Dog Days of Summer Came Early

I don't know why they call it the dog days of summer.  The dogs refuse to stay outside for longer than it takes to do their business and the poor Pyr is muddying his stock tank with frequent dips to cool off.   We've been pulling ticks off them for weeks already. Even the chicks in their brooder barn seem tired of the heat.  The heat lamps are now officially off.  Lightning bugs appeared for the first time last night yet according to the calendar there are three more weeks of Spring.

Still, it is Hot, Hot, Hot...and Humid!   The peppers and tomato plants are loving it and so is the basil.   Yesterday I picked the very first Pinot Noir bell pepper.  It is a new variety we are testing for flavor.  This first pepper is on the small side but it smells sweet.  It should look very pretty in a Seven Layer Mexican Bean Dip salad!    

Basil is a few weeks away from the first harvest for Pesto but I can't wait for that very first taste of (Italian) summer!   Hopefully tomatoes will be ready for the Fourth of July and a big ole Caprese Salad, not to mention the classic BLT!   So hard to be patient when it FEELS like summer.

EGGS, EGGS, EGGS!

With spring finally upon us, the hens have gone into all out egg production.   So now is the time we begin looking for great egg recipes.    This is one of our favorites!  Not quite a quiche, but not quite a dough…The Impossible Ham-and-Cheese Pie.    It comes from Cook’s Country, 2013 Season.   You can substitute any cheese or meat, add mushrooms, spinach and other veggies, but the original is still THE BEST!

Set rack on lowest level and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp  unsalted butter, softened

2 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted

3 Tbsps finely grated, REAL Parmesan cheese (the canned stuff won’t work)

4 oz. chopped or finely cubed cooked ham (deli or pre-packaged works too)

4 scallions minced

½ c (2.5 oz.) all-purpose flour

¾ tsp fresh baking powder

½ tsp fresh grated pepper (or to taste)

¼ tsp salt

1 cup half and half

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp fresh ground nutmeg (or to taste)

Use softened butter to grease a 9 inch pie plate.  Coat evenly with the grated Parmesan.

Combine Gruyere, ham and scallions in a large bowl until well mixed.   Gently distribute the mixture evenly in the pie plate so as not to disturb the Parmesan coating too much.   Using the same now empty bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, pepper.  In another bowl, gently mix together eggs, half and half, melted butter, mustard and nutmeg.   Add to the flour mixture, whisking until smooth.   Slowly pour the batter over the cheese and ham mixture in the pie plate.

Bake until pie is light golden brown and the filling is set, 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.  It will deflate slightly.  Slice into wedges and serve warm.   

This pie is crustless.  The support is provided by the crisp baked Parmesan on the sides and bottom.  Delicious!   Off to enjoy my breakfast now :)

In Search of the Illusive Purple Egg Layer.

Our Rainbow of Egg Colors

I love a beautiful basket full of mixed color eggs as much as anyone.  For that very reason we acquired a variety of hen breeds over the years who laid eggs in tints from chalk to chocolate.   Pretty as their eggs were, we eliminated the “chocolate” (Marans) eggs because we found too large of a percentage contained dark bits and pieces in the whites and yolks.  Not very appetizing to find in your breakfast.   Easter Egger and Olive Egger hens produce lovely shades not found elsewhere, but we have yet to see a purple egg.

There is a persistent rumor across the Internet that Langshan hens lay plum or purple colored eggs.   From what I have personally seen, and from comments made by many breeders, that is simply not true.  What is true?  Langshan hens can and do lay a spectrum of brown tints, and some even produce eggs with speckling, though it should be noted individual hens in a variety of breeds do this as well and not the type of spotting seen on quail or other game bird eggs. 

So why and how did this purple egg rumor start?  

