Hollyoak Ranch
Honoring the past - Sustaining the future
For more about our farm, visit www.hollyoakranch.com. The site is a work in slow progress .
I come from a long line of farmers. My father raised chickens as a child in Oklahoma and Arkansas. As an adult he raised pheasants. I started my own chicken and geese flocks in 1984 and have had them ever since. In my first flock was a red hen who laid green eggs. She was a cross but I didn't know it at the time. I didn't know chickens could lay green eggs either. When I found the first greeny in the nest I thought it was rotten and threw it out. I called Dad to tell him what happened and to try to figure out what went wrong.
He said, "Well, let's see here. You been keeping those chickens close to the horses?"
"Uh, yeah. Why?" I asked.
"Do you see them scratching in the alfalfa?" Dad questioned.
"Yeah. They seem to love the stuff." I said.
"Well, I just bet she ate so much of it that her eggs turned green." He deadpanned.
"Oh!" I said with an air of enlightenment. "I had no idea that would happen! So they're okay to eat?"
"Yep."
Dad kept up the charade for a few minutes more before letting me in on his joke and explaining about "green egg layers" and crosses. Ever
since I've kept Ameraucanas/EEGs along with various other breeds.
Here are a few pictures of our birds. In order we have at this time:
- Barnevelders
- Black Australorps
Barnevelders
I love the consistency of this breed. These are mixed bloodlines of Johan, vB, and TLS.
Black Australorps
