Country mouse - Mark Hedges

White hen eggs have slowly disappeared from most supermarket shelves but the arrival of them at casa Hedges has caused a stir of excitement at breakfast

Country mouse, Country Life magazine
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Do you remember when you could buy white hens eggs? They were cheaper than brown eggs, but have slowly disappeared from most supermarket shelves; for some reason white eggs were seen as inferior. My children had never seen a white egg until the arrival of the new chickens which replaced the old flock that was wiped out by a fox. We have been given three white leghorns (see page 134), thanks to the previous owner finding himself detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure. Interestingly, the colour of the egg a chicken will lay corresponds to the colour of their ears.

The eggs are a sensation, boiled eggs and soldiers have usurped all other breakfasts, and the little chickens cannot keep up with demand. What is worse is that I am having a fierce battle with the neighbourhood magpies. They have learnt to go into the hen house and steal the eggs. It is not going to end prettily.

What is pretty is the countryside, now that the rape has finished flowering. Although I understand that farmers must grow crops that make a profit, aesthetically I am not a fan of all that yellow, and welcome the countryside returning to a more familiar green. MH

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.