Harvesting Eggs

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 is no comparison.

More

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 your egg is on the outside, the inside of the shell contains nearly identical yolk and whites.

More

The term “broody” refers to a hen that is fixated on hatching an egg. In general, you want to avoid having your layers go broody on you because their egg production drops down to 0. Basically, when a hen goes broody her body is going into egg incubator mode as opposed to egg producer mode.

More

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.

More

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 before introducing it into your kitchen.

More

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”.

More