I never intentionally set out to become a poultry farmer, it just sort of played out that way. It all began with a flock of three Americauna/ Easter Egger hens about 6 years ago in our suburban backyard. We wanted to raise our own eggs, taking a small step towards greater self sufficiency.
We added more chickens gradually to get more eggs and once we moved out of the city and begun to free range our birds across several acres the flock really exploded. Partly because I got an incubator and partly because we had so many losses in the flock initially while transitioning from confinement to free ranging. A year later we’ve added heritage turkey, guinea and ducks to the operation.
Between broody hen hatching, incubating, chick buying and predator losses, I honestly can’t tell you how many birds we have anymore. I know breeds and origin for everyone just not solid counts anymore. I can say that we’ve got enough to supply our family with year round eggs plus much, much more.
What I’ve really been after all along is the beautiful rainbow of eggs to enjoy…
Right now we aren’t even in what I’d consider the “peak laying season” as the daylight hours are still gradually increasing as they lead to summer solstice in June. We don’t provide artificial light in our poultry coops to control their laying cycles, it’s all sunlight driven here.
We fill one of these baskets a week on just chicken eggs, it’s about 6 dozen eggs. We aren’t eating 6 dozen eggs a week so we are selling extras to our neighbors in and around Golconda, Illinois and we will be back to the farmers market with eggs this summer. If you need eggs give us a shout and we can schedule a time for you to come by!
When egg purchases are slow I like to get egg-adventurous and make new things. I just realized I’ve never tried sending hard boiled egg to school for the kiddos lunch so I boiled up some eggs. Today I’ve also got plans for a banana cream pie but I’m also eager to make:
- Lemon curd
- Baked custard
- Gluten free angel food cake
- Picked eggs
Nathan is famous for making his crepes or his German Baby that use a great many eggs. What is your most loved, egg heavy recipe?
I love my colorful eggs I purchase from my local feed store. They sell farm fresh eggs from local people and they are always so naturally pretty and colorful.