Are eggs always the same color?

I've always read the color and shape of an egg stays the same, just the size changes (the get larger as the hen ages). But today I got a super light brown egg, never had one that light. Interesting, always interesting!

Mixing my own scratch for my backyard chickens

Since I only have a small amount of hens, I don't believe a 50 lb bag of scratch is the best bet. Once the corn and other grains are milled they have a shorter shelf life. So, I have been mixing my own. They have layer feed at all times, then occasionally I throw scratch around. They love to hunt and search for it. They get more scratch in winter and less in summer. Winter ever day and summer, once a week. They also get kitchen scraps as I have them. Greens in some sort every day (almost). Here is my homemade chicken scrarch recipe : cracked corn, sunflower kernels, oats, mealworms, flax, chia seeds and raisins. Guaranteed to get gobbled up.

Late layers

Not sure how or why, but the girls have only been laying late in the afternoon, like after 2:00. This has been going on for a couple of weeks. No a.m. eggs.

Girls are laying ahgain

Huge deal today, 4 eggs. Much better than 1 or 2 per week!

Can I eat an egg from my chicken that was frozen?

When I let the chickens out this a.m. I found an egg that I missed from yesterday. The temp got down to 6 degrees last night and it was frozen (but not cracked). I let it thaw out on the counter and scrambled it. It was delish, no problem eating an egg that was frozen as long as it's not cracked open.
   Definitely discard any cracked eggs because bacteria can enter, it's not worth the possibility of getting sick.

Super cold

It's minus 1 with a wind chill of minis 23. I could take about 5 minutes outside only.  I gave the chickens warm water, turned the water heater on and opened their door.  It would be extremely lucky if I can collect the eggs before they freeze today.  I'll lock them up early today with the coop heater on. They'll get some cracked corn and treats a couple of times today. It's just to cold!

Challenges of city chicken keeping, a.k.a. I need a shed.

When living in the city there is usually a storage problem and I'm no exception. Chickens don't just need food, they need grit, oyster shell, straw, scratch, first aid sundries and treats. Most of those items come in really heavy large bags. I have this stuff stored all over the place; broom closet, on top of the basement steps, and in the mud room. It would be nice to have this chicken stuff all in one place. If I lived in the country I envision a big red barn loaded to the brim with straw. I used to get straw and hey confused until a friend who's from a ranch in Montana would say "You don't mean hey, you mean straw, hey is for horses", I got it after the 21st time.

I envision outbuildings loaded with shelves containing everything I need all at an arms reach, painted to match the big red barn. Also, if we lived in the country I'm sure we would have one of those pole barns, I'm not sure what's in them, probably a trailer, for getting more chickens and a few really cool old cars in various stages of renovation. I could even buy more than 1 bag of feed at a time, especially when it's on sale. I was fairly content with maintaining my tight chicken spaces until one day last week when my husband was doing some laundry and accidentally kicked a opened bag of oyster shell down the basement steps. Thud thud and oyster shell spilled everywhere followed by a fairly loud, "You have to do something with all this chicken stuff!"

Indeed, I did agree with him and then it came it me, a shed! Me and my chickens need a shed! That will solve everything, maybe I could even fit some gardening tools in it. I'll be looking for an unwanted shed that maybe someone outgrew, because now they need more space for their stuff.