I found a shell-less egg under the roosts. It was quite disturbing: soft yet crackly. A little like the eggs where the shell has been dissolved in vinegar, but not rubbery. It was partially broken open in the shavings, but thank goodness it didn’t look like the hens had sampled it, just that it fell from the roost with no shell. There was an intact egg near it, so I think something was particularly stressful that day. I scooped it up with the manure rake and disposed of it. The internet and my books tell me that the occasional shell-less egg is not a concern. Ok.
I’ve been holding onto a few of the chicken’s first eggs, not the whole egg, just the blown out shell. Not the very first egg, I didn’t think of blowing out the eggs until the next day. They have been sitting on my counter for a few months and then I thought making ornaments would be a great way to preserve them!
32 gauge wire looped and twisted
I took about 10 inches of 32 gauge wire, looped it, and twisted the ends together to make a straight section longer than my egg.
Wire strung through blown out egg shell
Getting the wire through the tiny hole on the end of the blown out egg was a little tricky, but I got there eventually.
Ribbon threaded through egg with knots to hold it in place
I had some thin ribbon in my stash, so threaded some of that through the wire loop, then used the wire to pull the ribbon through the egg. I used over hand knots to keep the egg from sliding off. I used alcohol based ink (aka Sharpie) to write on the egg, and I coated the egg in matte Modge Podge glue for extra durability, and let it dry.
“Our first egg” ornament next to another pullet egg
I’m not that keen on the Modge Podge coating. It makes it look like a plastic egg, even though it has a matte finish. I’ll have to run some experiments to see what I can do about that.
I have been looking into the recycled egg carton debate and have decided that I can’t risk reusing egg cartons. My youngest has a compromised immune system and unintentionally growing bacteria in reused cartons is too risky. I don’t wash my eggs until right before I use them (except if they are dirty), so there is a higher risk for contaminating the carton. I bought a wire egg rack for my counter eggs that can be wiped down and a washable tray for the refrigerated hard boiled eggs. The wire egg rack holds 36 eggs as advertised, and takes up less room on the counter than two 18 egg cartons, which is nice.
Wire egg rack
My eldest and I tore up the used egg cartons and put them in the compost. Tearing up paper is good for getting out aggression too. Bonus.
Torn up egg cartons ready for the compost pile
I bought new egg cartons online for transporting eggs. Although we have been going through the eggs in about a week, so don’t often have an excess.
Faverolle hens should lay pink eggs. The egg on the bottom of the picture I consider to be pink. Not white, but ever so slightly tinted brown.
I do have hatchery quality Faverolles, and a wide spread of egg color, but honestly, I like the brown eggs with the dark speckles all over best. The look like they should be wild eggs.
I have been lucky this week and have been collecting eggs in the coop when a hen was just finishing up laying. I have a high rate of certainty of who laid the egg when I reach under the hen and the egg is still clinging to the feathers! However, my hypothesis on egg color corresponding to the chicken is shot.
Two of Seashell’s eggs laid about 27 hours apart
Seashell (who is very easily identified because she is the only hen with a black beard) laid two different colored eggs about 27 hours apart. Now here is an interesting part: I have heard both that eggs will darken over the hen’s lifetime, and that eggs start out dark and will lighten over time cyclically with the seasons. So I will keep collecting data and see which category my hens fall into. Or if they have their own category entirely. How interesting.
Critters and Craft 