My Chirpy Chicken Coop

Crack The Egg Carton Code ~ Pt. 2 April 25, 2021 (A snapshot of the label on our store-bought egg carton!) Most likely when you hear someone talking about free-range chickens, you picture a flock of hens happily roaming a grassy pasture searching for bugs and weeds. You might even refer to your own chickens as 'free-range' even though they are confined inside your fenced-in backyard. Either way, those are some happy chickens! But when it comes to egg carton labeling, the array of terms can make your head spin. "Free-Ranging", "Cage-free", "Pasture-Raised" and then there's "Organic", "Vegetarian-Fed" and "Hormone-Free". Hopefully you don't have to rely on store bought eggs, but in case you do, let me help you decode exactly what each term means on that egg carton you see in the display case. All Natural : What You Probably Think It Means: You're likely picturing a flock of happy chickens who are fed a diet

    How To Steam Eggs April 18, 2021 (One of Angelica's eggs steamed for 12 minutes!) I love hard-cooked eggs. The one downside to fresh eggs is how hard they are to peel. Everyone says 'just put some aside for a few weeks, then hard boil them and they'll peel fine'. But to me, that defeats the purpose of raising chickens for the fresh eggs if you're just going to let them sit around and get old. In addition to just not tasting fresh, an old egg won't be the perfect ovate shape, since air seeps in through the shell as the egg ages, an older egg will have that indentation or dip at one end when you hard boil it. But I was determined to figure out how to get perfectly peeled hard-cooked eggs that were fresh. Then several days ago, I read about a great tip for hard-boiling fresh eggs. It was to STEAM them instead. No more boiling. No more hard-to-peel eggs. No more waiting until your fresh eggs are old. No more salting the water. No more cracked eggs if they knock

Crack The Egg Carton Code ~ Pt. 1 April 11, 2021 (A snapshot of the code on our store-bought egg carton!)   Q: How old are the eggs being sold in the grocery store? A: It's just about impossible to tell, but they could be up to 2 months old. Yup, really. So, what's the fuss all about? Well... By law, an egg can be sold for up to 30 days after the date it was put in the carton. Yes, that says 'put in the carton', not laid or collected, but packaged. And I'm told (although I can't find anything official in writing to confirm this) that a farmer has up to 30 days to package an egg after it's laid. So that means a commercially sold egg can be two months old by the time you buy it. Sure the egg will be just fine to eat. Not as fresh, of course. The yolk won't be quite as firm and the whites will be more runny, but it will still be fine to eat. The air sac will be larger since more air has had the chance to seep through the pores in the shell. And there's

   My Independent Science Experiment 2021 April 4, 2021 (A screenshot of my computer screen as I worked on my lab report!) As you all know, around Christmastime, I had to do an Independent Science Experiment for school. I decided to do: "Advances Of How Music Has An Effect On A Chick". I think my experiment turned out really well. The results were shocking! The experiment got 2nd place in a county science fair! Plus, I want everyone to see the results of how music affects the brain. So, without further ado, I give you my lab report on my Independent Science Experiment! Advances Of How Music Has An Effect On A Chick Purpose : To find out whether classical music actually has an effect on a chick’s brain, and whether it might have an effect on a human’s brain. Hypothesis : I hypothesized that the chick that was exposed to music would be mature in size, wingspan, weight, and behavior, because of exposure to constant classical music, and the chick that is not exposed to music