Chicken Project, Part IV: Eggs

To entice the chickens to lay eggs in the nest boxes, we used a variety of strategies that we'd read about (e.g., putting egg-shaped rocks or golf balls in the nests).

An exciting day in the Great Pocatello Chicken Project was when the first egg was laid.  Since then, we've received a mini-education in egg variety: color, size, hardness of shells, etc.

When the chickens began to peck open and eat their own eggs, we tried several strategies to discourage them, such as injecting decoy eggs with vinegar or chili pepper sauce.  We found that the best way to prevent egg cannibalization is to simply get to the eggs as soon as possible after they are laid.  This sometimes means reaching under a nesting chicken to retrieve warm eggs.

Two of the most amazing eggs laid so far are the "Frankenegg" and the "PeeWee Egg."  The Frankenegg was extraordinarily large (it's the lower right egg in the carton pictured above).  Naomi assumed it contained a double yolk, but when she opened it, she found a fully-formed, hard-shelled egg inside it.

 

Average egg and Frankenegg                                                              

Surprise!




The PeeWee egg (below) was laid recently.  It's perfectly round and apparently doesn't contain a yolk.PeeWee egg and average egg