400 eggs… somebody asked me the other day how many eggs I thought we’d gotten from our five hens since they started laying around the first of February so I sat down and penciled it out. In the beginning, we’d mark on the calendar how many eggs we’d get each day so we’d have a feeling of how many hens were laying – three eggs some days, four eggs on the others. That lasted until we started having three or four consecutive days of five eggs. Now, the five hens have been laying an egg each for several weeks. So, at an average of four eggs a day since the first of February – just shy of 100 days – it comes up to 400 eggs.

Two dozen fresh eggs from the last few days

What do you do with 400 eggs? Well, not all of those eggs have made it to the house. There were a few days of training for the “egg collection crew” – luckily the learning curve was quick once they realized eggs really are fragile. We also lost a few to one of the hens that’s an egg eater – not all the time, but often enough that she keeps you collecting the eggs on time every morning. I tell the kiddos if I figure out which hen is eating eggs we’ll be having chicken soup for supper… they just laugh, they think I can’t tell the hens apart.

There’s an egg eater in the group… I think she looks suspicious

As for the eggs that make it in the house, you’d be surprised how many eggs you use when you have them – eggs for breakfast, eggs in muffins, egg bath for chicken breasts before rolling them in bread crumbs – it all adds up. (Giving away a dozen here or there also helps.)

The five hens… waiting for scraps.