Where Do Eggs Come From - How Chickens Create Eggs

Warning!
The following post contains graphic material.

Some time ago, we ran an article on this very subject, complete with artistic representations of the inner workings of a mature, laying hen. (Chickens, Eggs, Fertilization, Reproduction and Other Insider Information) Now, due to an unfortunate hawk attack, we can show you the real thing.

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Are Your Chicken Eggs Fresh Enough To Eat? The Float Test.

At first you think your hens aren't laying like they used to. Fewer and fewer eggs appear in the nest box. And then one day you decide to clean up that thicket of an herb garden in the back corner of your yard, and lo and behold... EGGS! Yup - your silly girls apparently decided amongst themselves that your life was getting too boring and thought they'd liven it up with a bit of a "treasure" hunt. (Wish they'd let you know about the game a bit earlier, right?)

And now here you are with 20+ eggs of unknown age. But don't toss them just yet! There is actually a way to know if some of your discovered "treasure" is edible (provided there was no broody hen trying to incubate said treasure). If there was a broody involved for any length of time, toss them... unless they are fertile and you want to hatch them, of course.

Anyhoo - to test eggs for freshness, do the float test. The basic rule of thumb is the fresher the egg is, the more of the egg will touch the bottom of the glass or bowl.

 

Ewww... a floater!

Don't eat an egg that floats. They are no good!

 Though it is hard to tell from the photo, this egg is standing on its small end with the larger end up. The egg may be a week or two old, but is still fairly fresh. 

This egg is laying on its side. This egg was laid recently and should be very fresh.

*It should be noted that the float test can only help determine the approximate age of an egg. It can not tell you if the egg carries salmonella or is otherwise compromised from a health-safety standpoint. If the eggs were laid by your own hens, are fairly fresh and were not exposed to weather extremes, it is likely they are fine to eat.

Don't eat eggs that:

• Have been exposed to high temperatures or direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time.
• Have an unpleasant odor. 
• May have been incubated by a broody.
• Were laid by a bird that shows signs of sickness.

And most of all, use your common sense.

Happy hunting!

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Update on the Cracked Egg

If you have not already read the story of how one of my fertile and developing eggs was cracked, you can read it HERE.

I should mention that while I don't feel the use of medical tape intervention to be "natural," I can only say that with such an important egg at stake, the tape worked.

And now what you've been waiting for...

Proof!!

 Poor little "Humpty Dumpty" is a little stickier than its siblings. When I removed the tape from the egg, the tape pulled a nickle-size piece of shell off with it. This resulted in higher moisture loss while the chick was hatching and some of the membrane dried on the chick.

 Group photo - Humpty is in the far right.

 A sibling... just because.

 And the other sibling. Aren't they precious?

I'm happy to say that mom is doing very well with her new babies. I should mention that Mamma (a Silkie X Bantam Cochin) turned 25 weeks of age only yesterday! Yup - she went broody at 23 weeks after starting laying at only 20 weeks of age. (She was given eggs that had already been developing for a week.) I have a feeling she's going to be a great mamma to a lot of chicks in her life...  The best incubators are the ones that peck when you try to candle the eggs!

So, that's the story of a cracked and dented egg. Luckily for me medical tape did a better job than all the king's horses and all the king's men did in the classic children's rhyme, and this story has a much happier ending!

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The Story of a Dropped Egg - A Not-So Crushing Experience

I had 3 Swedish Flower Hen eggs in the incubator and all were developing nicely at day 6 when another of my girls went broody. Once I was sure the broody was broody to stay, I took the 3 'bator eggs out to give to her. That's when tragedy struck...

I dropped one! While it didn't burst open, it had a dent in it with  spider web shaped cracks running from it - - about the size of a nickel. Needless to say I was horrified as this was one of my first 3 fertile Swedish Flower Hen eggs since I lost my beautiful Gunnar to an accidental poisoning when the neighbors had an exterminator out. (That's a story for a different day.)

