How Old Do Chickens Need to Be to Lay Eggs?

When will your chickens start to lay eggs? The wait for the first eggs from your new hens may seem long, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not. When hens are about five to six months old they will start to lay eggs. Find out more about what to expect when you're egg-specting!

How to Make Glitter and Floral Print Easter Eggs

These fun Easter egg decorating techniques give a nod to my girls, who love anything sparkly, and to my garden for the life it brings after a long winter’s sleep. Learning how to glitter your eggs and make floral print Easter eggs is easy, fun and colorful!

Creative Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

Easter's such a fun holiday. So why not step it up and use some creative Easter egg decorating ideas your whole family is sure to love.

As I grew up, we always bought our white eggs from the store and used a PAAS Easter egg kit to make beautiful Easter creations. It’s not that my mom didn’t know how to dye eggs with food coloring; I just think my sister and I loved buying our cool egg kits so much that she didn’t deny us the pleasure.

Fast forward to today, and at Easter, my egg customers have a definite preference for the white eggs laid by my Brown Leghorn chickens. They see all the kits in the store and fall for the myth that white eggs dye so much prettier than other colors. Nothing, in my opinion, can be farther from the truth. In my family, we prefer to dye the brown and green eggs laid by the rest of my flock. I love the deep, rich tones that the brown and green eggs provide when they’re dyed. And frankly, we don’t need a kit from the store. We use the food dye from our pantry and find that it’s so versatile that we can make tons of interesting combinations.

Polka dot, rubber band and flower decorated eggs. 

How to Make Marbled & Tie-Dyed Easter Eggs

Why make Easter decorating hard on yourself or expensive? You can make marbled eggs and tie-dyed eggs using everyday ingredients from your pantry including food coloring. These techniques produce beautiful eggs that look like they came from a fancy egg dyeing kit. Both you and your kids are sure to love them!

Marbled Eggs

How to Make Silk Tie Dyed Eggs

Silk tie-dye eggs are a beautiful way to reuse old silk (think ties) you may have around the house. They are mess-free and easy since they get the hard-boiling and dyeing done in one step. An added bonus is their wow-factor. Here's how to create your own... 

Can You Raise Chicks in the Fall?

Chick season is prominent in the spring, but can you raise chicks in the fall? Yes. In many parts of the country, fall weather is mild and raising chicks is easy. But even in the North, raising chicks in the fall is possible and even preferable by many. If you'd like to start a flock or expand your existing flock, fall is a great time to take the plunge!

Does Chicken Egg Color Affect Taste?

Does chicken egg color affect taste? It's a common question. When people see green or blue eggs, they'll ask out loud if they taste different. Some people voice strong opinions by saying they like brown eggs better than white. Even seasoned chicken keepers venture into this question and say some of their chickens lay eggs that taste more creamy and better than others.

Let's face it. People associate egg taste with shell color. But do eggs with different colored shells taste different? No. Eggshell color has nothing to do with taste. Egg tastes only change because of a hen’s diet and the egg’s freshness.

A Top Ten List of the Best Chickens for Eggs

Most folks keep a flock of chickens for their eggs and having the best chicken breeds for eggs makes all the difference. In this regard, not all breeds are created equal. So if your goal is to get eggs, check out this top ten list of productive breeds. You'll soon find these breeds will be the backbone of your backyard flock.

How to Pick Chicken Breeds for Your Flock

A backyard flock of chickens can be a wise investment in homegrown eggs, meat and the peace of mind that comes with self-sufficiency. Getting started isn’t hard. But before buying your birds, some initial chicken breed research can ensure your flock’s productivity and climate hardiness and help you meet your goals.

How To Make Christmas Ornaments From Eggs

With all the beautifully colored eggs we have from our backyard flocks, why not take a few and turn them into Christmas ornaments. They require little crafting skill and are a great way to salvage eggs you're using for holiday baking.

Why Are My Chickens Laying Soft Eggs?

Throughout the year, it's not uncommon to ask "why are my chickens laying soft eggs?" This question, however, is most likely to happen in the heat of summer. Even as a seasoned chicken keeper, I have to remind myself this summertime problem is ok and things will return to normal once the weather breaks. Learn why this happens, how to help prevent soft eggs and when to worry...

Best Backyard Chickens for Urban Areas

Keeping backyard chickens isn't just for those who own lots of land. People everywhere are reaching back to their rural roots and raising backyard chickens to reduce their reliance on grocery store stocks and to know where their food comes from and how it is raised. If you live in an urban area, and your local laws allow it, backyard chickens may be a good option for you. If you choose to raise chickens, be sure to pick the best breeds for an urban area. This will help ensure a successful experience for you and your birds.

What's the Best Bedding for Chickens?

The best bedding for chickens keeps them comfortable, helps you keep your chicken coop clean and contributes to a flock's overall health. Find out how to choose the best bedding to make your chicken-keeping life easier.

Chicken Breeds That Lay Blue or Green Eggs

If you're planning your first flock or considering adding some new birds, blue and green egg-laying hens ensure you'll have a colorful egg basket all year round and a fun talking point when you give eggs to family and friends.

