Back in November I purchased 6 young RIR's at an auction. Yesterday when I was checking the ladies and gent, Walah, what did I see? The fruits of my labor, two small brown eggs! Wooo hooo, this is the first time I have ever had chickens and it feels good to see the rewards (and soon taste). WOW, just had to share this great news. Ohh by the way, do the eggs get any larger? These are kind of small, but hey I am happy!! I wonder if they get larger as the birds get larger and more mature.Hmmm Thanks all.

Andy

-- Andy in MD (andy@mission4me.com), January 23, 2002

Answers

Response to Fruits of my labor

CONGRATS! I will never forget the thrill when my chicken women started laying!! Yes, they get bigger. Those are pullet eggs. Over the years (some of my women are 3-4 years old) they will tend to lay bigger and bigger eggs. Pretty much until they can't lay anymore. You might plan to raise some more women in a year or two to replace the older layers.

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), January 23, 2002.

Response to Fruits of my labor

Andy, Yes, the eggs will get bigger. What you are getting now are referred to as pullet eggs. As your hens grow the eggs will get bigger. You may even have trouble closing the lid on a "jumbo" egg carton before long. Enjoy your "hen fruit" and share them with as many city folks as you can. A dozen brown eggs are a great barter tool.Keep enjoying your farming lifestyle ! A quick recipe that you can enjoy soon is... scrambled eggs mixed with homegrown tomatoes!

-- Ralph in N.E.Ohio (Roadapple@suite224.net), January 23, 2002.

Response to Fruits of my labor

Finding your first eggs in the hen house is so exciting! We have had our chickens for 5 years now and I remember that day. It makes you feel like your now an offical homesteader (since most of us start our with chickens as our first farm animal). And yes your eggs will get larger. Want to share a funny story about the last peeps we got. My husband went to the local feed store and bought some peeps that were left over really cheap and added them to the ones we had gotten the week before. We really had no idea what kind they were but for 25 cents each he thought what the heck. Well when they sarted laying did we ever get a BIG surprise, we had 2 chickens that laid green eggs! I had heard of chickens that laid colored eggs before, but never actually seen one. Now it's a joke around our house to have green egggs and ham. Also my colored eggs, when hard boil, are easier to peel than the brown ones. Has anyone else noticed this?

-- Jo in PA (farmerjo16666@pennswoods.net), January 23, 2002.

Response to Fruits of my labor

Thanks for all your responses folks and sharing my excitement. Are these "pullet" eggs just as edible as "regular" eggs? Green eggs huuh? I think Aracuana (sp) chickens lay green eggs. I will have to check at the auction next time. A dozen mixed green and brown eggs should pose for some interesting stares from city folk. hhahahha

Andy in MD

-- Andy in MD (andy@mission4me.com), January 23, 2002.

Response to Fruits of my labor

People just don't understand some simple country pleasures...my brother actually laughed at me when I, excitedly, told him my pullets started to lay-he doesn't laugh at the eggs I give him tho.

The eggs do get bigger as they continue to lay, I'm getting some jumbo size now and my pullets have been laying since October.

Good luck with your buk-buks.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 23, 2002.

We call pullet eggs "cackleberries"!

-- Tana Mc (mcfarm@totelcsi.net), January 23, 2002.

Aren't people who don't grow there own food funny? One day a women and her 4yr. old daughter came to visit. I took the little girl to the chicken house to gather the eggs. The little girl was so excited that she took the basket of eggs to show her mom. The lady took one look in the basket and screamed, "Oh, my god they're eggs!" Tried to give her some to take home, but I couldn't convince her they were real. She thought eggs only come from the store and some how my eggs weren't the real thing!

-- Jo in PA (farmerjo16666@pennswoods.net), January 23, 2002.

Hmm Pullet eggs huhh? Does that mean when I got home and checked I got a "pulletsurprize" hahahahahahahaaa Sorry, could not help it!

-- Andy in MD (andy@mission4me.com), January 23, 2002.

Congratulations Andy!! Aren't chickens fun! Yes the pullet eggs are just as edible as full grown eggs. Just takes a lot more of them to get a good meal. They will start growing in size soon. Have fun!

-- cowgirlone in OK (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), January 23, 2002.

Andy, I too got some RIR this year and got my first eggs this fall. It is a kick. My initial ones were small and some very round like golf balls. I have one hen that lays huge eggs, between 3-3/4 and 4 oz. I think chickens are beautiful, I could watch them for hours.I told a guy at work about them and he looked kind of quizzical and asked me if they tasted "like eggs" and if they were pasteur

-- K.Grable (grable@penn.com), January 23, 2002.

Andy, how cool. I think everyone who ever had chickens reallizes the true miracle of nature when seeing their "first fruits". And the thrill will never leave you.

Yes as your ladies become more "mature and experienced" they will lay larger and heavier eggs.

My aracanas lay many different shades of colors, depending on the hen, the feed, and the time of year. The ease in peeling has more to do with the age of the egg than the color - 7 days or older there's more air between the egg and the shell, so they are easier to peel.

Our farm got its name from our "cackleberries".

Good luck, and good eating!

-- Michaela (flhomestead@hotmail.com), January 23, 2002.

Yes, only us crazy chicken people understand how exciting it really is. My friends think I'm missing a few brain cells too. Our whole family jumped up and down for the first egg--couldn't eat it for a few day s for admiring it!

You will never go back to storebought once you tasted homegrown!Very soon you'll be getting 4-6 a day. Mine got big (eggs that is)very quickly.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), January 23, 2002.

Update folks: Ok, my ladies are laying around 3 or 4 eggs a day (5 Hens) They are getting larger and getting darker brown (the eggs). I have had a few double "yolkers" and that is exciting. I also had a weird experience. As I was changing their water a hen "hatched" an unshelled egg on the floor, it was just the membrane with yolk and all, well the other chickens just gobbled it up. I was wondering, is this normal? I feed them Layer food and they get plenty of water and light. looked like a lack of calcium or something. Thanks Andy in MD

-- Andy in MD (andy@mission4me.com), February 06, 2002.