I did what any less-than-sane chicken woman would do... took the egg back inside and stuck a piece of medical tape over the cracks and dent, and stuck it in the incubator. (I mean really - I wouldn't want it to burst under the broody and harm the other eggs, for goodness sake!)

I candled the egg the next day and to my amazement, saw movement in it!

That was 2 weeks ago. Today I went to candle the egg (due to hatch on Monday) and found an external pip! The tape was on part of the egg where the chick should zip, so unfortunately I had no choice but to remove it. When I did, part of the shell came off too. So, knowing that my own incubator doesn't hold humidity well and that in this predicament the chick would be likely to get shrink wrapped, I took it out and slipped it under the hen - and this time I didn't drop it!

(Perhaps one can see why I have been such a butter-fingers lately.)

Now I'm holding my breath in hopes that it will be able to successfully hatch even though the shell of the egg is compromised. I figure the moisture from the broody hen's body will help prevent shrink wrapping.

Needless to say, I'm quite amazed the egg continued to develop after its little accident.

I'll try to post an update when I know what happens!

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Oh - and if you haven't heard yet, there is a "Cutest Chick Photo Contest" over on the Les Farms FaceBook fan page. Check it out HERE. The winner gets a Brinsea EcoGlow!!! 

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Update - 7:50 PM EST, 08/04/2013:
I'm pleased to announce the chick from the broken egg has hatched. It is perfectly healthy and the new mom is taking great care of her 3 new babies.  Yippeeee! 

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How Do Chickens "Do It?" Chicken Sex Explained

Well this wasn’t the post I had planned on doing today, but when I trotted outside with my camera to capture some artistic chicken shots on this glorious day, I was treated to a real lens full. Compliments of my Swedish Flower Hen rooster (yes – that is an oxymoron, but the capitalized part is the actual breed name) and one of his Swedish Flower Hen… hens, I found myself with the material for an educational course on the birds and the bees… with an emphases on the birds.

You know? This may seem in rather poor taste to post all of this, but if you are reading this blog, chances are you live on a farm or farmette, or at very least you have or want chickens. I think those of us who are farmers or farmers at heart realize that animals aren’t exactly shy about what (or who) they do or where/when they do it.

(Photo source unknown, but clearly brilliant!)

 So please consider this a warning. If you are easily offended or embarrassed, 

Stop Reading NOW!

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If you are still reading, I will assume that you will not be offended or call me out for posting chicken porn on this blog. Further, I will assume you are either curious about how eggs get fertilized, or you simply can't live without knowing how I am going to approach this delicate subject in such a public manner.

As the mother of 3 children, it would be all to easy to start out with, "When a daddy chicken loves a mommy chicken very, very much..." 

But you know? We're all grownups here. These are chickens, not humans, so let's keep it real. 

It all begins with a hormonally-charged rooster looking for all the world as if he is using Joey's line from the sitcom Friends... "How you doin'?"

Then the Fabio side of Mr. Roo (his name is Gunnar) kicks in for the foreplay. If he could speak, I think it might sound something like: "Hello very fine lady. Do you see the lovely and flamboyant dance that I do just for you. I have lowered my shockingly well-formed wing so as to allow you to see my beautiful feathers. You are impressed, no?"

"Are you not paying attention to my amorous advances, sexy lady? Do you not think me divine?"

"Shall I share my awesomeness with you?"

And here, you can practically hear Astrid's exclamation of "Ooofff" as Gunnar takes a sudden and rather clumsy leap onto her back and balances with one foot on either of her shoulders.

The act that follows takes the balance and skill of Tom Cruise's character in Mission Impossible as he navigates some ridiculously unrealistic obstacle course of deadly laser beams that we all know were electronically added in during editing. (As an aside, I initially spelled "obstacle" wrong and my spell check wanted to change it to "obstetrical." Hmmm... very insightful for my little HAL 9000.)

"Watch as Gunnar delicately navigates this obstetrical course..."

