Brown Leghorns, Buff Orpingtons and Easter Eggers... oh my! - Update

September Update

 -Seven Months Old-

We have more eggs than we know what to do with. Each of our breeds (aside from the younger batch of Wyandottes) is now laying! I can guess that each hen is laying because of the ratio of color to hens. We have three Brown Leghorns and average three white eggs per day. We have two Buff Orpingtons and average two brown eggs per day. The only group that isn't producing their total number of eggs is the Easter Eggers who vary from 1-4 Olive/bluish eggs per day when we have five Easter Egger hens.

Brown Leghorns and Their Eggs - Italy

Buff Orpingtons and Their Eggs - Bromley

Bromley lays all shades of brown eggs.

 

Easter Eggers and Their Eggs - Meeko

Meeko is the Easter Egger that I always see in the nest, she lays greenish blue eggs

Different Colors

I've found that I love the colors of our eggs more than anything. They are so beautiful. When we first chose our chicks we picked them for their egg colors, white, brown and blue/green. I knew we would be getting variety. What I didn't realize was the spectrum of colors that we would get! Our Buff Orpington's lay from rose pink, to dark brown to creamy tan. Our Easter Eggers lay from pale olive to deep blueish green and everything in between. You never know what you will get! Even the Brown Leghorns have varying shade of white, some you can see the yoke glowing inside, some are thicker and a light gray color.

Rabbits - Flemish Giants - Alhe, Rombi and Eevee

Our rabbits are doing great. They live well outside. I only worry about the rainy months, keeping their bedding dry. We are working on building a hutch for them. It is a project that is moving a long slowly but now that it has started raining it has become first priority! It will be a mobile hutch. It is divided in three sections since they can't be left alone together. They will have a enclosed "nesting box" in the back, and litter pan and an "outdoor" area that lets sunlight in and allows them to graze on the grass. It is mobile for easy clean up. Our hens love the rabbit droppings!

Ducks - Rouen and Cayuga

The duck home is finished! I'll post pictures soon. So far they are loving it. Maintenance has gone down drastically since we moved them. With more space they are less messy, and with them outside of the chicken coop, or hens are less work too. They aren't having to share food and water anymore, which I am sure the hens are grateful for.  We still haven't gotten any eggs from our female Cayuga, "Cortana" but at 4 months old she is just now in the age range to be laying. They boys "Halo" and "MasterChief" are happy and healthy. They are starting to do a little head bobbing dance at Cortana which is pretty cute. I am excited to get some new duckling in the spring - girls only!

Goats 

A few months ago we decided to get goats! We have two wethers and one doe. They are all Nigerian Dwarf Goats. The two boys are younger, Spartan and Legolas. The Doe, "Gertrude" is a lot better with people. We plan on breeding her and then learning about what it is to keep a dairy goat. I am really interested in making butter, cheese or soaps. I don't know much about that process and am excited to learn.

Gertrude in the back, Legolas is the lightest and Spartan has the horns!

Please check out the animal's individual pages to see their progress! Leave a comment or picture!

Progress Pages:

Spider
Meeko
Ayden
Seraphina
Helen
Buff Orpingtons
Brown Leghorns
Silver Laced Wyandottes 
Golden Laced Wyandottes

Rabbits - Flemish Giants
Ducks - Rouen and Cayuga

Fairy Eggs

We got our first "Fairy Egg" and while I had read about them before, when researching egg production, I still was shocked to see one. I couldn't believe this tiny little egg came out of my chicken! The size difference is crazy! 

For those of you that don't know what I am talking about:
Sometimes your hen will lay a small, yolk less egg. This happens because a tiny bit of tissue or even a foreign mass enters the hen's oviduct and their reproductive system sees it as a yolk. The egg forms around the tissue as if it was yolk, creating a smaller yolk less egg.

Other names for it: Cock egg, fart egg, wind egg, witch egg, oops egg, dwarf egg
Perhaps the name "Cock egg" has been around the longest. Because they egg has no yolk, they believed that cocks laid the eggs with no viable genetic materiel. Obviously, cocks do not lay these odd bolls. They are just a fluke in nature.

Superstition: Some people believed cock eggs, because they come from cocks, are magical and a bad omen if brought into the home. They were seen as evil and "of the devil". It was said that witches valued them as a rare ingredient in potions. In order to save your home from illness, you are to throw the egg over the house to break on the other side.

I didn't throw mine over the house! I think it is a cute little thing!

Please share your photos and stories! What is your name for these odd little eggs?