Monday, September 6, 2010

The Chickens and the Eggs


I collected 10 eggs today and we only have 5 pullets. Look where I found 6 of them (age unknown so we had to toss them).



The others were under this gal.

I was afraid she was getting broody and she is so young. She was there for a long while but later was gone so I was able to collect the eggs. And then we find eggs like this.


Occasionally I find eggs with soft shells. No wonder free range eggs are so expensive.

On another gender, I am feeling much better about our resident rooster. I am following Richard Plamondons 3 rules (see Giving Peace a Chance). A couple of days ago I offered the chickens hands full of grain and was shocked at the reactions.

The first carefully took one piece of grain and ran off, the second would not eat out of my hand, the rooster looked me over top to bottom with much confusion and finally took one piece of grain and split. The second time I offered him some he declined. The chickens are afraid of me or at least don't trust me. I had no idea. But why shouldn't they feel that way after the way I have treated the rooster.

I have much to learn about chickens and eggs.





3 comments:

  1. I love those little eggs. Have you fried them up? I'm not surprised about the eggs on top your cabinet. Is it always the same chicken you see up there?

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  2. Why would chickens and roosters trust you when at some point you may eat them? And you steal the eggs.

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  3. You can "float" eggs to see if they're safe to eat.
    Get a clear bowl of cold water (any temperature, but I like the word "cold" with raw eggs) and gently lay each egg down on the bottom. If it floats, it's bad. If it stays down flat, it's perfectly ok. If one side tips up ever so slightly, I use it for hard boiled eggs.
    I have a counter full of "found" eggs today- I'll go take my own advice and float them : )
    I always crack each egg into a cup before I add it to a recipe just because I don't quite trust the floating method. But in all these years, it's been 100% accurate for us.
    Mollie

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