It might be easiest to start with a very basic explanation of how eggshells are made.    All egg shells are formed from calcium carbonate which is a whitish substance.   Blue eggs are produced when the chicken carries a gene allowing the production of a pigment called oocyanin, a by-product of bile formation.  This pigment tints the entire shell all the way through.  Brown eggs are the result of a brown pigment, prophyrin derived from haemoglobin in the blood.   As a white shelled egg passes through the oviduct, prophyrin is deposited on the outside of the shell.  Excessive scrubbing of brown eggs can remove the brown coating.  Breaking open a brown egg reveals a white interior.  These are the only three building blocks of egg color in chickens.

A green or olive egg is produced when a blue egg breed carrying the gene for oocyanin is crossed with a brown egg breed carrying the gene for prophyrin production.  In the eggs of their offspring, brown pigment overlays the blue tinted shell, resulting in some shade of green.  When a green egg is opened, the interior is blue.

Egg shells are also porous to allow an air exchange for the developing embryo.  In order to keep bacteria from entering through the pores, the hen also produces a protective coating as she lays.  In a significant number of Langshan hens that protective coating appears as an obvious pinkish “bloom.”

A Langshan egg is centered in the picture below.  I intentionally placed the eggs in a purple bowl for comparison.  This image was taken with Canon T3i set on AV with automatic white balance, outside, on an overcast morning, with lots of light reflected from snow.  It has not been altered.  Note where my greasy finger (from coating the rooster combs with protective ointment in our current cold temps) removed the rosy pinkish "bloom" from the side.

Purple Bowl of Eggs - Langshan Egg in Center

This bloom is where the misconceptions may have begun.   Back in the late 19^th century, A.C. Croad, niece to Major F.T. Croad, the original importer, wrote a book titled “The Langshan Fowl.*”  In its third edition chapter entitled “The Egg, The Chick, and The Adult Fowl,”  Ms. Croad states, with respect to the breed's egg laying, “The Langshan seems to defy all set rules in this respect, and indulges in a charming variety; the tints are varied from the palest salmon to the darkest chestnut brown.  On some there is a bloom like that on freshly-gathered fruit, whilst others are spotted, often literally splashed all over with dark spots, and the same hen will tint her eggs differently one day from what she does on another.  We have noticed that these spotted eggs occur most frequently during the spring months,…”

As in a game of telephone where the original story gets distorted in the telling from one to the next, it is possible that the comparison to fresh fruit became a comparison to a grape or plum, which fruits are both “egg shaped” and display the most obvious bloom.  You can see a photo of Burbank plums demonstrating that bloom here.  In subsequent quotes, the comparison to those fruits may have led to an association with the colors of plums or grapes and so on down the line until it eventually became purple colored eggs.    

The Internet is a wonderful thing and Photoshop© can do amazing things with images, but neither will make a Langshan hen lay a purple egg.  Now there may very well be hens laying lavender tinted eggs out there, and if so, I suspect they are Easter Eggers.  Those hens really do lay a varied assortment, probably because their genetics are so varied.  So please, if you want a veritable rainbow in your egg basket, purchase Easter Eggers, Olive Eggers and any chicken(s) you think are simply beautiful, including Langshan if they suit you.  After all, you will spend a lot of time and money caring for them; but don't drop your hard earned cash on a mythical beast.


* A.C. Croad is credited with being the founder of the breed in Great Britain.  Her book "The Langshan Fowl" Third Edition, published in 1889, is available as a free download from Google books.  In this book she simply refers to the breed as "Langshan."  I suspect the moniker "Croad Langshan" was given later to honor her and her uncle.  The Germans took to developing a different style of Langshan that can be seen on this Feathersite page.  Here in the USA we only have the "Croad" type though we call them simply Langshan as did Ms. Croad.  If you are interested in the Langshan breed it is a very informative read. 

Are Your Chickens Show Quality?

That has to be the most frequently asked question we receive from people seeking Cream Legbar hatching eggs and chicks.   The answer is no.  And we aren’t the only ones...there is not a single breeder in the USA with show quality Cream Legbar no matter how beautiful or close to the DRAFT Standard of Perfection.   How can that be?  Simple, the Cream Legbar has not been recognized by the American Poultry Association (APA) though the Club membership is working diligently toward that goal.

Which brings me to a little pet peeve of mine. 