Sometimes Gunnar uses his wings much like a tightrope walker uses a balance pole. Hey - it takes skill to stand on someone's shoulders while having "relations" with them... not that I would know from experience.. but... ahem - moving right along...

The above photo that captured the actual 2 seconds where the "home run" happened.

Excerpt from the post Chickens, Eggs, Fertilization, Reproduction and Other Insider Information:

"When a rooster mates with a hen, he mounts her and, standing on her back, lowers his cloaca (vent) and the hen inverts her own cloaca to meet with his. There is no penetration, but the sperm packet released by the male is taken into the hen's cloaca or vent. From there the sperm makes its way to the infundibulum where it awaits the release of an ovum. Sperm can live in the infundibulum for more than 2 weeks."

Yeah - about 2 seconds is all the splendor in the grass that hen can expect.

Chicken folks will call this part "head-skating", "shoulder-surfing" or just "mating."

(And I call this postition, "The Vulture" he whispered softly into her ear as he fell off her back.)

That's right... shake it off!

A quick, post-coital snuggle...

"Quick! Act like nothing happened! Here comes one of my other wives!"

"I'll call you... "

And then comes the egg - though it can take a few days for eggs to be fertile after the first mating of a hen and roo. Also, eggs can be fertile for up to 3 weeks following the last 2-second romantic encounter between birds.

Even hens without roosters in the yard can go broody, but of course only fertile eggs will hatch.

"Look at me when I'm screaming at you, Mr.! First I push about a dozen objects larger then my own head out of my cloaca, and then I have to SIT here for 21 days! Did you HEAR that? Twenty-one days... while you... what? While you're off doing the wing-dance for that hussy, Ginger!"

And then come chicks!

And that, my friends, is where baby chickens come from!


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Calcium: Mixed Flocks vs. Mixed Feeds

By Leigh

As chicken keepers, many of us worry if our flock is getting enough of the necessary minerals, vitamins and nutrients. Modern, pre-mixed feeds tend to lessen that concern for many, yet if you have a mixed flock, these premixed feeds may present another danger.

For those that have a flock comprised only of laying hens, Layer Feed may work just perfectly. For those who have roosters and younger birds that are not yet laying mixed in with laying hens, premixed Layer Feed may not be the best thing for your whole flock.

The reason behind this conundrum is the calcium content of commercial Layer Feeds.

The calcium content in chick starter / grower feeds and general flock feeds usually falls between 0.5% and 1.5%.

The average calcium content of Layer Feed ranges from 3.25% to 4.8%. If a bird is laying regularly, these calcium levels are fine as the calcium is used to create the shell of the egg… but for any bird that is not laying, these levels may be too high, and might actually cause harm to some birds.

If a chicken is not laying and using excess calcium to produce egg shell, the kidney must filter out the excess calcium. Over time this can cause kidney failure.

Too much calcium, or Hypercalcaemia, can also result in calcification of the soft tissues and organs (including the liver and heart), pancreatitis, egg binding, dry skin, appetite loss, lethargy, confusion, depression, slowed growth in pullets and cockerels, dehydration, diarrhea or constipation,and even death.

So how do you feed a mixed flock of chickens without causing calcium deficiencies in laying hens, yet not overdosing young birds and roosters?

Many long-time chicken keepers who use commercial feed use “Grower” or “Flock Raiser” products designed for non-laying birds aged 10 to 18 weeks, and then offer free-choice oyster shell. Chickens won’t overdose themselves on calcium when it is fed free-choice. You will almost never see a rooster picking through oyster shell unless he just saw a bug jump into the dish.

It should also be noted that vitamin D3 is absolutely essential to the proper absorption of calcium. Most living critters obtain the bulk of their D3 through sunlight – so make sure your flock is getting plenty of rays! Not enough sun can cause laying hens to be unable to absorb the calcium in their diet. This can be just as dangerous to laying hens as too much calcium in the food would be to non-laying birds.

I will also note that other long-time chicken keepers report no ill effects from feeding layer feed to their entire flocks for many years.

