Famous Eggs!

Our hens have been photographed for two newspapers and I have been interviewed on live radio for a station in Seattle about them... What famous eggs we have!

I am not sure yet what the big deal is about having chickens, but it is a big deal, in a small way, if that makes sense. I feel like I am connected to the ground I walk on by way of the food I eat. I do not want to ever buy eggs in a grocery store again. It isn't only the fantastic taste of the eggs themselves, the idea of providing a home for the layers where they can live their personalities out in the open is the most pleasing aspect of this enterprise thus far. And what personalities they do have!

Below is Speckle. When I went into the coop the other afternoon to collect the eggs, there she was. She is a very friendly bird and follows me around in case there is a chance I have some table scraps. The golf ball under her and next to the eggs was used to encourage proper egg-laying behavior (i.e. in the nesting box and not on the floor or out in the yard). The photographer for the NY Times took a pic of it when it was alone in the box and did a double take when we laughed and said it was not an egg...
Speckle lays blue-green eggs which are very cool. She is a descendant of the South American Araucana, also known as Americana. The mutt version in some feed stores is called Easter-Egger because of the beautiful colored eggs. One of the Araucanas laid a HUGE double-yolker the other day... It was in my hand for some of the photographs the Times took. We will find out Sunday which pics made it into the paper.