This is the last egg my hens laid before starting their winter break. I used it to do an egg wash on some rolls. Now I will see how long I can go on the dried and powdered eggs I processed when the chickens were in full production. I won’t use powdered egg for an egg wash, but they work fine for pancakes and meatloaf.
My hens have started their molting time. The coop and run, from a distance, look like there has been a small snow flurry. The hens themselves look moth-eaten and disheveled. Egg production has slowed to a near stand still; I’m getting maybe one egg every other day. About this time last year the eggs stopped completely and they didn’t start laying again until the end of January. That was fours months without eggs. Hello powdered eggs, lets see how you do.
One of these things is not like the others.
I had a bit of a surprise in the nest box! A tiny little egg, less than half the size of what my hens usually lay. I’ve read that sometimes there are hiccups in the egg development process and eggs are produced without a yolk resulting in what some people call “fairy eggs”. I had to see if that was the case with this egg!
I broke it open and the egg did in fact have a yolk, just very small. A small perfect little egg. How interesting.
It cracks me up that the cucumbers from my cucumber bush are nearly the same size as the hens’ eggs. I had two small snap peas as well.
I found an egg under the roost with no shell again. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened multiple times since they started laying. The egg membrane is intact, so it is possible to pick up, but it certainly has an interesting texture, much like an egg that has been soaked in vinegar to remove the shell, but without the bouncing. I recorded a video to show the squishiness, if you are interested. These eggs typically go to the dogs!
Critters and Craft 