Every bird is different and every breed of chicken is different. Some may be more sensitive to higher calcium levels, and others may be just fine with it. Those that get tons of natural sunlight may properly absorb much higher levels of calcium than those that stay inside for long periods.

My personal philosophy is that if I can do something that may help avoid long-term health issues in my flock without additional expense, it’s worth doing. I have always offered free choice oyster shell anyway, so switching feeds to the lower calcium feed made sense in my case. You be the judge and do what will be best for you and your flock.

Cheers

Leigh

And special congratulations to the winner of the Nest Box Blend Giveaway: Marianne Cowan. Please email us at shabbychicken@hotmail.com, Marianne!

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Great Tricks for Using Inexpensive Incubators - One Woman's Incubating Efforts‏

By Jane, AKA Mumsy

 

Artificial incubation of chicken eggs is nothing new. Since earliest history keeping there are accounts on how this was accomplished. From the earliest Egyptians as recorded by Aristotle in 400 BC. Those incubators were made of mud brick and look like enormous kilns. The exactness of the eggs temperature was tested by holding the egg to the eye lid. This skill is so precise it is still practiced and handed down through generations. These methods and kilns are still used to this day. I have read that hatch rate is very often 80%! Not bad. Not bad at all.

Since mankind started domesticating poultry, it became apparent waiting for a broody to get in the mood wasn't going to supply enough eggs and chickens for a growing population year round. Incubation has gotten a bit easier for us in this day and time. With so many more folks wanting to hatch just a few eggs or hundreds, electricity and finely calibrated thermometers and hygrometers helps a lot. Then why is it so difficult with some incubation methods and incubators?

This article is about the way I go about it using an inexpensive Little Giant Styrofoam incubator. It could hold forty eggs with an automatic turner but I don't need that many chicks for my home use. I usually set half that amount or less.

First things first. Setting it up in place where there is no forced heat source from my electric heater. If I had a choice it wouldn't be near a door that is opening and closing to the outside as well. To cut down on drafts the incubator is set into the bottom portion of the card board box it came in.

I also poke extra holes evenly distributed on the top of the incubator. Being careful to make them the same size. The extra ventilation is a good thing. This is done before setting eggs.

For me keeping written records comes naturally. No worries about second guessing age of eggs, who laid what, when to turn the eggs, and all the other little details that will help me with future hatches.

I collect eggs for hatching as soon as I can. Warm from the hen is my favorite. I keep all nest boxes clean. If there may be a small poop spot, I clean it off gently with an emery board. If it doesn't sand off easily, I don't put it in my incubator.

The eggs go immediately into my house into a dark cool closet. This is where writing the date collected on the egg becomes important. During candling and hatch, I can tell at a glance how old each egg is. If an egg becomes a quitter, that date on that egg goes into my notebook. Good way to know if I'm setting eggs that are too old.

I keep a thermometer/hygrometer next to the egg carton. It has to read 58 to 60 degrees with 30% humidity reliably before I store the eggs. A dark +00

wax crayon is attached to the carton with a ribbon. I mark each egg at the large end with the initials of the hen (I would use breed or color if applicable) the date I collected it and an X and O on each side. I can't read pencil through my incubators window and I don't like the idea of ink or other unknown marker on my porous egg shell. Wax crayons are harmless and I can and have used different colors for different hens or breeds.

Two days before I have my batch of eggs collected, the incubator is plugged in and I put all my necessary items inside it. This is the most important time for me. Once eggs go in, the last thing I want to be fooling around with is temp/humidity readings and whether I forgot to add something. 

The inside of my incubator looks crammed. Well... It is! But everything has a reason or purpose. To help keep the temperature steady or keep eggs separate at hatch. This is what I use and why.

Five thermometers. One has a hygrometer. It is the best I could afford in a pet store with the reptile cage supplies. The next best is the meat probe thermometer. I keep the probe inside my homemade water weasel for accurate inside egg temp reading.

