Eggs
Out at the coop I discovered an egg without a shell. It looked like a normal egg with a slightly lighter colour but the "shell" turned out to be a delicate, slightly leathery membrane. It was kind of how I imagine turtle eggs to be (except more egg shaped)
Looks like someone hasn't been eating her grit.
I was going to show it to the Green Lady but when I got back to the kitchen and tried to take it out of the egg box it broke. There was much cursing, but I managed to save most of the content in a ramekin dish and the resulting mess is sitting in the fridge.
I'm amazed a hen can lay an egg like that without it bursting as it comes out of the oviduct. But then hens are a constant surprise to me anyway. Young birds coming in to point of lay start off with little practice eggs that look like those tiny game bird eggs you can buy in the supermarket. Sometimes there is a yoke inside, sometimes not.
As time goes by the eggs get bigger and become...egg sized. Then they go through a phase where they sometimes lay a double yoker. You can tell these because they're larger than "normal". Finally all the practice pays off and you get a consistent stream of nice eggs.
I'm not sure where I stand with Chickens. The Green Lady gives them all names, which I think is a mistake with stock. I maintain a polite, professional demeanour.
"Afternoon Ladies!" I say as I enter the enclosure. They stare back at me with those mad eyes that birds have. Chickens are to far away from my phenotype to relate to in the same way as a mammal like a dog or cat. They are approximately tame, but if you try and stroke them they either run away or adopt a crouching submissive posture.
They know which side their bread is buttered though. Bread!!! Chickens love bread. They get some as a mid afternoon treat (and to distract them away from the nests so I can do a bit of surreptitious egg collecting). It's like the Hero throwing a handful of coins into a group of beggars at the Casbah and making his getaway in the confusion.
They go mental.
All birds like bread. I bet even Raptors like bread. They just wait until no one is looking. It's their secret shame.
Birds are descended from Dinosaurs, so they say. I expect Dinosaurs like bread too. I bet Professor Challenger wouldn't have had half as much trouble if he had slipped a couple of packs of sliced Mothers Pride into his rucksack before setting off for The Lost World.
Looks like someone hasn't been eating her grit.
I was going to show it to the Green Lady but when I got back to the kitchen and tried to take it out of the egg box it broke. There was much cursing, but I managed to save most of the content in a ramekin dish and the resulting mess is sitting in the fridge.
I'm amazed a hen can lay an egg like that without it bursting as it comes out of the oviduct. But then hens are a constant surprise to me anyway. Young birds coming in to point of lay start off with little practice eggs that look like those tiny game bird eggs you can buy in the supermarket. Sometimes there is a yoke inside, sometimes not.
As time goes by the eggs get bigger and become...egg sized. Then they go through a phase where they sometimes lay a double yoker. You can tell these because they're larger than "normal". Finally all the practice pays off and you get a consistent stream of nice eggs.
I'm not sure where I stand with Chickens. The Green Lady gives them all names, which I think is a mistake with stock. I maintain a polite, professional demeanour.
"Afternoon Ladies!" I say as I enter the enclosure. They stare back at me with those mad eyes that birds have. Chickens are to far away from my phenotype to relate to in the same way as a mammal like a dog or cat. They are approximately tame, but if you try and stroke them they either run away or adopt a crouching submissive posture.
They know which side their bread is buttered though. Bread!!! Chickens love bread. They get some as a mid afternoon treat (and to distract them away from the nests so I can do a bit of surreptitious egg collecting). It's like the Hero throwing a handful of coins into a group of beggars at the Casbah and making his getaway in the confusion.
They go mental.
All birds like bread. I bet even Raptors like bread. They just wait until no one is looking. It's their secret shame.
Birds are descended from Dinosaurs, so they say. I expect Dinosaurs like bread too. I bet Professor Challenger wouldn't have had half as much trouble if he had slipped a couple of packs of sliced Mothers Pride into his rucksack before setting off for The Lost World.