Small Producers = Egg Variability

This year we have adjusted our egg prices a few times and so let's learn about why that is.

We have young hens (called pullets) starting out their laying careers so you'll be seeing pullet eggs at the farmers market booths soon. We sell these small, first eggs for $8.00 per dozen, $5.00 per half dozen. They should remain available for about one month.

When a hen begins laying eggs, the eggs are small. After her body gets used to the job over the first month, the eggs are reliably full-size.

The smaller white egg in the front left is normal, Grade A Large egg.

The two very large ones (white and light blue in the back row) might be graded as Jumbo or Extra-Large. They do not fit well in our egg cartons: If they are too tall or too wide the carton can't close or there is not enough clearance to protect them in normal handling.

The bright blue egg might be a medium, and the two brown eggs are definitely small, pullet eggs. Pullet eggs might have a double yolk or no yolk at all.

The young flock is fun to observe: the hens are figuring out what an egg box is and they often don't quite make it there in time, dropping them around the enclosure so it kind of looks like a messy Easter egg hunt. In case you're wondering, we give those eggs to the pigs to eat.

The roosters are also feeling the first flush of hormones, posturing and parading around and crowing much more frequently than in an older flock. When I stopped in to take a few photos, they stayed right in front of me trying to protect their hens. Other hens have escaped the enclosure and wander around the fence looking for a way back in. Our team will help them get in later in the day.

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  Escapees looking for the way back.

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  White rooster coming for closer look.

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  Keeping his eye on the visitor.

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  Crowing and parading around his hens.

Chicken breeds tend to lay certain sized eggs, but there is always variety of sizes in any flock. The eggs one can buy in stores have been sorted to provide homogeneity.

Since we are a small producer, you may sometimes see slightly more of a variety of sizes in our cartons than those from giant producers. Of course there is also the wonderful variety of colors from our mixed-breed flocks. The bigger producers have more product to select from and can therefore make more homogenous dozens. We sort out for jumbo sales and also keep the odd-sized ones to eat for ourselves.

It is also true that in those larger, conventional flocks, hens have much less time outdoors and less space to live in. Our hens always live outside, with access to fresh pasture (seasonally) and full sunlight.

Another reason we keep a mix of chicken breeds is because it makes for more robust health in the flock. If they were all one breed, a disease would have a much easier time spreading.