The price of eggs fluctuates more than for any other food. During the past decade or so, egg prices have been see-sawing up and down — but mostly up. A tribute to how much we love eggs is that the price has to get pretty high before people stop buying them. But, since there’s no […]
These days everyone seems to be talking about the benefits of duck eggs, which can be pretty pricey at the local farmers’ market. Luckily, when you keep your own ducks, you have ready access to freshly laid eggs. How well you like them depends to a great extent on how you handle your duck eggs […]
The final step of an egg’s formation inside a hen is the application of an invisible coating. We chicken keepers call it bloom, but technically it’s the cuticle. Bloom consists primarily of 80 to 95% proteins. It also contains polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates that dissolve into simple sugars) and lipids (insoluble oily or greasy compounds). Lubrication […]
Precisely how long an egg takes to hatch depends on a lot of factors including species, breed, strain, conditions under which the egg was stored prior to incubation, and conditions during incubation. But whether you plan to hatch eggs in an incubator or under a hen you need a more definitive answer the question: How […]
Chicks, ducklings, and babies of other barnyard birds are precocial, meaning they are able to feed themselves almost from the moment of hatch. Precociality is the reason why chicks peep before hatching. The word precocial comes from the Latin word praecox, meaning early to mature. A fancier word for precocial is nidifugous — from the […]
In the normal course of events, two yolks appear in approximately 0.1% of eggs laid, or about one in every 1,000. So why are we lately hearing so much about those rare double yolk eggs? And what causes double yolk eggs in the first place? Causes of Double Yolkers A double yolk egg occurs while […]
Whether or not using more than one incubator makes sense depends on how much hatching you plan to do and how many different chicken breeds or poultry species you wish to hatch. Most incubators for home use are designed for batch hatching. Sometimes, though, you might not want to wait until the eggs hatch before […]
Most chicken keepers know that a hen will lay eggs whether or not a rooster is present. But a rooster is needed in order to get fertile eggs that will hatch. Less well known is that eggs can hatch without a rooster. Virgin Birth Virgin birth, or parthenogenesis, is the process whereby an unfertilized egg […]
Perhaps the greatest tribute to eggs is the vast number of ways they are incorporated into recipes around the world. Many recipes call for eggs as a functional ingredient, used to perform such services as binding other ingredients together, clarifying liquids, or causing baked goods to rise. Here are 15 functional properties of eggs in […]
How many eggs your ducks lay, and for how many years, depends on several factors. Most of these factors are easily within your control as the ducks’ keeper. Here are six considerations that influence how to keep your ducks laying well. Breed and Strain Some duck breeds, or strains within a breed, lay better than […]
Egg yolks get their golden yellow color from the same plant pigments that result in the skin color of yellow-skin breeds. These pigments are also responsible for beak and bill color in chickens and ducks, and for their brightly colored feathers. The pigments are of two main types— carotene and xanthophyll. Carotene is orange to […]
Eggs that are sold specifically for hatching are called, fittingly enough, hatching eggs. They cost more than eating eggs but come with no guarantee they will hatch. Too many variables are not under the seller’s control. Even eggs laid by your own hens, or otherwise sourced locally, are not guaranteed to hatch. But when hatching […]
When we refer to eggs, we’re usually thinking of chicken eggs. But other types of poultry lay eggs that are just as tasty. Every egg contains a yolk surrounded by albumen, encased in membranes, and protected by a thick shell. Differences occur in how these parts are put together. Let’s see how the eggs […]
Geese are not particularly prolific layers, as poultry go. The top producers might lay about four dozen eggs per year, which gives goose eggs their high value. The large white eggs are most often hatched to raise goslings for holiday roast goose. The eggs are also prized for creating craft items such as decorative […]
Goose flesh makes a delightful dinner entrée and the feathers can be used to make a comfortable pillow, but the eggs are yet another reason to raise geese. When we don’t need them for hatching, we use eggs from all our flock – turkey, duck, chicken, goose, guinea and occasionally pheasant. Nothing goes to waste. […]
Goose eggs are delicious! Just one egg makes a formidable omelet, although goose eggs are less often used for culinary purposes than for hatching or — because of their large size and thick shells — for creating goose egg craft items such as Christmas ornaments and decorative jewelry boxes. Yet goose eggs may be used […]
A hen can stop laying eggs for any number of reasons. At the top of the list is the fall molt. As winter approaches, chickens shed their worn feathers and grow a set of new plumage to better keep them warm through cold weather. During the molt, all hens slow down in production, and some […]
It’s no secret that farm fresh eggs are tastier and better for baking and cooking than the store bought kind. Raising chickens for their eggs can be a very rewarding endeavor, but there’s a lot of preparation that goes into it. So what do you need to know to get started? Prep Before […]
The hatching of a chick out of an egg — whether laid by a chicken, duck, goose, or other bird — is a remarkable process. Each chick enters the world with a built-in food supply that can sustain it for up to three days after the bird hatches. How does this happen? Starting on the […]
When an egg is ready to hatch — whether chicken, duck, goose, or other poultry — the baby bird inside breaks a hole through the egg’s shell. The hole is called a pip and the process of creating the hole is called pipping. The little bird pips with the help of its egg tooth—a small, […]
The eggs you collect from your chickens develop through a process that is nothing short of miraculous. A hen’s reproductive system consists of two main parts: an ovary and an oviduct. A young female chicken, or pullet, starts life with two ovaries. As she matures, the right ovary remains undeveloped and only the left one […]
Last year, in the wake of an avian flu outbreak that forced states to cull over 43 million birds, egg prices in grocery stores throughout the country spiked to historic levels. The average price of eggs peaked at about $3 per dozen after more than doubling in a period of just a few months. For […]
Nothing can foul up your day like losing sleep to the persistent beeping of a dying smoke detector. And is there anything more agitating than waking up from a dead sleep with a bright line shining in your eyes? We rely on a good night’s sleep to get the rest and relaxation we need to […]
Rare is the hen that will lay an egg every day, year round. Most hens lay in cycles. Depending on the hen’s breed and age, one cycle may last for 12 days or as long as a year. The total number of eggs laid within one laying cycle is called a clutch. Eggs per Clutch […]
Easter is almost upon us, which means it’s time to start the egg dyeing preparations! This Easter season, instead of doing the same old dye styles, check out these six unique styles that we love. Don’t Skip Brown Eggs If you’re plucking eggs from your backyard coop to use for making Easter eggs, you may […]
The poached egg is an absolute staple of brunch menus that tends to baffle and amaze novice cooks. To the uninitiated, the poached egg seems to occupy a state of matter that is neither liquid nor solid. It’s a delicate balance that takes a steady hand and a cool head to achieve. With a little […]