Did you know Olde Glory Farm started on a 1/8 acre property along the Ohio River, with six chickens? Now we have 30, and I'm picking up more today (Silkies, they are too cute!). We are chicken obsessed.
Those first six chicks were a result of me, and my obsession with gardening. Most people think cow manure is the best for composting in the garden, and it IS pretty awesome, but chicken manure has even more nitrogen (the stuff that makes the plants green and leafy). I had it in my head my gardens and my belly would benefit from the chickens. We haven't bought eggs from the store in three years, and my garden friends request bags of chicken compost at our annual garden swap, so I'd say we have a wonderful relationship going.
Since we now have so many beautiful hens, we get a LOT of eggs. I'm talking, you need to make a Pinterest board just for egg recipes. We began selling them a couple years ago to friends and family who insisted on giving us money for them, even though we were practically begging people to just take some off our hands!
Farm fresh eggs are very different from store bought eggs. For one, living conditions here at the farm are far better. Our girls have a large enclosure where they dig for bugs, eat lots of kitchen scraps, take dust baths, and fly around. They love it. Also, you don't need a rooster for eggs...you need a rooster for fertilized eggs. Sometimes, you'll see a little white dot in the middle of the yolk of our eggs. This means Seamus, our sweet little bantam rooster, did his job. If a hen had incubated that egg by sitting on it for 21 days, we could've had a baby chick. None of our hens really like setting eggs, so we've never had babies born here at the farm. And, our hens are all standard sized hens, so they are twice the size of Seamus. He has a few girls that he favors, but having a fertilized eggs doesn't happen often.
Another thing we are asked about is the red spots on the yolk. These are blood spots. It's not a sign of bacteria or fertilization. It's merely an error during the egg laying process. Blood spots are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface during formation, or by a similar accident in the wall of the oviduct. These eggs ARE safe to eat. We don't see many of them here, but it happens, and we use them.
Another common question deals with how long the eggs are good for. Our eggs maintain freshness the same as store bought eggs. We do wash our eggs, simply because it is more pleasing to the buyer's eye, and since we do wash them, you will need to keep them refrigerated. A trick we use here at the farm to check freshness is the float test. If you place your egg in a bowl of water, and it sinks, it's a very fresh egg. If they stand on end, they're still good to eat, but I find this is the perfect time to boil them. Eggs that float to the top are old, and we send those to the compost bin to break down and enrich the soil.
If you have any other questions about eggs or raising chickens, let us know! We are happy to help!
Til Next Time,
Katie
Follow us on Instagram for daily updates on what's happening on the farm!
Those first six chicks were a result of me, and my obsession with gardening. Most people think cow manure is the best for composting in the garden, and it IS pretty awesome, but chicken manure has even more nitrogen (the stuff that makes the plants green and leafy). I had it in my head my gardens and my belly would benefit from the chickens. We haven't bought eggs from the store in three years, and my garden friends request bags of chicken compost at our annual garden swap, so I'd say we have a wonderful relationship going.
Since we now have so many beautiful hens, we get a LOT of eggs. I'm talking, you need to make a Pinterest board just for egg recipes. We began selling them a couple years ago to friends and family who insisted on giving us money for them, even though we were practically begging people to just take some off our hands!
Farm fresh eggs are very different from store bought eggs. For one, living conditions here at the farm are far better. Our girls have a large enclosure where they dig for bugs, eat lots of kitchen scraps, take dust baths, and fly around. They love it. Also, you don't need a rooster for eggs...you need a rooster for fertilized eggs. Sometimes, you'll see a little white dot in the middle of the yolk of our eggs. This means Seamus, our sweet little bantam rooster, did his job. If a hen had incubated that egg by sitting on it for 21 days, we could've had a baby chick. None of our hens really like setting eggs, so we've never had babies born here at the farm. And, our hens are all standard sized hens, so they are twice the size of Seamus. He has a few girls that he favors, but having a fertilized eggs doesn't happen often.
Another thing we are asked about is the red spots on the yolk. These are blood spots. It's not a sign of bacteria or fertilization. It's merely an error during the egg laying process. Blood spots are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface during formation, or by a similar accident in the wall of the oviduct. These eggs ARE safe to eat. We don't see many of them here, but it happens, and we use them.
Another common question deals with how long the eggs are good for. Our eggs maintain freshness the same as store bought eggs. We do wash our eggs, simply because it is more pleasing to the buyer's eye, and since we do wash them, you will need to keep them refrigerated. A trick we use here at the farm to check freshness is the float test. If you place your egg in a bowl of water, and it sinks, it's a very fresh egg. If they stand on end, they're still good to eat, but I find this is the perfect time to boil them. Eggs that float to the top are old, and we send those to the compost bin to break down and enrich the soil.
If you have any other questions about eggs or raising chickens, let us know! We are happy to help!
Til Next Time,
Katie
Follow us on Instagram for daily updates on what's happening on the farm!