Did you know that some chickens have beards? But I’ll let you in on a funny secret—this bearded chicken is a GIRL!

She is a special kind of chicken called an Americauna. You might never guess what her super power is. But I secretly wonder if she is where Dr. Seuss got his idea for the famous book, Green Eggs and Ham.

Well, here at Shady Grove Ranch, we have BOTH! You could have Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast this Christmas!

But who in the world (besides Sam I Am) actually wants green eggs and ham?

Well, good news—our eggs are only green on the outside. And the ham isn’t green at all. That’s the nice thing about English grammar—it’s pretty flexible. Maybe Dr. Seuss didn’t mean that the ham was green, too! Just the eggs…

Americauna chickens have a special genetic trait that produces a green pigment in their shells. Other chickens, like Leghorns, don’t produce any pigment—their eggs are white. Kind of like a white bunny—their “color” is really just the absence of color. Every egg a Leghorn chicken produces will be white. It’s what they are genetically wired to do, just like if your eyes are brown, they will always be brown. Speaking of brown, most of our hens are brown-egg layers. They can’t lay green eggs or white eggs—only brown. Now, some will be so pale brown that they might look white. But they’re really brown. But the Americauna eggs are special. And that’s why we like them and keep about 10% of our flock as those.

Why don’t you ever see green eggs at the supermarket? (And why don’t we do all Americaunas?)

Most eggs go through a candling process (ours, too, actually), where a bright light is placed on one side of the egg, and a person or maybe a robot in a very large eggery, looks at the other side of the egg to check for cracks or other abnormalities. The green eggs are very difficult to candle, I suppose because the pigment in the egg makes them harder to see through. I have often wondered if that is the reason you don’t see green eggs at the supermarket. Or maybe it’s because they remind people too much of the Dr. Seuss story and they think they won’t like them. Well, the inside of the egg is just the same! And here’s the chicken that laid the … green egg!

Merry Christmas from your farmers at Shady Grove Ranch!

Be sure to check out our this month’s Farm Sticker Story, and if you live within our distribution area, get yourself a Farm Fan Club sticker this month!