FIRST EGGS OF THE SEASON

Yes it is January 12th and the pullets have started to lay! Who would have thought this would be something I could get excited about! Raising chickens has been such a great farm adventure. When you nurture the little 2 day old chicks to the productive point of laying eggs, it is just very gratifying. And when you start enjoying the rich orange yoked eggs from your very own chickens it is hard pressed to ever buy a store egg again. Just do some research about the production egg business. The next thing you learn is about mothering. If you keep a rooster and you have a hen that likes to set on eggs, you learn that chickens have an incredible mothering instinct. Ever heard the term "mother hen". Well, I can see where that came from. These moms are fiercly protective of their young. As soon as they come out of the nest mom is gathering bits of food and dropping it in front of them until the little peeps learn to scratch for food themselves. When cold they huddle under moms warm downy feathers. It is truly a joy to watch them use their natural instincts. And as you can see from the pictures, eggs come in many colors. There is actually no nutritional difference based on color. Just makes them look more interesting. Who in the world decided that we only needed white eggs? How boring! So even though we have just come off a 5 day snow and some pretty cold temps, the 5 month old pullets are doing what they are programed to do-lay eggs. I can't wait til the days get a little longer and the older girls crank up again!