Speaking of eggs, a Nankin hatched 10 (ten!) yesterday

New mama Nankin keeping her ten chicks warm. If you look closely, 

you can see the legs and feet of some of the chicks under the hen.

Well, it's happened again: A Nankin bantam hen came marching out of some bushes near the house this morning with ten tiny chicks. We're not really surprised. In the three years we've had Nankins here, usually two or three batches of chicks show up this way. The hens just like to lay their eggs outdoors sometimes, although most of them regularly lay their eggs in the nest boxes. 

As far as I can remember, this is the largest single brood I've seen a Nankin hatch. The Nankins are a very interesting breed, and according to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, they are critically endangered. (We are actually part of a small group of U.S. Nankin breeders. In 2010, the Oregon Zoo in Portland, OR bought some Nankins from us for their wonderful Family Farm.)  Nankins are one of only a handful of chickens that are "true bantams;" unlike most bantams, the Nankin is not a miniature version of a large breed. 

One of the main reasons we were interested in Nankins is their reputation for being extremely broody. Historically, Nankins were used by gamekeepers on large estates to hatch the eggs of game birds such as quail and pheasant. Two years ago, one of our relatively tiny (and quite determined) Nankin hens even incubated and hatched four Midget White turkey eggs.

Nankins are small birds; adults are usually between 16 and 24 ounces. They're about the size of a smallish pigeon. Their eggs are naturally on the petite side, but quite delicious. One of my sisters actually prefers the banty eggs because she's not terribly fond of egg white, and the Nankin eggs have proportionately more yolk than regular chicken eggs. We don't normally sell our banty eggs, and sometimes we use them to make deviled eggs; they're yummy, bite-sized, and terribly cute.

Anyway, here we go again. I wouldn't be surprised if another Nankin hen shows up with chicks soon. We have quite a few of them, and we don't do head counts when we tuck them in for the night. You might wonder what we do with them, if we don't sell the eggs. Well, frankly we just love them. They're adorable, the roosters hardly ever fight with each other, and there's that broody thing. 

We got our first Nankins round about the time we started selling our eggs, so the big picture of our farm life was still evolving. Still is, for that matter. And now the big picture has ten more chicks in it.

Cracking the code of egg carton labels, Part 2

This time I just want to talk about one egg carton label and what it means: "Vegetarian Diet." According to the Humane Society, "vegetarian diet," in the egg industry, means "These birds' feed does not contain animal byproducts, but this label does not have significant relevance to the animals' living conditions."

OK, let's set aside for the moment the reference to living conditions (which is vague in the extreme). What strikes me about "vegetarian diet" is that the marketers are counting on the average consumer to be unaware that chickens are actually omnivorous. We see our birds foraging all day long, eating all manner of worms, bugs, and grubs; they go fairly nuts during the summer when, for about a week, the carpenter ants are flying. It's quite entertaining to watch the birds run around, leaping into the air to snatch the large and apparently delectable ants.

We've even seen the chickens catch small frogs, lizards, mice, and (believe it or not) snakes. The first time I saw a hen with a snake I wouldn't have believed it. From across the yard, the hen was racing around, with 10 or so hens in hot pursuit. I could see the lead hen had something hanging from her beak but I couldn't see what it was, so I went to see what was going on. She had a garter snake, and about 16" of the snake was visible. With an impressive finishing kick, the hen got far enough ahead of the other birds and stopped abruptly. Tilting her head back in a whiplash-like motion, she swallowed the snake in one go. I swear I'm not making this up. I remember thinking, I wonder if the snake was dead when the hen swallowed it?

Anyway, the point is, if a laying hen is eating a "vegetarian diet," by definition she is not foraging any of her food. True, I think it's great if the hens' feed doesn't contain any animal byproducts; I just happen to also believe that hens are happier, healthier, and lay better-tasting and healthier eggs when they have access to the naturally-balanced range of foods they thrive on.

I was planning two posts regarding egg carton labels, but I will be doing at least one more, as I have been getting a lot of questions about this lately. Please post your comments and questions too; the label definitions and parameters periodically change, and I'll do what I can to help clarify them.

Article about the White Midget turkey coming soon

Not to harp on turkeys, but the upcoming issue of Backyard Poultry will feature an article about the White Midget turkey. It was written by my friend Jeannette Beranger from the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (www.albc-usa.org), and includes photos she took of turkeys on our farm.

I've seen the advance copy, and it is terrific! In addition to information about the breed, it also includes an interesting anecdote about a culinary school's experiments with cooking and baking with turkey eggs. In general there isn't a great market for the delicious turkey eggs, mainly because turkeys do not lay all year like most chickens and ducks. In fact, most heritage turkeys have a laying/breeding season of only about 4 months (March through June). Guess why turkeys have traditionally been a holiday-season food? Because they are hatching in the spring and maturing about 6 months later, well into the fall.

Our Midget Whites seem to have a longer-than-average laying season, though. Some hens lay for 8 months or more! The year before last, one of the hens hatched a brood of babies on New Year's day; that was certainly a surprise.

This year we may keep more than four breeding hens, as we did last year. We're thinking about trying to market turkey eggs as a seasonal specialty; they are quite delicious! And like duck eggs, they are wonderful for baking. But you can read more about that in Jeannette's article in Backyard Poultry. If you're not a subscriber, you can read the article (after that issue is released) on the BYP web site, www.backyardpoultrymag.com.

Young Khaki Campbell ducks have started laying!

Well, surprise, surprise! Our young Khaki Campbell ducks are already starting to lay eggs, at about 4-1/2 months of age. We were more or less expecting this to happen sometime in October, so we're quite pleased. The eggs so far have been small (usual when they first start to lay), but they will be up to full size before too long.

The Alder Wood Bistro, the wonderful Sequim restaurant that has been buying our eggs for more than 2 years, loves our duck eggs. Their baker uses them in desserts such as the Chocolate Bliss (a flourless brownie), and in the house quiche. The word is that duck eggs are "richer and creamier" than chicken eggs, and the higher viscosity of the egg whites makes them ideal for use in recipes that call for beating the whites separately.

We made the decision this year to increase the size of our duck laying flock. This was partly due to the increasing business at the Bistro, and also partly due to the word getting out that there is a source for locally-produced organic duck eggs. The Khaki Campbell is quite the egg-laying machine, averaging up to 340 eggs per year! They're beautiful birds, too.

In our experience, ducks are somewhat easier to manage than other poultry we've had, and they're definitely smart birds. Like the chickens and turkeys, the ducks have their own unique, endearing (and sometimes infuriating) mannerisms. For example, they have this way of looking up at you sideways; for some reason it always reminds me of Princess Diana, although the way the ducks do it never fails to make me laugh. It's especially cute when the little ducklings do this, but just as engaging when 7 or 8 adults are looking at you that way all at the same time.

It's terrific that the young 'uns are starting to lay. It's a sign that I need to start planning now for the spring breeding season. I have a feeling it's going to be a busy one!