3:00 snapshot #1155

[urbpan]

The buff orpington started laying eggs last week! This is the fifth or sixth egg. We're pretty sure it's her because all the eggs have been brown. The other two are "Easter eggers," a mixed breed that's supposed to produce blue or green eggs. The puppy would like to eat that egg (it's still warm).

I made the first five eggs over-easy and had them with Alex and Alexis. They were delicious. The still-runny yolks were the color of tangerines. Some feed companies add beta-carotene to the mix to get more orange yolks ("consumers prefer them for some reason" the feed company execs expressed cluelessly, missing the point that more orange yolks suggest fresher eggs).

It's weird for the hens to start producing eggs now--the first three were discovered on the winter solstice--as I understood it the hens' cycles were affected by light. Then again, they're also supposed to be just coming of laying age now. Light might regulate the ovulation but I guess it won't stop it completely!