I love deep yolk color too. Finally cracked my first 8 pullet eggs from Opal and Alice:

Never risk mold, worst case use human leftovers or crumbs to keep them until you get more feed. You can get serious respiratory reactions to mold.

Wow, those are huge eggs, and the shells look perfect!

Many of us have pullets at point of lay and some who are beginning to give us eggs. I have one, and a second seriously acting like she wants to make breakfast for us. Do you have some pullet eggs from 2011? This photo has 3 on the left and a normal Australorp egg on the right. Australorps tend to pr...

Do you think she might pick at some fresh cukes? We use them here on hot days to dramatically reduce body temp...

Gloves. You need one pair of decent lined leather gloves for winter. They will last many years. And you need one good pair of wellies.

Cash cash cash whenever possible, you feel it spilling away. If you can dump that second vehicle do it, nothing takes cash like a car (except some teenagers). When budgeting, no matter how little one has, put 10% net earnings in cash in an envelope for end of month emergencies. I can't remember how ...

Last year parts of the UK had a true north american winter- remember that electric heaating tape on water pipes is far cheaper than having to call the plumber or replace pipes yourself.

And can you get electric pet bowls there now? great for all pets and for chickens

Side dish to last a couple a week: Clean, chop and boil a cauliflower and a broccoli. Drain well and mix with one tin of cream of mushroom soup and up to 2C of shredded cheese of any kind, in shallow casserole or in several rondelles. Cook at 350F until the top and edges are bubbly crispy. or For zu...

Take your time in the coop, it's always cosy. Warm eggs= warm hands

...and whenever there is leg trauma, adding Vitamin D3 to the water helps in the healing. One way is to add a few drops of cod liver oil, or buy a small bottle of liquid baby vitamins, the kind without added iron, and put a few drops in the water for a week or so.

Yep, an excellent question.

We have platforms too and ramps that the birds can dive under and run around...just makes it easier to integrate birds and to keep the flock dry. Birds seem to feel safer when they can fly up to look around and have their bottoms shielded from enemies below. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/Ly...

It's the worst we have ever witnessed. One of our neighbours has live-trapped 14 sick animals. I'm beginning to feel lucky we have only four. The barn showed no evidence of them this morning, the water bowls were clean and no droppings. The cats are moving back in, and there is no place for any wild...

There's another twist to the story- we are apparently in a hot spot for raccoon distemper. They are being found sick/dying throughout the county and to the east and west of that. People are being cautioned to discourge them or to avoid contact as they may have either feline or canine distemper and c...