In which it isn't Easter, and no bunny is gonna love these eggs
I was re-stacking some of the hay bales in the barn this morning,
and I found* these.
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| *I heard them "clink" as I picked up an adjacent bale, and thus didn't squash them |
Considering that chickens in general are not very clever, It's unexpected but true that there always seem to be a few hens with a Nesting Agenda.
Twelve, of course, is the goddess of these duplicitous birds. In her lifetime, Twelve achieved fame for unusual nesting locations.
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| Monica painted this memorial for Twelve: "Twelve of Haiku Farm", which includes mention of her strawberry-patch laying days, as well as the infamous incident involving 27 eggs hidden among the hay bales. |
Our best guess is that the sneaky hen(s) that laid this super-secret stash of cackleberries did so in August or September.
Fresh eggs sink promptly to the bottom of a water bowl. As eggs age, air gets into the shell and forms a pocket. Less-than-ideal eggs (aka "dog eggs") have a small air pocket, and will sink partway. Do-not-eat eggs have so much air inside the shell that they float.
These eggs have so much air inside that they float above the surface.
Ewww.
These eggs will be offered up to the Scavenger Gods at the alter in the blackberry bushes at the bottom of the pasture on the far side of the fence where the dogs cannot go.
They certainly aren't fresh.
Mother Earth News did a research study with eggs, to determine the best long-term storage procedure. Stashing fresh eggs under hay bales was not part of the study, but it makes interesting reading anyhow.
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| Fresh eggs sink |
Mother Earth News did a research study with eggs, to determine the best long-term storage procedure. Stashing fresh eggs under hay bales was not part of the study, but it makes interesting reading anyhow.
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| When we find eggs that only sink part-way, we feed them to the dogs. |
Fresh eggs sink promptly to the bottom of a water bowl. As eggs age, air gets into the shell and forms a pocket. Less-than-ideal eggs (aka "dog eggs") have a small air pocket, and will sink partway. Do-not-eat eggs have so much air inside the shell that they float.
These eggs have so much air inside that they float above the surface.
Ewww.
These eggs will be offered up to the Scavenger Gods at the alter in the blackberry bushes at the bottom of the pasture on the far side of the fence where the dogs cannot go.
All hail those who scrape and scrounge! Long may they skulk!
(This does not include you, chickens.)
I can only imagine how sick the dogs emissions would get eating those!
ReplyDeleteEwwwwwww.
DeleteWe're having a terrible time lately with roosters (3) who wake us up at 5- 8 AM with crowing (10 second intervals between each crow) and half the time they are awakened by the newspaper delivery car, so they crow at 3:30.
DeleteThese roosters live 5 meters from our bedroom window, and the garage they live in echoes, it is made of stone with vents facing our house. If they would just turn them out at 4 AM, we'd be able to sleep, cuz there would be less echo. But I know, the foxes might get them at 4 AM.
By law my husband is not allowed to play piano at 3:30 AM.
Wish there were more foxes. (Talking to the neighbors about it did not help.)
Holy hell it's 1;16 AM and one of the roosters is crowing. Nonstop.
ReplyDeleteI agree that roosters are awful.
DeleteMonica currently has three roosters. One is fine. He's very sweet with the hens and not very vocal. He lives in a coop at the bottom of the yard, far from the house. The second is okay. He ignores the dogs, and doesn't cockadoodle much by comparison with the third rooster. Rooster #3 is locked in the barn because he is (a). getting too aggressive and (b). REALLY REALLY LOUD. He is for sale--cheap.
See humiliating photos of Rooster #3 wearing colorful outfits in his "for sale" ad on Craigslist: http://bit.ly/2rKK0ce I'll mirror them to the blog in a day or so.
You're welcome.
That is so cute! This morning I told J that in Gitmo they torture prisoners with loud noise that prevents sleep. I told him he can expect me to go insane any day now. Strangely, I like having the chickens around, to observe through our windows/fence. The way they look at me.....and how they tear up the earth for signs of life, I enjoy them. Just not the noise.
ReplyDelete