All about the EGGS.

Eggs. They're the biggest subject of production on this farm to date. And before we go on with a proper tour of all the chickens who create them, we start with the egg. . .

These here are the eggs we just put in the incubator 14 days ago. It's a huge, grand assortment of dark chocolate, orange, pink, green, white, light brown, and khaki green eggs. All these eggs will of course hatch in 7 more days, and the chicks from them will grow up and give as a grand supply more of the very same types of eggs they hatched from.

For those curious, the orange and dark brown ones come from a breed called Marans. The pink ones come from Jersey Giants. The green ones come from Ameraucanas, and although Ameraucanas should not lay "green" eggs, but rather a blue-green color, they can vary based on the age of the chicken and the quality of it. The white eggs come from our own Crested Polish, the three huge light brown ones come from our own Easter Egger (crossbred chicken commonly sold under false claim as an Ameraucana) and the last row of khaki green eggs are also from true Ameraucanas.



All these eggs, over the last 14 days, have no been "culled" (any non developed ones removed) down to any that are fertile and developing. We have plenty Ameraucana, Jersey Giant, and Marans eggs left - But only one Polish. When they hatch, that chick sure will stand out!

The black circles marked on the eggs are to show which are fertile. After 10 days of being in the incubator, any egg not marked with a circle is removed to prevent rotting or exploding.



Aren't they all just beautiful?

Now, customers who buy our eating eggs won't see jewels like these until July or up to September. Then, we'll be selling "rainbow specialty" dozens. So, what our customers actually will be getting for the next two to three months are these, various shades of brown, pink, and white:



By July, we'll be getting these in the basket as well as blue:





Yes, the eggs will be this gorgeous! These here are "preserved" examples of some Marans eggs we hatched - They're a gorgeous, really dark chocolate type of color, but when comparing them to the popular Cadbury Egg - They're much bigger and richer in color!

Then, a month after those come around, we'll be getting even more chocolate eggs, blue eggs, and some green eggs. A month after that, come September, we'll also have an abundance of pink eggs and green eggs as well, with of course even more chocolate brown eggs available.

Here's an example of the green eggs available in September.



And finally, here's something we'll be offering as well: Tri-sample rainbows of color. Of course, there will be more color than this example, but that's because we have yet to get blue eggs to show off.



Of course, during holidays like Independence Day, Easter, Christmas, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, and Valentine's Day - We'll have specialty cartons of certain color combinations. Here's a sample of "White Chocolate & Milk Chocolate" - It's a way to show even light Marans eggs and normal white eggs and how combining just the right colors can compliment each other perfectly. Normally white eggs are a common sight, and lighter "orange" Marans eggs are not desired to breeders, even us - But they're great for the colorful beauty in a carton of eating eggs!



In three months once most of my chicks are mature, I'll get a post up that is all about the breeds that create all these fascinating egg colors, and even some of my future projects on some NEW egg colors!

Update for All!

So it has been a while since I've updated the news on the farm. . . Well, let's start from the biggest animals down. :)

First, Djimon the Yak. You heard it, he's bigger than the goats now! He's maturing quite well now, and is quite the "man" . . . Okay so not really, but he thinks he is!



He's so hairy now! And it doesn't stop there. . . He's still got a LOT more wool to grow. Speaking of growing, take a look at how his horns are coming along. . . They used to be little stubs, now they're becoming longer, and I can actually hook my hand around them!



And of course, there's the other black four leggeds. . . Here's Jugs, previously named Zing. She's sooo close to birthing a kid! Look at that belly. . .



And then look at that pretty head.



But, what about this "3rd Goat" of ours? When did that come into play? Well, yes, we now have a 3rd addition to the four leggeds. . . We recently (two weekends ago) got ourselves a Nubian buck. I normally don't care for Nubians, but this guy has a most interesting color, hard to tell in photos though, of creamy tan with big white spots here and there. Also, he's very needy and an absolute sweetheart! He even wags his tail when you pet him.




Now, past the four legged animals, are the chickens. . . Here's our first Ameraucana and Marans chicks we got a while ago, back in February. They're 2 months old now!

The first photo is of our "keeper" Black Copper Marans cockerel walking a long the chicks' new permanent perch, just across from our current layer's perch. He has some undesired traits such as mossiness and a red chest coming through, but we're keeping him for Olive Egger production. "Mossy" Marans, those who have too much copper or golden feathers scattered around their bodies, are often known to lay darker eggs. So, we're keeping him to give us some beautiful Marans-Ameraucana crosses, so his traits won't affect the offspring, as they're going to be hybrids anyway.



Next is our Ameraucanas, who have really grown! We do indeed have some cleanfaced ones, (no muffs and beard) which is also undesired, but the cockerels we're not keeping and the hens will only be used for egg laying. The boys in this photo though are our keepers - One black, and one blue from this particular batch of Ameraucanas.



All 12 Marans and Ameraucanas that are 2 months old are now living with the adult hens. Eventually all of our chicks, including the ones in the incubator right now, will be introduced into the main flock once they're a month old. Then, when everyone hits laying age, the cockerels will all be put into their "bachelor pad" and the hens will all have free range until a month later. . . Then, the breeding programs begin.

And speaking of chicks, here's the Araucanas I got just a little while ago:



Full wing feathering!! They're also getting feathers in on their shoulders and back now. Of course, this photo may look like a chick you can get from the feedstore or hatcheries, but believe me - It isn't. These are true Araucanas, not the "Americanas" and "Araucanas" sold at hatcheries. They're the real thing; The rumpless, tufted, blue egg laying breed from South America.

And to further prove it, here's a gorgeous white one with amazing tufts, with another amazing blue just to the left, also with a lovelt set of tufts coming in.



And, here's the most interesting color of all - blue cuckoo. It isn't a true "barred cuckoo" color, but close enough. As a chick, it is completely convincing. But as it grows up, it is more of a blue tipped splash color. I got my Araucanas from a lovely guy named Gary Ramey, and he mainly works with this weird color as well as splash. I'm hoping to continue work on this color, and especially get some tufts in that genepool, because so far - I have two of thse. One with a clean face, and another with only one tuft.



And then past the Araucanas are our own recently hatched Black Copper Marans, Wheaten Marans, and BBS Ameraucanas. They're maturing very well! Here's our only three Wheaten Marans. . .

The first is feathering out straight brown so far, and a cockerel. It has a very well sized comb, and displayed the proper behavior just days ago.



This one I'm unsure on sex of, but has part black, part brown wings:



Another one I'm unsure on, as it has solid black wings:



And then, there's the Black Coppers. Some are getting some beautifully developed cockerel combs, some are just plain nice looking, and one is solid black. There is not a white feather or bit of down on it - Even its feet and beak are black. Very interesting.



Here's a group bunch of them, with the biggest combed Marans in the middle:



And last but not least: My 3 BBS Ameraucanas, being the biggest and heaviest of the bunch. They're only hours to a day older, but that can change a lot. Pictured is one of the blacks.






Hope you had the patience to look through all that! It sure is a lot, and don't worry. . . There will be more!!

My next post will be all about eggs. I'll be showing pictures of what we currently have in the incubator, what we eat and sell, and what we have that hatched out already, and we're just waiting for to grow up and give us more beautiful eggs! :)