Our eggs have been averaging about 45g (which is a size “small” in the USA). We have had a couple reach up to 49g, but we were shocked with a relatively huge 61g (large) egg!
61g egg on left, 45g egg on right
We broke the egg open and it had a double yolk! Turns out this is most common with hens that are just starting to lay because their system hasn’t quite figured it all out yet. Or with older chickens nearing the end of their egg production. We obviously have the former.
Double yolk egg
Based on the camera footage, we think Jade is the layer of the double yolker, using the comb identification method.
Yay! We have enough eggs to run a batch through the pressure cooker to make hard boiled eggs.
Freshly washed eggs in the pressure cooker
The eggs are on the small side and slip through the circles on the egg holder, so I had to set them in sideways. It worked fine, though. The eggs came out beautifully. The shells peeled away easily, and the yolk is perfect.
Hardboiled egg
I put a cup of water in the bottom of the pressure cooker pot, load the eggs in the egg holder (I can do 14 at a time), run my pressure cooker for 5 minutes on high, and manually release the pressure. I use tongs to put the eggs directly into a large bowl of ice water.
They don’t like it as much as the other nest boxes, but I found a chicken in the metal nest box! And she laid an egg there! Cleaning and painting it was not a wasted effort, yay! Granted, their two favorite nest boxes were both occupied.
I spy a chicken!
I have been putting down plastic bins everywhere I find an egg on the floor. We are up to 6 nest boxes. For 12 chickens. A little overkill, but they fight over the two boxes under the workbench. Here is a video: https://youtu.be/6hDRHzRU3fQ. I thought Velociraptors were eating my chickens; no, it was just a hen screaming at another hen coming toward her nest box.
Holy smokes are the egg shells strong on the eggs coming out of my chickens! The chickens apparently think the whole coop is a safe place, and I find eggs everywhere. I found one with the sole of my foot. Yikes! What was amazing is that it didn’t break. I didn’t put my full weight on it, but I did feel it through my shoe.
I also scared Sunrise off the nest when the egg was out, but still stuck to her tail feathers (she did not appreciate me recording video (click here to see video) with a bright light while she was busy!) The egg fell from her feathers as she left the nest and fell over 18” to the floor below. Of course the pine shavings had been carefully shoved away from that spot, so the egg hit the plywood floor and the shell broke, but the shell membrane stayed intact! Whoa. I did then have egg drop soup for lunch. It seemed appropriate.
The egg I found with my foot (bottom) and the egg that dropped from Sunrise’s bum (top)
I’ve had a bit of a learning curve cracking open the eggs as well. I’ve found that I need to consciously pierce the shell membrane after I crack the egg or I have a terrible time with shell bits in my breakfast. Store bought eggs pour out of the shell as soon as it is cracked. Not so with these!
As much as I like matching Pantone colors to egg colors, it is an unwieldy process and not kid friendly. My Mom mentioned that she took a picture of her chicken’s eggs and compared color to the picture. So I took a picture of the eggs I have, arranged by color intensity, and started at 5 so I have room on the index for lighter colors (just in case). Since my youngest has decided to check for eggs everyday (yay!), this makes it easier for her to help with egg color. It is also easier to tell at a glance at the record which eggs were darker or lighter. We are currently recording date, weight, color, time gathered, and where the egg was found.
Critters and Craft 