A quick question for all you poultry gurus out there. Have any of you eaten bantam cochin eggs? The bantams work for us on two levels - their size is convenient and they make us happy, which matters. We aren't prolific egg eaters, a family of three that goes through anywhere from 2 - 8 eggs a week, usually for baking purposes, so we're not looking for massive production or egg size. We won't be eating the birds. Their primary purpose, we hope, is to provide our minimal egg needs, and also do some of the gardening. And to make us smile. Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on the matter. Thanks, Sean.

-- sean reagan (rougan@rcn.com), March 28, 2002

Answers

Sean, I believe that a chicken egg, is a chicken egg, is a chicken egg. :) I know that no matter my breed of duck, other than the size and the color of the shell, the eggs are the same. When my Mom had chickens, regardless of breed, the eggs were alike. I'm not sure I understood your question though, sometimes I am very dense! LOL There are Bantam Cochin breeders at www.poultryconnection.com if you would like to chat with them. Your Cochins sound beautiful and fun. Happy Spring! LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), March 28, 2002.

I have mixed bantams and the eggs are fine. An egg is an egg. Unless, of course, you are a child. My youngest will always ask for one of Alex's eggs, she is his favorite hen, LOL.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 28, 2002.

My Bantam eggs are definitely minimum compared to my Standard Turken's larger-than-jumbo eggs! But for eating, eggs are eggs. The only eggs I quit eating were the guineas. Their eggs are so dang hard ~ took a couple of really hard whacks on the frying pan to crack them open. Not worth the effort to me.

The Bantam Cochins are the sweetest things. They're also excellent broodies and moms.

No matter what size birds you have, they all lay only one egg a day or every other day.

The chooks will do your gardening all right. Just about anything you plant they'll eat, right out of the garden! -LOL-

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), March 28, 2002.

Sean, we eat our bantam eggs too! They work just fine. Best of luck.

-- cowgirlone in OK (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), March 28, 2002.

Agreed. Eggs is eggs. Bantam's eggs is smaller eggs than full-scale poultry eggs, but they're all normal chook eggs. Smaller eggs can actually be an advantage if what you want is just some protein and a bit of an egg taste, rather than a full-blown serving. One bantam's egg is just about perfect for a mashed boiled-egg sandwich, with lettuce or full salad on top - or plain. You can spread it to two sandwiches if you mash it with cooked potato or rice or even pumpkin or carrot; but then you're diluting the egg taste.

If you need to work out equivalencies for baking, just weigh them and do the arithmetic versus full-size eggs - there is a tiny theoretical difference because they have more shell for their weight; but it's not enough to make a practical difference.

You wouldn't need too many bantams to give you 2-8 eggs a week most of the year - like one. Maybe two. They're diligent little layers - all breeds. Not up there with leghorns, but pretty prolific. If you're really interested in homesteading or at least a measure of self-sufficiency, maybe you might consider eating a couple more egg meals a week, and putting the savings in meat costs towards extra payments on the mortgage? Or extra savings towards a deposit? Not just losing the difference in your pocket, but actually applying the money to something concrete - or even plastic if you've got card debt. I'm not saying this applies to you - I'm speaking to other readers too.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 28, 2002.

Hey, as most people already posted, eggs is eggs. We sell "normal" medium and large-sized eggs, and eat the bantam eggs ourselves. 1/4 cup liquid egg equals about 1 large-sized egg, which is what most baking calls for.

Happy eating! Our family of 4 eats dozens of eggs a week. :-)

-- Andrea Gauland, Big Flats NY (andreagee@aol.com), March 28, 2002.

I eat bantam eggs all the time. I just add extras to my baked goods. Like 2 or 3 instead of 1 large in cornbread or cakes. Happy eating. Oh, yes, if you get too many eggs and don't have anything else to feed them to, boil them 20 minutes, mash them, and feed them back to the chickens. Good Luck.

-- Robin Downing (Southpawrobin1@aol.com), March 30, 2002.

Bantam eggs are just the same as any other chickens egg, apart from the size (which makes them even better). Everybody thinks our eggs are a great novelty and keep asking for some.

-- stephen (stephen@thebeetroot.com), April 15, 2002.