News from the Peeps - Week 18 - Laying!

The girls enjoy some free ranging time in the yard

G'day Third Graders!

Guess who's laying eggs?? Yes, your little chickies are all grown up and some of us have officially graduated to "HEN" status! Check it out ...

One of these eggs is not like the other ones ...

The white eggs are from us!! Aren't they beautiful?! The brown egg (from the other hens) is here for size comparison ... it is a "large" egg. The smaller white eggs (about 1.5 inches long) are what we call "pullet eggs," the first eggs that a pullet starts to lay (and thus she become a "hen") Within a day or two however, the eggs we lay are larger (the bigger white egg) and within a week or two will be close to the size of the brown egg!

Can you guess which one of us might have laid the egg? Yep, Henrietta on the left there ... her bright red comb and wattle are good indicators that she is ready to lay eggs. The girl on the left might have a week or two yet to go. Even though we were all hatched the same week, we develop individually as you can see. Maybe Henrietta got to the food quicker than the other one?!

The girls check out the "compost corral"

We've had a few opportunities to free range in the yard in the past couple of weeks. One of our favorite places to scratch around is the "compost corral" ... a big pile of compost and mulch (surrounded by straw bales so we don't make such a mess of it) and buried treasure!! Buried treasure you ask? You bet! There's all kinds of goodies in here, like food scraps, bugs, big fat worms, insect larvae, grass clippings ... it's a chicken buffet!! And when we get the compost all pooped in, scratched around and broken down ... it will make some great, nourishing topsoil for the garden!

Chicken "salad bar"

After some time in the compost pile, we then browse the chicken salad bar for our leafy greens and seeds, and more bugs! This is the life a chicken is supposed to have! It is sad to think of the millions of chickens who live in sheds and cages, with no sunlight, no compost, no dust bath, and no salad bar :(

Egg-u-cation: Because we get to live the life that a chicken is supposed to live, our eggs are much healthier than most of the eggs you'll buy in the store — higher in protein, lower in fat and cholesterol, and higher in vital micro-nutrients like Omega 3's. Eggs are the most easily digestible, and one of the healthiest, forms of protein you can eat! And you can do so much with them: scrambled, fried, poached, boiled, souffle, quiche, baked, egg salad, devilled eggs, meringue, french toast, milkshakes, mayonnaise ... and so much more. Y.U.M.!

Thanks for doing such a great job at studying embryology, incubating us and hatching us! It was so fun to visit with you as we grew. I hope you have enjoyed our adventure together!

Cluck, cluck from your peeps!!