Parsons' Prairie Farm

It has been really exciting around the farm this week because our hens are laying their first eggs.  From our 5 hens, we got 14 eggs last week!  Unfortunately 6 of the eggs we ended up throwing out as we weren’t sure how long they had been sitting around before we found them.  But now that we are in an egg gathering routine (and have hopefully found all their hiding places) we will not waste any of our eggs.  So this morning I had 8 of my hen’s eggs that I was ready to scramble.

But, all of the sudden it occured to me that I had never had an egg like this before.  In all of my 50+ years, as far as I know, I have always had eggs bought at the grocery store.  Now I know this isn’t a good thing.  I have heard all about how bad store bought eggs can be and the deplorable conditions that laying hens are subject to, just so I can go to the grocery store and purchase eggs.  That is one of the reasons I moved to the farm, purchased my chicks and have read book after book on how to raise them so that I will know what I am eating.  But when it came time to actually use my first farm raised hen’s egg, I will admit it felt a little strange.  I don’t know what I was afraid I would see when I cracked open that first egg, but this is what I got……..

Beautiful looking eggs!  So I whipped them up, added some milk like my family likes and prepared them for the stove.

I scrambled them  up……….

and put them on a plate.

They were delicious and I can now say with confidence, I am no longer afraid of the egg!  I am proud that we are raising our hens humanely (they are actually quite spoiled I think).  They have room to grow, a safe place to nest, and have healthy food and plenty of fresh water at all times.   And now, they are producing delicious and healthy eggs!