Our First Egg!
It’s been 17 weeks since we got our first chicks back on that cold day in March. We knew that we were looking at 16-20 weeks before they started laying but let’s be honest, around week 14 I started to check for eggs in the coop. Anyone who knows me knows that patience is no virtue of mine! By week 16, I was wondering what I had done to deserve having freeloading chickens (chicken shaming, anyone?). But today – the day after Chris’s birthday – we got our very first egg. I headed out in the evening to make sure they were fed and watered and on my way out of the coop decided to check the nesting boxes juuuuuuuust in case. And there it was – a single brown egg. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t start jumping up and down like a maniac. These pullet eggs, or the first eggs a hen lays, are small and thin-shelled but are highly regarded by chefs for their rich flavor.
There’s a story in Chris’s family that his father tells with great pride about Grandpa Nando. When Nando was young boy in Northern Italy back in the 1920s, his family was very poor and there wasn’t much food to go around. However, on birthdays each child got their VERY OWN EGG. The way I figure, this first egg is the perfect treat for the birthday boy to carry on the Nicoli tradition!
