Feathered Friend Friday: How We Use Our Eggs

Over the past couple weeks, we've received some comments asking what we do with our eggs. Several readers have wondered if we eat our green eggs, or the smaller eggs that our new pullets lay. To answer these questions, I thought I'd dedicate today's FFF to the different types of eggs we collect here on the homestead and how we use those eggs.

1) "Fart" Eggs - These adorable little eggs are known by many names - fart eggs, wind eggs, dwarf eggs, luck eggs and even oops eggs. They are tiny eggs containing only white and no yolk. A young or older chicken can produce this type of egg (the white fart egg pictured here was actually from a three year old hen). Occasionally there are small glitches with a chicken's reproductive system, but typically it isn't anything to worry about unless you are seeing these eggs on a regular basis. Years ago, some people believed these eggs were laid by roosters since they do not contain any yolk and they called them "cock" eggs. But now we know that is not the case!

With these eggs, we usually just let them dry out and keep them around for displaying because they are so cute. You can actually just leave them on the counter and they will dry out in a couple weeks. 

2) Pullet Eggs - A pullet is a female chicken less than one year of age (hens are female chickens over one year old). Pullets usually begin laying when they are about five or six months old, and their first eggs are much smaller than eggs laid by a hen. The older the girls get, the bigger their eggs become.

These eggs tend to contain a higher yolk to white ratio than older hens' eggs, so they are great for baking. When using pullet eggs, we just double the egg count called for in recipes and it works wonderfully.

3) Guinea Eggs - These eggs are laid by our guinea hens, and they are shaped differently from chicken eggs. They tend to be sort of triangular, with the top of the egg much more broad than the pointy end. Guinea eggs also have incredibly hard shells! You have to give them several good whacks on the counter before they will crack. Since our guineas free range, their diet primarily consists of grass and bugs. This causes them to produce yolks with a deep orange color and a rich, buttery taste. The only downside to guinea eggs is that they are hard to find since the guineas lay wherever they want!

Guinea eggs are my favorite out of all our eggs, so they are prized possessions around here. I mainly like to use them for baking since they have large yolks (like pullet eggs, I just double the count in recipes when using guinea eggs). The yolks are incredibly delicious, so the eggs are also perfect scrambled or sunny side up. My guinea toast recipe is one of our favorites.

4) Chicken Eggs - These are the eggs laid by our older hens, and what nearly everyone pictures when they think of eggs. Of course white or brown eggs are the most common colors you will see at the store, but we have some hens who lay many different shades of brown, and one hen who lays gorgeous green eggs. And yes, we eat the green eggs! Contrary to popular belief, the color of the egg has no impact on the flavor or nutritional quality of the egg. The main thing that makes an egg taste different and be more nutritious is the diet of the bird who laid the egg. More grass and bugs in the diet = a better tasting and more nutritious egg.

Everyone enjoys eggs around here!

Eventually we'd like to have some ducks, geese, and quail to add even more beauty to our egg collection. I am just so fascinated by eggs and love all the different varieties.

Have you ever eaten any "non-traditional" eggs?

~Tammy

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