Blue & Green Egg Myths

Do blue eggs taste different than "regular" eggs? No.

Do blue eggs contain more or less cholesterol than eggs of other colors? No.

Here's why — the quality of an egg's nutrition and an egg's taste is determined by diet.

All eggs are formed in the same way, but the nutrition a hen gets on a daily basis is what gives her egg its taste and gives the yolk its color. If your backyard chickens are fed a quality layer feed and allowed to forage for grasses, insects and anything else they can find, you can be assured your eggs will be fresh and taste good.

Easter Egger and Cream Legbar Eggs

How to Understand Egg Carton Labeling

As backyard chicken keepers, we don't buy a lot of eggs from the store, so it's normal to have some egg carton code confusion. The egg carton section of the grocery is usually foreign territory and we find ourselves there only if the flock is molting or winter's waning daylight has left us eggless.

But honestly, even for a family that doesn't have backyard chickens, those cartons can be a nightmare to decode. Do you go with the 99 cent special? Are those organic eggs worth the price? Is free-range really free range? What's an extra large egg versus a large egg? When were the eggs actually laid?

Ugh! Stop the madness!

What is a Bantam Chicken?

As you shop poultry catalogs or look at adorable baby chicken in the farm store, you'll notice some chickens labeled as bantam and others as large fowl. What's the difference? How do you choose between bantam chickens and large fowl chickens?

An Overview of What to Feed Chickens

Whether you're a new or a veteran backyard chicken keeper, it’s natural to wonder just what to feed chickens. When you get your first chickens, you grab a bag of starter feed, but what happens next? And exactly what starter feed should you grab?

All About Double Yolk Chicken Eggs

What is a double yolk egg? It's simply a single-shelled egg with two yolks inside and it's not as uncommon as you might think.

Chicken Ban Inspires Historic Egg Carton

I've had chickens for a number of years. I’ve even sold some eggs along the way. But never once did I wonder about the history of the egg carton. That changed during a trip to a local antique mall. Hidden in a corner and stuffed on a shelf was a metal carton with an imprint on the front that said “2 Dozen Eggs.” I knew this was a good find and snatched it up.

After some research, I found that my egg carton is around 100 years old and is the by-product of early city livestock ordinances.

It all started in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1913. Ordinances were passed that banned livestock, including backyard chickens, in the city for public health reasons.  At the same time, similar ordinances were being passed throughout the country.

They say necessity is the mother of all inventions. People still needed fresh eggs and farmers had an abundance of them. Inventor Stuart Ellis came up with the solution to connect farmers and city folk. He created a metal box that contained rows of cardboard bent into the shape of an egg and supported at the top and bottom with metal edging. Eggs were placed with the large end down with tissue paper under and above.

The top of the metal carton had a rectangular cut out for the receiver’s address. Inside were elaborate instructions on how to pack the eggs. These instructions were double-sided and had a place to write the receiver’s address on each side. To me, this is one of the first instances of reduce, reuse and recycle. The egg buyer could send the empty carton back to the farmer with the flip of a sheet and vice versa. Pretty efficient!

Through my research, I found all kinds of advertisements from the 1920s in seed magazines and early poultry magazines selling these crates which held up to six dozen eggs and started at 85 cents each. They took advantage of the Parcel Post that now allowed people to send crates, and not just letters, directly to each other.

Unfortunately for Stuart Ellis, his invention was eventually replaced by other designs. Not many remain today to tell the story of why and how the humble egg carton came into being. So I’ll keep mine on my shelf, tell my kids about this fascinating story and count it as a part of America’s rich history in farming, manufacturing and invention.

You can find this post and many of my other posts at Backyard Poultry

Put An Egg On It - Cookbook Review

I recently had the pleasure of previewing a new cookbook by Lara Ferroni aptly named Put An Egg On It. With a flock of backyard chickens, a cookbook like this can certainly come in handy when you’re trying to find uses for all of your beautiful eggs.

In a nutshell, I like this book. The pictures are beautiful and the recipes inspire you to go beyond the pale and add eggs to dishes you normally would not. In fairness, as a busy mom with after-school activities, sports, numerous pets and a flock of chickens, some of these recipes were a little too involved for me. With finicky eaters in my house, there would be tears at the table if I tried some of the more fancy feasts.

What I liked the best, is that interspersed among fancy recipes, were easy recipes that appeal to palettes that think chicken nuggets are a delicacy. For instance, the grilled cheese and egg sandwich was a hit at my house as well as the hot dog with scrambled eggs and hot sauce. I’ve tried the breakfast bowl recipes and they are easy and yummy.

I LOVED the introduction and egg basics sections of this book. For one, Ferroni’s pictures included not only white eggs but green and brown too. Personally, this more accurately reflects my egg selections. And two, the egg basics section is comprehensive and informative. Overall, this is a great book to have in your kitchen arsenal. The pictures and recipes are inspiring for those of us who are always looking for creative uses for our backyard eggs!