What is show quality?  Show quality, first and foremost means the poultry can be shown in an APA sanctioned show for points and prizes.  That means it must meet the breed’s Standard as approved by the APA, which can be found in the book “American Standard of Perfection (year)” published by the APA.    One cannot breed show quality poultry without knowing what that looks like.  If one is asking and getting $50 each for that rare color, show quality chick, then one can certainly afford The BOOK.   The Standard describes in detail the attributes of the ideal animal, male and female, for each recognized breed – including all approved color varieties.  And this is important – IF IT AIN’T DESCRIBED IN THE STANDARD, (or on this list) IT AIN’T SHOW QUALITY!!!   That means those rare breeds and fancy colors can’t be shown for prizes and points, ergo, they aren’t show quality.  Period.

Another point to consider is NPIP AI status.  Many Statesrequire entering birds be NPIP AI clean.  If an exhibitor does not have a certified flock, then his or her entries must test negative on site.  Most people who actually show have NPIP AI clean flocks unless their state does not require it because it’s just easier.  If you are in one of the states that do require NPIP Clean status for shows and where testing is easily obtained and affordable, such as Virginia, be suspicious of a “show breeder” who does not.   Active membership in the APA and/or breed clubs is another good sign. 

And that brings me back to the Cream Legbar.  We are working toward birds correct in type and color as per the DRAFT Standard.  Many flocks in the USA are getting close.  Dedicated breeders are also showing their birds in the All Other Varieties (AOV) classes.  Our birds may only be awarded RB and BB; but the point isn’t the win right now, it is to expose the breed to Judges, the Fancy and to obtain their feedback both good and bad.  It is part of the path to recognition.   

So by all means, join the club, memorize the proposed Standard to understand what is desirable and what is not.  Get a picture of the ideal bird fixed in your mind.  Study genetics, ask questions and learn how to get where you want to go.  Our breed will be the better for it.

A word about Greenfire Farms - my opinion only.    Greenfire Farms goes to the trouble and expense of importing new breeds direct from foreign countries.   Often they obtain stock from whomever is willing to meet the stringent USDA requirements for importation.  Their prices reflect that effort and they are entitled to recoup those expenses.  That does not mean the birds will be show quality in their country of origin.  Prices will also drop as the varieties spread.  With respect to the Jill Rees birds, I believe Greenfire's importation is a direct result of contacts made by our Club's Standards and History committees who spent quite a bit of time researching and establishing relationships with British breeders like Jill who were then willing to send their stock "across the Pond."  Thank you to all involved! 

Public Service Announcement -- Brooder Bulbs

Public Service Announcement - change your brooder light bulbs at the beginning of each hatching season. Even if you test each light before use as we did, you just never know when its going to go.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we hatched 37 chicks, White Dorkings and Cream Legbars, then moved them into the brooder on Thursday. Everyone was fine yesterday morning but when I returned home from work, the light bulb had burned out. I lost 30 chicks. Four survivors were just hanging on and three were still full of life. By morning the four were gone and one more was borderline gone. I scooped the last three up and put them back in the incubator on paper towels with food and water. After three hours, #3, now known as "Valentine" because he was my Valentine's day gift, is up and going strong. Here are the three survivors - white Dorking "Cupid", CL cockerel "Valentine" and a CL pullet who needs a name that ties into Valentines day, is feminine and tough. She remained the strongest of all.

We are now going to switch to a dual bulb Ohio Brooder.  It will protect them from drafts and can warm up to 250 chicks.   Ours will be slightly smaller than the standard 4' x 4'     Ohio Brooders were developed during the War years to conserve both metals and energy.    

Illinois Extension Service Publication - Ohio Brooder, 1942

How to Select Chickens for the Breeding Pens

Ever wonder how to raise hens that produce lots of eggs?  Or how to decide which rooster to keep?  The link below will take you to a video, produced by Backyard Poultry Magazine with help from the Livestock Conservancy, which will answer those questions in a clear and easy way.   Enjoy!

Breeding a Better Chicken