Backyard Chickens

I Got My First Egg!

The first egg from my backyard chickens

This morning, while I was deep in sleep, my fiancé Will ran into our room and woke me up excitedly.

“Look!” He shook me under the covers until I grudgingly half-opened one eye.

There in his hand was a small, smooth, perfectly shaped, green-tinted egg. An egg! Our first egg ever from our chickens!

The egg came from our Easter Egger, Gisele, who is about 29 weeks old. With the chickens getting older and the days getting longer, I was rooting for one of them to start laying soon. I’m so proud of our little Gisele!

She laid the egg around 9 o’clock this morning, right when Will had opened the run to let the ladies out. He found her hunkered down on the roost inside the coop while the other two were already scratching out in the run. Afraid that she might have gotten sick, he tried to coax her out by tossing a handful of mealworms into the yard. The other chickens flapped and feverishly went after them. Gisele gingerly hopped down from the coop to see what all the fuss was, and as she stepped outside with her sisters, out popped an Easter egg! (I realize it doesn’t look very green in the pictures, but it definitely has a green hue in person.)

My first green-tinted Easter egg

My first green-tinted Easter egg

We are beyond excited (to the point of silliness, really — it’s almost as if one of us had laid the egg!) and have not decided what to do with it yet. For now our real-life Easter egg is living in a little dish in our kitchen, where we’ll show it off to friends for the next week!

Green-tinted egg from Easter Egger chicken

About Author

I'm a plant lover, passionate road-tripper, and cookbook author whose expert advice and bestselling books have been featured in TIME, Outside, HGTV, and Food & Wine. The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook is my latest book. Garden Betty is where I write about modern homesteading, farm-to-table cooking, and outdoor adventuring—all that encompass a life well-lived outdoors. After all, the secret to a good life is... Read more »

20 Comments

  • rhonda roo
    July 5, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    I think its very exciting! You are making me want to grow duck eggs.

    Reply
    • Linda Ly
      July 5, 2014 at 6:52 pm

      I wish I had duck eggs too!

      Reply
      • Yu-Hsian Wang
        April 10, 2016 at 11:20 am

        Duck eggs require a large pond or a tiny lake, somewhere there are no pesticides no chemical fertilizers at all. Ducks can’t handle any pesticides or artificial/chemical anything. That’s all I remember.

        Reply
  • Linda Ly
    March 7, 2012 at 9:22 pm

    I’ve heard that about freshly laid eggs, but I’ve also heard if you let them sit for a few days, they will be easier to peel. True or not?

    Reply
    • Kris Jacobs
      March 24, 2012 at 11:51 am

      True!  Let eggs age for a week or two in the fridge, then hard boil ’em.  Rinse in ice water and they peel like a dream.

      Reply
  • Wildoakdesigns (Nancy)
    March 5, 2012 at 9:02 am

    How exciting! We had chickens once upon a time and it is exciting…nothing like fresh eggs….
    If you hard boil them, they will be hard to peel….other than that, fresh eggs are brighter, yellower, and far more delicious….
    enjoy!
    Nancy
    wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com

    Reply
  • Homesteading Guide
    March 5, 2012 at 12:10 am

    I guess having grown up around chickens I forgot how exciting it was to get your first egg. I must say yours are a cool color though.

    Reply
  • Manure Tea Gardening
    March 3, 2012 at 4:48 am

    Congratulations on your first egg I enjoy harvesting my breakfast each morning 

    Reply
    • Linda Ly
      March 4, 2012 at 3:38 pm

      I finally have everything I need for a true garden-fresh omelette! (Just need a cow now… LOL.)

      Reply
  • Linda Ly
    March 2, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    Pastel eggs are almost too pretty to eat. 😛

    Reply
  • Linda Ly
    March 2, 2012 at 2:50 pm

     Pastel eggs are almost too pretty to eat. 😛

    Reply
  • Eileen
    March 2, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    That’s so exciting. When I was a kid, we had Araucanas and they laid beautiful pastel colored eggs too. I love how you are so proud of Gisele : )

    Reply
    • Linda Ly
      March 2, 2012 at 1:52 pm

       Pastel eggs are almost too pretty to eat!

      Reply
  • Daedre
    March 2, 2012 at 6:40 am

    I remember my first egg! How exciting!

    Reply
  • Cookie Gordon
    March 2, 2012 at 6:22 am

    Congrats! You know how a new restaurant frames their first dollar bill?  I plan to remove the yolk and white from our first egg and display the shell!

    Reply
    • Linda Ly
      March 2, 2012 at 1:49 pm

      Me too! I have just the perfect glass cloche to display the egg under.

      Reply
  • Martin
    March 2, 2012 at 2:57 am

    I can remember our first duck egg from Jemimah, -she went on to lay 20 more and then sat on them for 22 days. Only one hatched that time.

    Reply
  • 42
    March 2, 2012 at 1:06 am

    Congratulations! My girl’s first egg was amazing, and so was getting two in one day when Derpy caught up with Leeloo and figured out egglaying!

    Reply
    • Linda Ly
      March 2, 2012 at 1:46 pm

       I will be SO excited the day I see two or even three eggs in the coop!

      Reply
  • Meemsnyc
    March 2, 2012 at 12:02 am

    How exciting! The egg is a beautiful color! Congrats

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Linda Ly Cancel Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.