There be eggs!!

[AnnieOK]

Hey everyone,

My babies are laying! At least, about half of them are., out of 17 girls. One roo. I got my first egg 2 weeks ago Saturday, when they were between 20 and 21 weeks old. I was so surprised! And today I got 11 pretty brown eggs! It's really fun, like looking for treasure. I'm so proud of them too, they are primarily laying in the nest boxes, with one consistently laying in the same corner of the floor. One is laying in the run, have found 3 eggs out there so far.

We've been eating our own fresh eggs for breakfast for the past 2 weeks. It's wonderful, have already shared some with family and friends.

I have noticed one difference, and if anyone can help with suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Our fresh eggs are very difficult to peel cleanly when we boil them, like for potato salad. Any tips, or anything I need to know about boiling them/peeling them? Maybe I'm the only one with this problem, but if anyone else knows what I can do for this, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

 

[lonnyandrinda]

How exciting! We bought chickies but my hubby was so impatient to get our own eggs that 2 weeks later he went out and bought a full grown trio LOL! Our two hens ALWAYS lay in the same box. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics change as the "bitties" grow up and take their place in the big coop!

As for harder to peel, yes fresh eggs are harder to peel. If you want to hard boil them keep them in the fridge for 2 or 3 weeks first, then they will peel easier after boiling. Enjoy!

 

[ChickieG'ma]

I have been having the same problem since I got my chickens. Can't say how many different things I tried. Finally the other day I did a search for "perfect hard boiled eggs" or "hard boiled fresh eggs", something like that and found the perfect solution.

It went like this: Eggs in pot, cover with 1" to 2" of water, add 1/4 cup of salt for each 6 eggs. Turn heat on high and as soon as it comes to a boil turn the heat off. Set the timer for 12 minutes. When the timer goes off drain off the hot water and shock the eggs in ice water. As soon as you can handle them you can peel them and for me it worked perfectly, not one difficult one in the bunch.

I must say I didn't follow it to the letter. I used less salt, I think it was a little over 1/4 cup for 18 eggs. There was one more system I found on You-tube. Alton Brown was steaming the eggs, same amount of time from the boil and using the shock treatment. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds good.

 

[ChickieG'ma]

Oh, and both of these are supposed to work on same day fresh eggs.

I know the salt one does.

 

[AnnieOK]

Thanks all of you for your tips! I tried the boiling in salt water one and it works great! Thanks to all of you.

My girls, 17 of them, are now giving us 14-15 eggs a day! I am so proud of them

 

[BeulahBreezes]

Going to try this method...I have trouble peeling the fresh eggs too.