Summer in New England means fresh country eggs and it seems that many folks raise their own chickens. (Click here to see pics of their baby chicks!)  My neighbors have some (that I ‘babysit’ when they go away) and the little store downtown has it’s own “Farm Fresh Eggs” section. The farm on the outskirts of town also sells them.
But this year they have been scarce. I haven’t bought one single dozen from my neighbors (the kids do the selling for fun money)…and even the little store has frequently had empty shelves. Usually people are giving their eggs away because of the abundance, but not this summer.
I blame it on all the rain and cold weather in June and July, but don’t really know the reason. I’ve heard that chickens need lots of sunshine to produce eggs, and I guess numerous rainy days could be the culprit.
Now Fall is approaching and the hopes of having fresh eggs is diminishing.
What’s the difference you ask? Well, just don’t start eating fresh eggs because you will be hooked and store bought will never appeal to you again.

By the way, raising chickens isn’t easy – it draws all kinds of unwanted critters such as foxes and bears, to the yard. It seems they love the taste of chicken. My neighbor has an electric fence up around his entire pen. He had to do this after a bear tore the coop apart and ate a bunch of the chickens.