My Chirpy Chicken Coop

      Fresh Egg Anatomy May 30, 2021 (Hamilton's fresh egg cracked open into a bowl!) In my last post, I reviewed the basic anatomy of an egg. We all know that an egg is comprised of a shell, and then inside there's the yolk and the white. But an egg is actually oh-so-much-more than that! The anatomy of a fresh egg is pretty fascinating. Do you know that an egg has every nutrient needed to for life except  Vitamin C? Do you know that the white takes up about two-thirds of the volume of the contents of the eggshell and the yolk takes up the remaining one-third? And the yolk contains about half of the protein in an egg, the majority of nutrients, but also most of the fat. Do you know what the thin twisted strands are that you sometimes find in an egg? Or why the "white" is  sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy? Or how about the blood spot you sometimes find on the yolk? Albumen (Egg White) An egg white contains protein, as well as niacin, riboflavin, magnesium, p...

      Egg Anatomy May 23, 2021   (An egg laid by Angelica!) Most of you probably eat eggs regularly. They are nutritious and an inexpensive, versatile protein source. You probably crack the shell and let the insides plop into your fry pan or mixing bowl without a second thought. But did you ever wonder what exactly is inside that eggshell? Or sometimes see red spots or squiggly white strands inside and wonder what they are? Well, wonder no more.  An egg is comprised of several components including: the bloom, the shell, the membrane, the white, and the yolk. It's pretty amazing that a chicken manages to lay an egg roughly every 26 hours and within each egg is a self-contained beginning of new life, if the egg is fertile (more on that later), that contains every nutrient necessary for life except Vitamin C. Commercially sold eggs are candled before heading to grocery stores, they're generally not all that fresh, and they aren't fertilized, so you might never see ...

      All About Eggs May 16, 2021 (A carton of 24 of our hens' fresh eggs!) In this post, I'm going to share everything you ever would want or need to know about eggs. Myths such as believing that a blood spot on the yolk of an egg indicates fertility, that chickens need a rooster present in order to lay eggs, or that feeding a chicken garlic will make hers egg taste like garlic will be busted. Read on for more facts and fiction about eggs! The color of an eggshell is dictated by a hen's breed and genes (not by the color of her earlobes!). A hen lays the same color egg her whole life.  The color of the yolk is dictated by a hen's diet. Foods containing xanthophyll such as corn, marigolds and alfalfa help make egg yolks a vibrant orange color. The white of a fresh egg will be thick and gloopy.  As the egg ages, the white will start to get runny and thin. The number on a carton of eggs indicates the date the egg was packaged (i.e. 306 stamped on the carton means t...

     Common Herbs & Their Health Benefits May 9, 2021 (A pic of our herbal thyme shrub!) Culinary herbs are easy to grow and have amazing health benefits for both you and your chickens. Herbs and edible flowers look pretty and smell nice. They can help keep bugs and rodents out of your coop, aid in poultry overall health and well-being, providing essential vitamins and minerals, and also work to support the respiratory, digestive and circulatory systems. All of the culinary herbs are perfectly safe to use around the chickens, so there's no worry about any being toxic or harmful to them. (CAUTION: I would add a note of caution when using essential oils because they are extremely concentrated and can actually be harmful if you don't use them correctly.)  Stick with fresh herbs as much as possible, used dried when you don't have fresh, and toss a variety of herbs into your coop and nesting boxes any time you trim your herb plants. Here is a quick reference of some o...

     The Health Benefits Of Herbs For Chickens May 2, 2021 (An overhead pic of our herb garden!) Almost every culinary herb (plus spices and many common flowers such as roses, nasturtium, bee balm, etc.) has amazing health benefits for both humans and animals. You can grow a wide assortment of herbs to use in cooking and also in conjunction with raising your chickens. Many are perennials, such as lavender, mint, thyme and pineapple sage, or reseed themselves like dill, parsley and cilantro, so you can just add a few more annuals, such as basil, marjoram and sage each spring to achieve a varied selection of herbs. You can put fresh herbs in the nesting boxes to calm laying hens, repel insects and rodents and add an aromatic scent to the chicken coop. You can brew herbal tea for our chicks and ducklings to give them a good start in life and also for our laying hens - warm in the winter, iced in the summer. You can put fresh herbs in chick brooders for the newly hatched litt...

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 ...