Eggs are an excellent source of protein, minerals and essential vitamins. One egg can contain 10-12% of the daily protein requirement for an average person.

By setting standards we produce better eggs

kids corner – a day in the life of Harriet the Hen, and things to make and bake

Hello and welcome to my day – from Harriet, a happy hen at Natures Nest Eggs

Waking up

My feathered friends and I wake up at dawn after a cosy night roosting indoors. We like our home, it’s not over crowded and it is naturally ventilated so we don’t have noisy fans to disturb us. We know our farmer uses 70% less energy in our hen houses which is good for our carbon footprint – and we thought we had muddy claw prints!

Breakfast time

Making really nutritious eggs for Natures Nest is very rewarding – my farmer gives me a very tasty GM FREE breakfast which includes 70% natural grains like wheat and corn – and because it is really good for me, I eat as much as I need.

When I’m full I wander back to the nest to lay my precious egg. I have heard that you are what you eat so I know my egg will be absolutely delicious!

And when my egg is laid, that’s my job done for the day!

We love misty mornings

Harriet and the girls like to rise early, even on misty days Frost, mist or shine I like to get outside in the morning when I’ve laid my egg. Our farmer opens the doors and my feathered friends and I wander outside to do pretty much as we please – that’s because we have a good working relationship with our farmer …. we give him a really tasty fresh free range egg and to say thanks, he plants new trees and makes sure the fields and woodlands are safe and interesting places to perch, peck, scratch and find worms!

Free to roam in fields and woodlands

Harriet makes a bid to escape over a tumble down wall (only joking Yes, we’re free birds, so we’ve no need to plan the great escape – (but I do like this picture because it looks like I have escaped!)

As hens we are very sociable creatures and like being together. We often wander down tracks and in fields pecking and scratching as we go – life is just one long investigation!

We need our shade

Harriet and friends relax in the shade of a tree I do like summer, but it can get hot and I like winter, but not the rain. That’s why our farmer makes sure we have plenty of shade – you will often find us flocking for shade when the sun is at its hottest or when the heavens open. Living on a Natures Nest farm is great because they have been planting trees for over a decade and they are really quite good at providing shade.

Messing about in the river

Harriet loves the shallows of a brook - but not for a bath On the way home I wandered down to the brook, there are so many interesting animals and plants to explore. I like finding worms on the banks and splashing about and preening my feathers, but I’m not one for taking a water bath – give me the glorious dust bath any day – a treat on the way home.

Heading for home

Harriet wanders home after another happy day at a Natures Nest farm It’s quite funny you know, I’m never to tell to head home for bed. I know that every hen’s house is a home, safe, warm and fully supplied with great food and fresh water. Staying in at night is a great idea, chance to catch up with my friends and safely protected from badgers and foxes.

Time for bed

Our farmer always comes in to check we are OK before closing the door to keep us safe and sound. Quietly we cluck, roost and rest for another adventure in the morning – but only after breakfast and only after I’ve delivered my next Natures Nest Egg! We’re very lucky hens, we have a farmer that cares about us and the area we live in and his family look after us very well.

I bet all hens wish they could live and lay this way.

Things to make and bake

Natalie’s Nutty Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

  • 250g (9oz) self raising flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 50g (2oz) butter
  • 73g (3oz) soft light brown sugar
  • 100g (4oz) of choc chips
  • 2 large free range Natures Nest Eggs
  • 2 tsps vanilla extract/ essence (optional)
  • 250 ml (8 floz) milk
  • A handful of chopped hazelnuts

heat oven to 200C / 400F/ Gas mark 6

Method:

  1. Line tins with paper cases
  2. Sieve flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl
  3. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like breadcrumbs
  4. Add light brown sugar, chopped roasted hazelnuts & 3/4 of choc chips
  5. Stir until they are evenly mixed through
  6. Beat eggs with a folk, and add vanilla essence and milk
  7. Pour egg mixture into the flour
  8. Spoon mixture into muffin cases and sprinkle the remaining choc chips on top
  9. Bake for 20 minutes until firm on top, and have risen above their cases
  10. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, and then lift out onto a wire cooling tray

For double chocolate & hazelnut muffins, use 225g (8oz) of self raising flour, and 25g (1oz) of cocoa powder.

Squirrels Hazelnut & Raspberry Meringue

For the meringue:

  • 75g Chopped roasted Hazelnuts
  • 4 large free range Natures Nest Egg Whites
  • 200g Castor Sugar
  • Pinch of Cream of Tartar

Filling:

  • 1 lemon finely grated
  • 200ml Raspberries (drain any juice)
  • Castor Sugar to taste
  • 350ml Double Cream
  • 25g chocolate finely grated (you can use a Flake)
  • 25g Icing Sugar (sifted)
  • 2 baking sheets lined with greaseproof/silicone paper

Method:

  1. Switch oven on to gas2, 150 C or 300F
  2. Whip egg white until stiff
  3. Add 1 tablespoon castor sugar and cream of tartar and whisk for 1 minute.
  4. Fold in the remaining sugar and hazelnuts
  5. Divide the mixture between two baking sheets and spread carefully into two 20 cm diameter circles.
  6. Bake for 1 hour or until the paper peels away from the bottom.
  7. Puree the drained raspberries and mix with lemon rind.
  8. Sweeten to taste.
  9. Whisk the cream until stiff. Put 1/3 into a piping bag and fold the remaining 2/3’s into the raspberry puree and use to fill the meringues.
  10. Pipe the remaining cream on top and dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with the grated chocolate.