Wind!

Got a little beat up last night by the wind. The first big gust pushed the rabbit hutch on it's back at some point during the day. At about 9:30 pm, another gust flipped it completely upside down and tore the metal roof off!

After that, we secured the roof and lashed the hutch to the deck posts. Bit of a wild ride for the rabbits but they are doing just fine.  :)

Real Free Range versus "cage free" Prison Eggs

Many times the eggs you buy in the store have been in the packaging and transit line for upwards of a month. this results in a loss of quality and nutrition. Its easy to see when compared to truly fresh eggs. Fresh eggs still have a deep color to their yolks and really maintain their shape.

There are five eggs in this picture that are truly free range, and then five pale "cage free" eggs (prison eggs).
The five store-bought eggs came from this package:

There is no legal definition of "free range" that an egg producer needs to adhere to in order to brand their eggs as such. In fact, many produces call their eggs "cage free" to imply that the eggs are from chickens that are roaming around, pecking and enjoying the sunshine.

Unfortunately, that could not be farther from the truth. Here is are typical "cage free" egg operations:

The bottom line is that if you really want TRUE cage-free, free range eggs, the you can't trust the labeling and need to see for yourself where eggs come from.

Chicken Run!

Nick, taking the ladies on some early-morning calisthenics after being "cooped up" all night...  :D

First Egg!

We got our first two eggs this weekend, it should not be long now before we are back in the home-grown egg business!  

The Black Australorps have been a fun breed so far, they are a lot more affectionate than our previous hens (Ameraucanas). We are looking forward to seeing how they produce over the next couple of years!

Evening Beak Count

Just to make sure all the ladies are accounted for...