Ooh, fanci, you are sorely tempting me, I love those little banties...*L* I seriously must resist right now though...*sigh* I also offer eggs from my mixed flock of standard sized birds and bantams, we've got a little bit of everything here. If you don't mind the 'box of chocolates' never-know-what-you'll-get thing, I just send mine for the cost of shipping, which is around $15.00 for three dozen eggs. The only catch is I'd like pictures of the chicks when they hatch, and again when they get to be adults. :) You can get a look at my chicken page with pics of my flock here: http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChickMeetMyFlock.html You can also get eggs from eggbid.com, especially if you are after a particular breed. Enjoy your chicks wherever you end up getting the eggs from, watching eggs hatch is a truly amazing thing to see, especially for kids. :) Velvet ~:>

Mamacotti, Thanks for your kind words over the loss of our geese. Incidentally, we were advised by one of the best breeders in the country to yes, add a couple more of similar age if possible and don't wait too long either. They're flock creatures, like herd animals and feel secure in numbers. We're looking into a few more. As for duck eggs, we have four bonafide indian runners, 2 ducks, 2 drakes. Not show quality, but hearty and more reliable layers than our hens. Not sure if you're familiar with the breed - real cartoon like characters though - like a bowling ball on flippers, always on the go - single file. We call them "the little batillion". Can send pics if you like. If you're are interested, and can give us directions on how to send them, we'd love to help. Runners don't normally go broody (too busy) so our fertile eggs have quite the opposite problem. LFRJ

About 30 years ago my mom bought 6 small Bantam chickens someplace. She got bamboozled, because what she came home with was 5 males and 1 female, and she had been wanting about the opposite of that. Let me tell you, when they grew up, all those eggs were fertile! And that was one happy momma chicken . . . I don't remember most details too much, but we didn't feed them much that I recall, mostly we just gave cornmeal to the momma chicken when she was sitting on her nest to make more chickens for us. We have 5 acres and they wandered around and found their own food. Main flaw with that plan involved cars and neighbors and occasional animal problems. We saw a neighbor going from our property to his with a chicken in his hand once. What I remember most is that we built them a chicken coop, but something came in at night and ate one or more of them there, so they wouldn't hang out there any more. So they would roost in our apple trees near the house. In freezing rain I vividly recall climbing up into the trees and prying their frozen feet from the tree branches and handing them down to my mom. I got SO cold and wet. We would put them into brown paper bags (so they couldn't scratch us in confusion or be injured) and carry them into the garage on those nights when we thought they would freeze to death outside. We would leave the side garage door open but they never thought to go in on their own, they liked trees better. Safer I suppose, but nothing ever ate them in the garage. I am positive that we had cats at the same time, we always had cats, who also lived outdoors, and they got along okay. Don't know that we did anything special with the chickens to make them friendly, but they were. I named them all and they would eat out of my hand if I wanted them to. I have a photo of me, about age 15, with some of the chickens. I really treasure the photo because I am very thin and attractive in the picture. :-) Marcia

A friend of mine made this pie recently and it was outstanding. Debbie Frozen Key Lime Pie Copyright, 2002 Barefoot Contessa Family Style Show: Barefoot Contessa Episode: Tex Mex This recipe is available for a limited time only. Why? 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers) 1/4 cup sugar 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted For the filling: 6 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature 1/4 cup sugar 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 2 tablespoons grated lime zest 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (4 to 5 limes) For the decoration: 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Thin lime wedges Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. For the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Press into a 9-inch pyrex pie pan, making sure the sides and the bottom are an even thickness. Bake for 10 minutes until firm and golden. Allow to cool completely. For the filling, beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes, until thick. With the mixer on medium speed, add the condensed milk, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour into the baked pie shell and freeze. For the decoration, beat the heavy cream on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until firm. Spoon or pipe decoratively onto the pie and decorate with lime. Freeze for several hours or overnight. Note: If you have concerns about raw eggs, combine the yolks with 1/2 cup of the lime juice used in the recipe in a double boiler. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture reaches 140 degrees. Use in place of the raw egg yolks, remembering to add the remaining 1/4 cup of lime juice to the filling mixture along with the condensed milk and zest. *RAW EGG WARNING Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly-cooked eggs due to the slight risk of Salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly-refrigerated, clean, grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.