We put up the tree this week. We decorate with ornaments collected over the years, no theme, no ribbons, but bits of memory hung on the branches. So for Throwback Thursday, here is the ornament I made in 2019 from one of the chicken’s first eggs. I actually made three against the ravages of time and accident, but all three are whole and hung.
I keep a jacket by the back door in case I need it to go see the chickens. It was a little chilly, so I grabbed it and headed out. About half way through checking chickens, I felt something in the pocket. An egg. Already in the pocket. Hm. There were two more in the nest boxes, so those went in the other pocket and I headed back in. I weighed and recorded all three eggs, then subjected the suspect egg (how long had it been in that pocket?!?) to the float test.
The egg didn’t sink to the bottom, so it wasn’t a fresh egg, but it didn’t float to the top (indicating a very old egg). Since it is floating slightly off the bottom, I estimate it was in my pocket for a few days, maybe a week. Hm. I broke it open to check the validity of the float test, and the egg looked and smelled just fine.
The dogs enjoyed their treat, so it was not a wasted egg.
In case you are wondering how the egg test works, it has to do with water loss through the shell of the egg, which is semi-permeable. A fresh egg hasn’t had time to have significant water loss so is denser than water, so sinks. A month old egg has experienced considerable evaporation, and is less dense than water, so it floats. And is more likely to have gone bad.
We have continued to get eggs, way past when the hens stopped laying last year. I think I know why. We have kept the people door open to let the breeze through the coop because it was so blazing hot this summer. The door leads out into the chicken run, which is completely encased in welded wire, which makes it fairly secure against large predators. When we let the dogs out in the morning, we turn on the back porch light, which happens to shine into the runs. This gives the hens enough light to feel comfortable getting off the roost, so they are up and about earlier than last year. Extra light also encourages egg laying. Ah. They finished their molt, had enough light, and a couple have gone back into laying mode. I could close up the door, but they really do like coming out as soon as they can, and they are safe in their enclosure from twilight predators. As it gets colder, I will close the people door to keep in the heat and keep out drafts, but I may keep the chicken door open.
I was out doing morning chicken chores, and I found two eggs. What? I admit that I have not been vigilant in checking the nest boxes since the hens stopped laying two months ago because last year their last egg was mid-September. Last year they did not start laying again until February. They do appear to have finished their fall molt, but I haven’t seen any of them do the squat (that says they are ready for a rooster).
I did do a float test, and both eggs sunk to the bottom of the container of water and laid flat, which means they are fresh eggs. So they didn’t stay undiscovered for long.
Seriously, there are five other nests, girls. I know this is typical hen behavior, and I have seen two of my hens trying to lay in the same nest box before, but three? Chaos. After the picture they all were lifted out to get some air and treats. Later, my eldest found three eggs in the box, so they managed to all eventually lay there.
Critters and Craft 