Starts with E
Eggs start with E. We had a scarcity of eggs over December and January, despite having nearly 20 hens of laying age. I choose not to provide supplemental lighting in the coop, believing that my hens' bodies deserve a rest that nature orchestrated for them. The past week or so has seen a small uptick in egg production though, as the winter day length slowly starts to increase. This week, we actually had a 4-egg day, which is quite egg-citing!
I am charmed by the daily experience of going to the coop to collect eggs. The range of egg colours provided by the hens is quite lovely. At the moment, we have a very dark brown egg coming from one of the maran breed hens (not sure which one). You can see one of them on my counter-top "egg skelter" below, which keeps my eggs in order of collection so we always use the oldest ones first.
The small pale cream coloured eggs are from a silkie hen, and then there are eggs in various shades of brown ranging from pale tan to an almost pinkish-brown. The silkie eggs are about 1.4 oz, whereas the larger pinkish-brown eggs are 2.7 oz.
Favourite
Well, sticking with the egg theme, I'm always particularly fond of the speckled eggs. I do have a couple of hens that may be blue-egg layers, and those are a competitor for favourite egg.
Evening
I don't often take pictures in the evening....I suppose because most of my pictures are of birds and other things in nature, which aren't easily photographed in low light. In addition, at this time of year, it's far too cold (in my opinion) to spend time outdoors photographing in the evening. At the moment, for example, it's -24 Celsius with the wind chill...that's -12 Fahrenheit. I just don't enjoy being out in those temperatures. I thought about using a photograph from an evening at another time of year, but looking at them just made me grumpy because it's such a contrast to now, and spring is so far away...at least another 2.5 to 3 months. At least the day is getting a little longer, as the chickens can attest, and so here is a picture from my living room window, at 5:18 pm, today. I'd call that early evening. It's just bleak and cold and everything is white or grey. I don't even get pretty sky views because the house is surrounded by trees. I look forward to the weather change when I can once again sit out in the screened porch in the evening. Until then, I'm stuck with this. Winter evenings are for knitting on the couch instead of taking photographs!
5 comments:
...Claire, a very 'egg-citing post!' The range of colors in the first photo is interesting, I seem to only know white and brown eggs. The speckled egg is a beauty. At home we can get to -12 Fahrenheit, but it's very rare. Stay warm and I hope to see you back again.
They are beautiful! I love the variety. I have the light on in my building to try and keep predators away. They haven't given me any in the last couple months either, but I finally got a couple this past week.
Brrr !!! -14F windchill sounds really cold. When we get +14 here it is terribly cold. Most times we can expect snow about once every ten years. We live about 80 miles in from the Gulf Coast, Galveston, Texas. I enjoyed your 'egg' post. The egg skelter is a neat thing. I've not seen those, not even at our Tractor Supply Store. but I'll ask next time I go there. Mom raised laying hens, we had over a hundred eggs a day. Her Buff Orphington hens layer brown shelled eggs. Stay warm !!!
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I love those eggs! The varied colors and the speckles are a visual treat and the freshness of the eggs in that cool device (oldest to newest) have to taste fresher than store bought ones. Wow, it is cold up there - I avoid the outdoors in the winter, as I don't move much in the wheelchair so warmth is a scarce commodity. Spring soon one hopes!
WOW! Look at that beautiful bounty! I love the little egg holder...city folk know nothing about these...or that they exist!
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