Egg production has been moving along smooth as anything. The girls are great, easy going, seem to be having a good time, and they’re pumping out 23-25 eggs a day. Besides giving them out to everyone around here, there’s been enough to take to market every other week as a CSA bonus, usually, half a dozen per share. Bob unearthed an old egg scale from somewhere in the barn, and I’ve been playing with it lately (for actual distribution, there’s no sizing, everyone gets a mix). Egg size has definitely increased. Where they were mainly medium with a few small at the start, they’re now maybe half medium, half large. The scale is the kind of old school tech that I love, with everything simple, open, obvious, and FIXABLE. It may be a little hard to read in the pic: there’s a little pointer, with a fleck of red paint on it, at the bottom of the open triangle of the indicator—this egg’s Large, just on the border of XL…
Hey Mike, I asked Lynn to pass a thank you on to you for us (From Shelter Valley Folk Fest) but thought I should write to you too. We gobbled up the beans, onions and potatoes right away. Our hungry volunteers munched happily!
Thanks for being part of our Festival Experience :) maybe see you there next year?
Had to unlurk to say I LOVE that egg scale. Don’t even eat eggs, vegan but it has such a lovely look to it.
Great blog, nice looking business. We might eventually try to emulate you, until then the pleasure is all vicarious.
Good luck.
I too love the egg scale – now I wonder if I’ll find something like that here in France, time for a trip out to the car boot sales :-D
nice to meet you the other weekend mike!
just watched this cool little 5min vid and thought i’d pass it on:
http://www.californiaheartland.org/this_season/episode_908/path_to_freedom.htm
That is one awesome little tool. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for one when I’m trolling the auctions!
Love that tool! Our ex-battery hens produce large or extra large eggs – my mother scoffs at her shop bought free range eggs if mine haven’t ‘produced the goods’ in time for her. Maureen, our star layer, is a slip of a thing but produces whoppers. Needless to say she eats like an elephant…
Fantastic scale! What character – I bet your farmers market sales would be through the roof if you had that puppy on display. Although I suspect they already are anyway… fresh eggs are delicious.
My neighbor has 12 free-range hens in her “Backyard Farm” right in central Victoria and nothing beats hearing her call my name from her door: “Andrea, I’ve got a dozen eggs here for you!” Heaven.
Love that egg scale! It didn’t take me long to find one just like it on the internet either! http://www.rubylane.com/shops/timestreasures/item/2008-00218
Keep up the great work and stories!!
I will be putting one of these scales on my site for sale, if anyone would like to have one for their own. Outstanding blog.