Eggs, Eggs, and More Eggs!

One of the main reason people get chickens is the eggs! Fresh eggs, in my opinion at least, taste much better than store bought eggs. I have seven laying hens and each typically lays an egg per day. Most of these are a beige or brown color except for two. One is green and the other is a light pink color. The different shell colors have no effect on the taste of the egg itself.

I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit, though. Hens will not start laying eggs until roughly 18-22 weeks old, and their first eggs are small. The eggs laid within the first year of a hens life are called pullet eggs and are often considered a delicacy. They tend to be richer in flavor despite their small size.

Hens lay eggs almost daily, with or without a rooster. The rooster fertilizes the eggs, but as long as you collect the eggs daily the eggs will not develop into chicks. It takes roughly 24 hours for the first cells to develop if left for the hens to sit on.

Do not be alarmed when you find a yolk that is more orange than yellow or if there are small red spots in the egg. These things are completely normal things for fresh eggs and will not harm you. The small red spots are tiny little blood clots from the eggs formation within the hen. Store bought eggs do not have these red spots due to machines that check for these spots.