A Tale of Blue Eggs

Funny story. My farm girl daughter, Kathi, keeps me apprised on how her chicken brood is doing; I’m perhaps more informed about the chicks that I am about my grandkids. Recently she sent an email showing the huge egg that one of the feathered girls had lain. In comparison to the standard 2-inch eggs this whopping 3-inch beauty was a monster.

photo above and below...The largest egg yet, a whopping 3 inches. Turns out it was also a double yoker.

Some of you may recall that a few months ago I mentioned Kathi had purchased a baker’s dozen (13) of baby chicks  . Of those 13 chicks they thought 3 were roosters. A few months later she purchased a few more baby chicks to bring the number of her flock up to either 16 or 17 (and that’s another story for another time).


As it turns out my animal loving daughter went to the local farm supply store to purchase supplies for the horses. Our grandson, who is at ease talking with people, started a conversation with the lady running the store. He told her about their horses, the dogs, the cats, and the hamsters. Patiently the lady listened and occasionally asked a question or made a comment.  Never being at a loss for words, our verbose grandson then proceeds to tell her that they have a flock of chickens.  Well it so happened that the farm store had a couple of rescue animals in their midst, one of which was a rooster.  Casually she inquired if they would like a nice little rooster for their flock of hens.  Her query was met with a smile as he replied; "No we've got 3 roosters".  Then our grandson went on about their chickens and, eager to impress, told her about the huge egg and how the other eggs were so colorful, from a soft light red-brown to green and a pretty blue.

At this the lady’s attention perked up. “Blue eggs?” She questioned. Grandson nodded. She questioned him some more asking the color and description of the different chickens. He proudly describes them. When she asked; “How do you know that you have 3 roosters?” He confidently started describing the color of the males and how they had this muff or beard of feathers that stuck out from under their beaks.

Hearing this the lady smiled and replied; “Honey, those aren’t roosters. They’re Ameraucana chickens and Ameraucana’s lay pretty blue eggs.”

I have a feeling that the 3 Ameraucana hens were probably relieved that the truth of their femininity was out at last . Wonder if the kids are going to rename them now but then I suppose Sam isn’t such a bad name for a gal.

Postscript…Kathi left the Farm Supply store with 2 rescued animals: a Lop Eared bunny and a real, true rooster. Just what she needed, more animals for her mini farm.

KATHI AND THE EGG - or - The Egg and I

photo above ... A pretty shade of pale teal and all natural.

From fashionista to farm girl, who would've guessed ?  Kathi, my older daughter, was always the city girl, she liked the bright lights, the hectic pace, the places to go, things to do and above all she liked the shopping. As she grew from a teen, who turned my hair prematurely gray, to an adult I envisioned her moving off to the lights of a big city such as LA or Miami but to my surprise she settled in Bradenton, Florida.  Now after residing here for several years she has transformed into a true country lass.


Back in July of 2010 she brought home 13 little baby chicks  (more on that here) .  Naturally that meant a special cage to keep them safe and of course a heat lamp to keep them warm, their little chick fuzz isn't that great at protecting them against a draft or a chill. 

photo above...baby pictures of the "girls" when they were just chicks.

Next, as they out grew their nesting cage, came a true hen house or chicken coupe.  Now, after 6 months, Kathi is starting to get a daily supply of fresh eggs from her "girls".   A chicken expert told her that the first eggs would be small and just about any color, he was correct as the first batch of eggs were hardly bigger than the top digit of one's thumb and have come in lovely shades of blue, green and brown.  The eggs are getting bigger and for now are still fairly colorful.  With these eggs one would hardly need any Easter egg dye. 

Stay tuned as in the near future I hope to blog about their horses (they now have 2,  Scooby and Havoc) and a new enterprise... to start up a local chapter of the 4 H Club, complete with cattle and 20 coconut palms, but that's another story.