I found three good size eggs the size of what the stores now call 'large' eggs. Only problem is I think they were laid by my ducks! My hens are New Hampshires and Buff Orpingtons. Both those lay brown to buff eggs. These eggs are a greenish color and one is really on the dark side. But hey eggs is eggs!
I got a photo but no time to upload it right now.
MollyD
Finay got some eggs here!
Congrats Molly.. Feels good seeing those first eggs doesn't it!
Congratulations! Eggs!! Yeah!
I wonder what duck eggs taste like?
Congratulations!
I've heard duck eggs are richer than chicken eggs.
Thanks guys! Yes it feels great to finally have eggs (even if I can't seem to spell 'finally' right! LOL)
We haven't eaten them yet. I'm doing a goat show this weekend so I'm away from home most of the day (tomorrow I leave at 5:30am!). Hopefully we'll eat them (and any others) on Sunday morning and let you know how they were ^_^
MollyD
I think I've had duck eggs when I was a kid.. The neighbor gave them to us. I think they are just "stronger" egg taste?
Don't know if they're richer or what since I've never eatten them before but they sure feel heavier than chicken eggs when you pick them up. No these weren't there long enough to have grown a duckling yet!
MollyD
Way to go!!!! I love duck eggs. I have not had one since I was about 16, will not even count the years since. Them 1st eggs are the very best ever. We are having Pork chops and fried taters and fried eggs tonight. Fresh of course.
Yummy!!! Sounds like our southern food here just good eaten It's makin my mouth water just thinkin about them fried taters and eggs.
nuttin better than a southern meal. yummy
Do duck eggs need to be cooked any differently than chicken eggs? We're going to have some tomorrow morning. Whichever duck hen it is has been laying one egg a day everyday. Don't know why I thought the eggs would be larger than chicken eggs but then there are medium size ducks.
MollyD
Dearest MollyD1953, Use more milk to Mellow the flavor of the duck eggs. Also save a few to make the richest brownies ever!
**********************YUMYUMBROWNIES*********************************
CF
Who is Finay?
Yay! Great to have eggs Molly! Way to go!
Dear CF they tasted great! No milk needed! Eggs like I remember from my childhood with real flavor. Made an omelet and put it in a sandwich. Yummy!
Catscan LOL that should have read Finally but the ll's didn't register for some odd reason.
Thanks Claire! It's great having fresh eggs! Hope she keeps it up cause I could get use to this :-)
MollyD
Yes, those fresh eggs are addictive and you won't ever want a store bought egg again...
I can already see why people use lights to keep them laying through the winter!
MollyD
okay here's the photo of the first three eggs. I put a Sharpie in there for scale.
You can see the color just doesn't seem right for Buffs or New Hampshire hens so it has to be the ducks. I would expect the goose to lay much larger eggs. So far all the eggs have been about the same size but light in color.
This morning there were two eggs so maybe the other duck hen has joined in the fun! Those eggs were delicious!!
MollyD
Wow, really cool colored eggs! I want some of those! What kind of ducks?
Mine are Cayuga Ducks
I noticed about a week ago I am getting an egg a day that is a large size and darker than a normal brown but not as dark as a marans.
What exactly does a buff egg look like.. I kind of suspect it to be one of the buffs but haven't caught her in the act yet.
My buff lays fairly light brown eggs--but I think it varies with the individual bird.
light brown or tan is what I was told to expect from the Buffs, a little darker brown from the New Hampshires.
MollyD
Congrats Molly! I can't wait to post a thread with the same information... if these girls don't hurry up, they're going to miss their first season with the cold creeping in!
Thanks LL. My hens haven't started laying either. They're now about 25 weeks old and huge but not an egg out of them. Looks like they may wait till spring :-( Thank goodness the ducks are taking up the slack!
MollyD
The subject of home grown fresh eggs is part of what prompted me to get chickens.. A friend gave me 4 dozen fresh eggs... I've been using store bought for so long, I forgot how good fresh are! So with my new garden.. and my newfound love of Fried Eggplant.. (and okra which I've always loved) I had fresh eggplant fried with fresh eggs for lunch.. almost every day! Then I ran out of fresh eggs and had to use store bought.. it was like water!
I got my chicks soon after.. LOL
It's going to be very hard to actually eat store bought eggs again :-(
MollyD
once you've had fresh--you can never go back....
This morning Gretel the goose laid her first egg. I thought yesterday that she looked a little maternal when she walked! Unfortunately the shell was paper thin and someone ate the contents but at least I got to see what it looked like. Large and white :-) what else!
Has anyone eaten goose eggs before? Do they taste like the others? I don't want Hanzel and Gretel hatching any out till spring so any eggs are mine!!
MollyD
Wonderful Molly!! Isn't it great,
All this hard work we have been doing all summer is finally showing up now that it is fall, encouraging us to make it through a very rough first winter.. lol.. oh how I dread those very cold winter mornings... I am going to feel like a Walton going out for water.. LOL.. I may just install an outhouse out back so I'll be authentic.
I am so looking forwad to spring.
LOL I'm dreading hauling water in buckets all winter!
No outhouse for me! I've used those things and No Thank You!!
MollyD
yea, but they were old yukky somebody elses...
a new freshly dug one would be all yours... ALL YOURS!
dh tells me they are illegal now... I never knew.. I can no longer go potty in my field..
We usally stay in the 40 to 70 range up until December with a little cold snap here and there and we can get down to the 20s and teens during Jan/Feb.
The leaves are just starting to turn here and we are in the 50 or so nights and 70 to 80 days it varies
We had our first very light frost last night. Waaaaahhhhhh....
the only legal crap is imported crap! Made and processed somewhere else by someone else!
there was hail last night around us. I heard some coming down but no accumulation. Down in town there was quite a bit on the west side.
MollyD
I AGREE!
I have a small flock of 8 chickens and 1 Guinea fowl. Four of the chickens are this years babies, and would you believe I think 2 of the four are roos, and I sure don't need more guys, so I guess it is the chopping block for them. The older roo and 1 hen are about 8 or 9 years old, so age is catching up with them. The old hen doesn't lay eggs anymore but I can't kill a long time pet. They are all of arucana (spelled wrong) type, so not large birds. They are free range for most of the day. They are only getting Wal M. chicken scratch. I cannot keep the English Sparrows from eating their food.
What my question is how can I encourage the young hens to lay. There are 3 hens that are old enough to lay eggs and have rarely laid and egg or two. I did buy some egg mash last year but they really didn't seem to like it.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Donna
I feed my hens 20% layer crumbles with some seed mixed in (NOT niger seed, like Wal-Mart is full of). Do you know how much protein they are getting? Calcium?(oyster shell)