eggsactly!

My friend has Banties. Before you say “oh that’s too bad I hope she feels better soon” please understand that I’m talking about Bantam hens, OK?

These little sweeties lay the most perfect one-bite eggs you can imagine. The hens are lovely, entertaining, and pretty darn smart. I’m smitten.

I am not, however, going to jump on the “backyard chicken” bandwagon. I already got it out of my system, years ago. I had three Rhode Island Reds that lived in a nice big dog house that someone had left in the yard of my rent house. Until I got them I truly believed that all chickens shared one brain. I now know this is not true.

My three had very distinct personalities. Amelia Earhart kept trying to fly even with clipped wings, Big Red was bossy, and Dumb Cluck was, well, a follower if you take my meaning.

I do miss them. They provided hours of entertainment, and in true “and then make soup” fashion, they provided good compostable bedding and happily kept my small garden grasshopper-free – no easy feat! But I couldn’t imagine moving them – they were high-altitude birds after all – so I found them a good home back there when I moved down here. Sigh…

But I digress…

In any event, if you happen to have friends with chickens you might suggest they invest in a few Banties as well. They have big personalities but they don’t actually take up much space.

cute enough? awww….

And, if they resist, point them here. Once they’ve seen how adorable they are, well…

And, as for the eggs, well…

see? awww…

They taste like “regular” chicken eggs – because they are! But they make adorable deviled eggs, or the world’s smallest omelets, or fried egg sandwiches that can fit on a quarter of a slice of bread or… you decide what to do with them! Mmmm… they’re just a step up from quail eggs (that’s another story for another day). I hope you can get your hands on some.

You can use Bantam eggs for baking as well. You know all those recipes that call for 1 large egg? The recipes you can’t make a half-recipe of because half-eggs don’t exist? Use one of these! It has worked fine for me so far…

That’s it. If you can find someone who raises them (ask around your farmer’s markets) maybe you can find a source! I’m going to use up my small stash and hope to get a few more! Mmmm…

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