Secret Stash

We have been bad mouthing our hens for a few weeks. Some of them have been busy molting, that has been obvious. But the others had no excuse for not laying any eggs at all. We have gotten a couple of eggs every two or three days which was pretty bad for around 18 hens.

I was looking around the barn the other night, this was not the first time that I had looked for a hidden nest but this was the first time I found one. Underneath the big piece of cardboard that my DH uses to lay on under the truck when he changes the oil, I found their secret stash. This was on the same night that my DH was talking about getting rid of all of them and starting out fresh in the Spring.

It was a small but deep nest. The eggs at the very bottom were all broken. There were 18 unbroken eggs. The funny thing is that since I removed all of the eggs and cleaned the nest, they have not used that nest again. So we are back to getting one or two eggs every other day. I know that it is getting colder but we got eggs all during last winter.

I have slipped back into my non-blogging habit again, the truth is that I have been reading books. I bought several Tony Hillerman books last Christmas for my Step-Dad and for myself but hadn't read but a few of them. My Step-Dad gave me all of his when he was done with them.

I picked up one of them a few weeks ago and I have been obsessed ever since. I am on a reading marathon. It was really nice while I was sick to lay in bed and read but now that I am better, I can't get out of the habit.

Great Blog Posts

I am really doing good, I have actually been posting to my blog for the last few days. I hope to keep it up but make no guarantees. Since I am still not feeling on top of the world, I have even taken a little time to read some other blogs that I try to follow.

Here are just two great posts that I have found:

Animal Cruelty

Think this can't happen in America?

Blood and White Stuff In Eggs

This blog is in answer to my Daughter-in-law's question about the things that she found inside her Grandmother's farm fresh eggs.

A chalaza is a white threadlike structure in an egg which helps to keep the yolk in place inside the shell, like an anchor. Sometimes, there are two of these visible on opposite sides, other times only one is visible. Over time this rope can get twisted as the yolk moves around inside the shell, making it look thick and bumpy.

The chalaza is perfectly safe to eat, although it can be removed if you wish. The more visible the chalaza is, the fresher the egg. This is why they are not very noticeable in store bought eggs. If you are reading this post without ever getting eggs fresh from the farm, you probably don't even know what I am talking about because you have never seen one.

Blood Spots or Meat Spots that are sometimes found in eggs are caused by ruptured blood vessels during the formation of the egg.

Candling methods can reveal blood spots in eggs, if you wish to go to the trouble. However, as the egg ages the yolk takes up water from the albumen and dilutes the blood spot making it vanish, so blood spots actually indicate that the egg is super fresh. Again, this is the main reason that these meat spots, like the chalaza are not normally found in store bought eggs. Eggs with these spots are perfectly fine to eat or the spot can be removed with the tip of a knife.

Finding chalaza or meat spots in your eggs do not reflect the quality of the eggs. They only tell you that your eggs are fresh. The color of the yolks are the real test of quality. The lighter the yolk the less nutritional value.

Conspiracy Theory

Wow! Two blogs in one day, can you tell that it is raining outside?

I was talking to my eldest Son this morning and he brought up this attack that we made on the Moon today. He is a pretty deep thinker and tends to be skeptical about most things. If you didn't hear or read about it, NASA crashed an empty rocket hull into the moon. Then followed it up with another crash of a probe loaded with cameras. The probe was suppose to send us pictures of the crashes, so that we could see if there was any ice anywhere.

My Son told me that he didn't really think that this was a fact finding mission. He believes that since we successfully landed on the moon in the 60's and didn't stay there for any length of time, that we were probably run off by the aliens who live there. He also believes that the powers that be figured out that those aliens were getting ready to attack us. This talk of finding water or ice was just a cover.

I listened to his theory, thought about it and came up with my own theory. I believe that he is probably right in his thinking but what hadn't occurred to him was that they brought one of those aliens back to Earth with them to study. This alien ended up escaping and becoming President of the United States.

This little stunt today was just another cover-up. They were destroying his long lost birth records so the truth will never get out, he won't risk losing his Presidency or his Nobel Peace Prize. I am not sure that you have to be an Earthling to win the Nobel Peace Prize but I do think that you have to be one to be the President of the U.S.

Ark Building

I know that I haven't blogged in quite awhile, which is what happens when you are so busy that you don't have time to turn around. I have been so busy building this ark, but the good news is that it is nearly ready. We are suppose to get a bunch more rain this morning and afternoon, so we will see if this thing will float.

I have had some type of flu-like thing again. I have had a really, really sore throat, fever, cough and pounding headache. I have been a good girl and have stayed home so that I do not spread the joy. But my Grandkids have all been here and I, of course, kissed them all good-bye each time they left. I felt terrible after they were gone and I realized what I had done. The truth be known, they probably gave it to me in the first place.

My two milk does have been moved into the barn stall, since they have completely quit respecting their goat lot boundaries. We asked a neighbor who was borrowing one of our electric fence chargers if we could have it back. Now we just have to get the thing hooked up on the goat lot. Our main fence charger is just running too many miles of fence to be effective.

I have lost two hens, one of my Rhode Island Reds to old age and one of my Silver Laced Wyandottes to our Grullo Stallion. The chickens always hang around where Badger is eating his grain. They like picking up the grain that he drops with his sloppy eating habits. He probably just accidentally stepped on the hen but since I wasn't there I don't know for sure what happened. She was just laying dead beside his feeder.

Other poultry news is that my hens have nearly quit laying. We are only getting one to two eggs every other day from 17 hens. This is pretty hard on us since milk and eggs are our main food source. My summer hatches are all D'Uccle bantams, who won't be laying at all this winter anyway even if they were mostly hens which they aren't. We do have some really fancy Mille Fleur D'Uccle Roosters for sale though.

My husband's sister called us up a few weeks ago, her neighbor had two bantam Cochin pullets to give away, sure, I would take them. When I got there to pick them up they were Frizzles, all the better. They were sweet and friendly but after a couple of days I noticed that my D'Uccle Cockerels were picking fights with them, then I noticed that the Frizzles were picking fights with the D'Uccles. Then my DH mentioned that my new pullets were trying to crow. Never take free pullets, chances are they aren't pullets at all.