t occur if the ventilation slits are at the top. Hens don’t need heaters/lamps in their house. If they live in a warm environment and go out into the cold, they get sick…lol…it is all so complicated seeming at first. Also, warn people not to read sites about commercial houses. I did and was afraid my ten chicks would die from ammonia buildup every night….and a dozen other things. It was worse than having my first child and worrying about it stopping breathing. I was not an infant worrier, but I was awful about chick worry.

    Deep pine straw (needles that have fallen), leaves, straw….all work. Hens sort of get down in it to keep warm and avoid drafts. Mine do this outdoors in the winter.

  17. I wish I could convince my wife to let me raise chickens. She’s had some life altering experiences, I guess, and she is adamantly against them :-/

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