Verrue Ranch

I love my blue and green egg-laying queens

We’re adding two sweet little guinea keets to our horde of chickens! These guys will be loud...but will also be hilarious-looking free spirits! Jeffrey has wanted them for a LONG time after seeing our neighbor’s guineas hang out on our roof #TickEaters #SnakeWranglers

Look at this little girl’s boots!! (Term for having feathered feet). Nolan said I can see her closing her eyes

It’s like playing hide-and-seek over here

How I know spring is coming!

You’ll never find friendlier girls than the ones we have here! We keep them spoiled and happy that’s mainly for my benefit though, because I love to pick them up and cart them around

Finally getting enough eggs to actually use them for breakfast

Every hen puts a protective coating, bloom, on the egg when she’s lays it. This allows the egg to be left unrefrigerated on the counter (as long as they remain unwashed) since now the egg is protected from outside bacteria getting in. Sometimes this bloom is thick, and changes the apparent color of the egg! Which is why this green egg looks gray. So beautiful! #NoFilterNeeded

We’re beginning to save eggs for our local Peddler’s Fair next Saturday! Nolan will be selling eggs by the half-dozen

And finally our second baby laid her first egg today! (Second from the left). She’s an Ice Cream Bar breed of chicken named Rose (after Rose Tico from The Last Jedi)

We’ve got a new little layer! Our Sage Egger’s (dubbed Lando by Nolan) eggs will take a few weeks to get as large as the big girls’ eggs. Nature’s beautiful bounty!

When you have 5 nesting boxes, and all of the the girls insist on taking turns using one box!

I should really start charging for these dirt bath spa treatments! The girls are loving the freshly tilled soil since I pulled out the old corn plants from the garden!

This old lady is the ugliest molter you’ve ever seen About once a year, chickens lose some of their feathers and get new ones. Finn here has decided with all the heat she may as well shed them all

We’ve had a really tough week here at the homestead. This past Tuesday, one of my most beloved spunky girls, Yoda, passed away of unknown causes (suspected respiratory illness). Later that day, another girl, Mace Windu, became sick. I’ve been tediously nursing her back to health in our laundry room since Tuesday...and tonight, she finally ate food (watermelon) for the first time on her own. RIP Yoda! I will miss seeing you run to sneak into the house to eat dog food and hide eggs, and jumping into the car to look for dropped snacks!

This is why it’s really really hard to find the duck’s nest when they decide to go broody and hide a hoard of eggs. Master hiders!! Good thing I’m persistent with finding hidden nests

Teaching them young to help with the chores! And one of the hens even let Charlotte pick her up. The hen took it pretty well.

We’ve got quite the rainbow of colors here...only a few slackers not contributing ;)

This girl still has the strong I need to be a mama and hatch eggs hormones rolling through her body, so my neighbor gave me two *fertilized* Welsummer chicken eggs for her to hatch!! These babies should (very hopefully) hatch on Thursday!

Ah, time for a nice relaxing lunch outside. beggars!! Worse than the dogs!

Hey friends! I have some eggs that need to make their way off my counter! Let me know if you’d like a dozen or two! $4/Doz, will deliver if you’re not too far from 180, 41, or 168. PS: we’ve decided to nickname this big chicky Bertha. She’s an English Chocolate Orpington and is so unbelievably fluffy and friendly!

My boys are the chicken whisperers, let me tell you!!

Lots of presents after being out of town for two days. Also, I love that my girls have curtains to each nesting box. For privacy

Ever heard a hen growl?? With the teasing of warmer weather off and on, it’s tricked my poor Marans hen, Leia, to go broody! During this time, they become zombies ...barely eating or drinking, staring off into space for hours on end all while fiercely protecting a nest of (unfertilized in this case) eggs that Mother Nature, springtime, and hen hormones have convinced her she HAS to keep warm and hatch! (she had five eggs hoarded under her! )

They’re the only ones who volunteer to help me with chores

I have a beautiful 4 doz. available! (Yes, all differently colored eggs taste the same and have the same nutritional content. The breed of chicken determines the different colors) $4 per dozen, and we deliver if I’m in your neck of the woods! This week I’ll be in North Fresno, Sanger, and anywhere near highways 180 and 41. Let me know if you’d like to try them!

Not everyone can have an entourage like me

Charlotte loves hanging out with the girls and giving them snacks. But man is she a tough boss! Here she is giving the ladies a stern talking to about their current egg production

Anyone else hungry? The chickens love my cooking.

Minus the haze in the background, it’s been beautiful weather this week!

Nolan doing his chicken chores after we came home from being out of town M-W this week. He has his own eggpron (egg apron) that Grandma made him, but they decided to use mine instead. (And yes, the girls have their own curtains to their nesting boxes ) #Teamwork #BeautifulEggs

Cold mornings means nice warm oatmeal!

Hello friends! We currently have 3 dozen eggs, if you'd like a dozen let me know! $4 for these beauties!

Nolan has been watching Clone Wars the animated series, so these names came to his mind pretty easily. These pretty girls will be laying blue and green colored eggs in about 5 months time. Just in time for Spring!

Now tell me you've seen an egg like that in stores! Laid by our Olive Egger, Palpatine. She's a breed that is a mix of a Marans (chocolate brown egg layer) and an Ameraucana (blue egg layer).

Never gets old! #NoFilter