Eggs - Silver Homestead

eggs in nest straw easter egger hen farm fresh laid rainbow eggs

Will Hens Lay Eggs Without a Rooster?

Yes, hens will lay eggs as soon as they are mature, around 24 weeks of age, and no rooster is needed. Similar to human ovulation, eggs will form regularly whether or not there is a male present. If there is a rooster, the eggs will be fertilized. (The roosters are very good about getting this job done!) She will remain fertile for up to fourteen days after mating but roosters are known for going above and beyond by mating each hen daily. Sometimes five times daily… Hens will lay an egg every 24-30 hours; about one egg per day.

Speckled F1 Olive Eggs seafoam blue green pistachio — Eggs come in a dazzling range of colors. These are olive and seafoam eggs, laid by Olive Egger hens.

How can I tell if an egg is fertilized?

If you look closely at the yolk of the egg, you will see a faint, tiny, lighter colored bulls eye dot on the yolk. This is called the germinal disk and indicates the egg was fertile.

Eggs are Kind of Like a Seed

If an egg is left under a broody hen who sits on them and maintains a temperature greater than 99°F, a chick will hatch in 21 days. However, most hens that lay eggs are not broody and have no intention of hatching chicks. The egg is laid and the hen leaves it in the nest box where it cools to the ambient air temperature. Unfertilized eggs and fertilized eggs that have been cool for too long will never grow into chicks. Their growth has been halted by temperature – a result of the mother hen choosing to leave it – and the egg is only suitable for eating.

Priaire Bluebell chicks blue egg layers — These Prairie Bluebell chicks hatched on our homestead in the Spring of 2020.

Can you eat fertilized eggs?

Yes, absolutely! There is no difference in taste or nutrition, other than the fertilized egg will have an infinitesimally higher amount of protein.

Whiting True Blue, Welsummer and Speckled Olive Egger eggs. Click the image to see more images of how we bred the speckled olive eggers!

What do you feed your chickens?

My hens get excellent nutrition from pasture ranging, eating grass, weeds, wildflowers, clover, grasshoppers, bugs, spiders, tiny weed seeds, dandelion flowers and the wild dewberries that grow naturally around our property. In the morning I feed them 1/4-1/2 cup per bird of Scratch and Peck brand non-GMO feed, which is corn and soy free.

For chickens that are kept penned most of the time, feed 1/4 cup for bantams (miniature chickens) and 1/2 cup for standard sized and dual purpose breed adults.

Whole Foods are Good Foods

I also give my flock whole black oil sunflower seeds (sold in birdseed aisles) as a healthy treat. We use dried meal worms to give our flock a natural source of extra protein for glossy feathers and rich eggs. I give them our kitchen scraps to rummage though, where they find strawberry tops, lettuce bottoms, bell pepper seeds, and watermelon rinds. Our laying hens have Scratch and Peck brand oyster shell available at all times to provide them with extra calcium. A hen’s calcium reserves become depleted when her body creates egg shells each day. She is replenished by the calcium in the grass she eats and is supplemented by eating egg shells and the oyster shell, of which the entire flock only consumes about 2 Tablespoons per day. (That’s about 1/3 of a teaspoon per bird of the oyster shell.)

Whiting True Blue hens free ranging — A trio of Whiting True Blue hens pasture ranging.

Do You Worry About Nutritional Balances when Pasture Ranging?

Yes and no. But mostly no.

Chickens are self-regulating, instinctive eaters. They seem to know exactly what they need, how much of it they need and where to find it naturally. The first chicken nutrition tests were developed by tracking what free range chickens chose to eat. From these ratios, commercial feeds were born. Sadly, commercial feeds can be lacking in some of the essential micro-nutrients chickens need, which are obtained by eating sprouted seeds and insects off the ground, where even the soil clinging to their intended prey adds trace minerals. You’ve already discovered the light yellow eggs from factory chickens fed only pelleted commercial feed are low in the vitamins that the deep gold-orange yolks of grass fed hens contain. When pasture ranged, chickens seem to know exactly what to eat to produce the richest eggs!

Even these young two-month-old chicks instinctively know how to scratch and peck for bugs and seeds in the grass.

How do you get orange yolks?

Historically egg yolks have always been orange and they come from chickens that are eating grass and greens! The easiest way to achieve this is to let them pasture (fenced) range or free range. Even a couple hours of free ranging will still produce darker yolks, as will giving your chickens fresh-clipped greens and weeds from the garden. Kale, spinach, broccoli and zucchini will boost the orange yolk color the fastest, thanks to the xanthophylls they contain. This is a great option for those keeping chickens in smaller areas with less grass and bugs or you can grow these veggies specifically for feeding your flock.

How do you get different colored eggs?

Bowl of blue, green, white, cream, brown easter egger welsummer golden lace wyandotte eggs — I love a colorful egg basket! Click the picture to see what breed laid each egg.

A hen will only lay one color egg all her life. Shells can be white, cream, khaki, every shade of brown, terracotta, cinnamon, chocolate, blue, aqua, green, spearmint, olive and even speckled.

Click the image to see which breeds laid each color egg.

Where Can I Buy Pasture Raised Eggs Locally?

Farmer’s Markets are a great place to go to find delicious pasture ranged eggs with those golden orange yolks! Using LocalHarvest.org can help you locate nearby farms. This article can help you find local egg sellers quickly during an emergency shortage.