Eggs a Plenty

Have I ever mentioned our chicken co-op? I'm sure I have. Perhaps on my Ypsiville blog.

Last year we bought a load of meat birds with two other families. They were raised on a friend's farm in Belleville; we split costs of feed, building supplies, etc. We ended up with about 16 ginormous birds, that weighed in around 10-12 pounds a piece. Due to a death in the family, G had to stop killing/processing chickens after work and fly home for a week. And there were other things that were happening at the time too. So what happened is the birds were offed too late, and as a result were freaking huge.

At the end of fall we ordered 25 laying hens as chicks. Time-wise they were due to start laying in February. I doubted they would though, because of it still being winter, darker longer, etc. But those birds started laying! And they're all producing just fine! Sweet little eggs, some are already laying bigger ones. So imagine, 25 eggs A DAY! So far, our cut has been 4 dozen a week.
Our daughter is fairly grossed out when we open an egg carton and there's a dozen eggs covered in chicken shit, mud and a feather or two. I'm glad she can see them though. We've all noticed how much thicker the shells are, and how orange the yolks and how strong the whites are.

I've been bartering eggs for child care.

We've been eating fritatas every morning, with all kinds of crazy ingredients thrown in. The best being gorgonzola and portabella mushrooms.

Our Fair City doesn't allow poultry.

How I would love to have 3-4 chickens living in my back yard! We totally have the room for them. Ah, well.
We're still very fortunate to have our little chicken co-op, even if we have to drive to Belleville to pick them up.