The water weasel is nothing more than a vacuum sealed bag full of water. I used a hot glue gun to double it over itself. Hot glue, plastic bag, water, and bare fingers are tricky together. If you make this, be very careful or you will burn a hole in the bag, burn your fingers and generally have a painful mess. Don't ask how I know this.

The glass jam jars with tightly fitting plastic lids are heat sinks. I may try filling them with clean stones someday. Water works. I have not had big dips in temperatures with this set up. The filled water jars help with that, as does that bag of water with my probe.

The 1/4 hardware cloth cage is held together with zip ties and I used electrical tape on the sharp edge. This goes in at lock down. When progeny testing chicks, this cage keeps babies from mixing together. 

The shelf liner is disposable. I like it on top of the wire bottom in the incubator. After hatching I take it out and toss it. Keeps a lot of the mess off the wire. 

My current set of eggs is on dry hatch. No water in the well channels. I live in the Pacific North West. It's wet here. A lotof the time. My humidity reading is holding steady at 33%.

At lock down, a few small sterile sponges will be lightly wet with warm distilled water and added in the corners of the incubator. This will bump humidity to 50% to 66%. Hatches with higher humidity than this have been disastrous in previous attempts for me. I get chicks to hatch but not full batches.

 

Humidity too high = too large chicks that drown in the shell before or after piping. No room inside the shell for all that chick and all the liquid. It's a sad end to other wise good development, and one I do not want to ever repeat.

When everything inside the incubator is set up and the temp is reading 100 degrees on at least four of five thermometers, the humidity is holding at 30 to 33% for at least 24 hours... Then I place the eggs inside.

The easiest way to calibrate a bunch of thermometers is set them together on a table in the room with your home thermostat. If they all read the same, you’re good to go. Some say to dip them in ice water until they all read 32 degrees. I haven't tried that.

Two thermometers are placed on the floor of the ‘bator on either side of the eggs. Two are set at egg level either side. The probe in the water weasel is set top egg level. When I turn my eggs, they are moved around the ‘bator. No egg sits more than six hours in the same spot. 

The first set will be eggs in the upright position. I don't open the incubator or turn the eggs for the first 24 hours.

In my notebook and on my calendar kept next to the incubator, I mark the day set. Each time I turn the eggs, I mark my notebook to which side (“X” or “O”) and the time. This is not something to worry over much, as long as they are turned at least a few times a day. It only takes me a minute to hand turn thirteen eggs. I keep a damp sponge in a cup next to the ‘bator and moisten the tips of my fingers before turning. Marking in my notebook gives me something to do. It beats staring at eggs through that little window. Yes. I have been known to stare at eggs. I should be sweeping the floor and dusting the china but staring at eggs for twenty-one days seems to be what I do best.

I mark on my calendar when to candle on the seventh day, fourteenth day, and eighteenth day. I just candle the three times. I take out half the eggs. Close the lid. Do the candle. Replace those eggs and take out the other half. It's after candling that takes the longest for the inside ‘bator temperature to come back up. I NEVER touch that adjuster if I can at all help it! The temp will come back up. Just walk away and try not to look for at least an hour. Here is where that probe thermometer and water weasel come in really handy. In my set up it has never dropped below 98 degrees after candling. The other thermometers may take a little while to come back up but that probe tells me the inside temp of the eggs is holding steady and safe. It takes a lot of worry a way. I lock down the incubator on the eighteenth day after one last good look at the eggs.

When that probe thermometer in the water weasel dips too low, that's when I pay attention. I will turn the room thermostat up a notch. I'll turn on an over head light above the incubator. But... I never touch that adjustment knob.

My candler is the brightest LED flashlight I could find at the local hardware store. Works great! But it has lots of other weird and alarming settings that nearly blinded me the first time I used it in the dark water closet. Flashing red lights and strobe beacons startled me good! Good thing I was sitting down!

There are many types and brands of incubators available. Some are truly excellent. Little is needed to attend them once they are set with eggs.

This article is geared to those folk like me. Hands on, attentive to details, and want to save a little money and not worry so much.

Artificially incubating eggs with cheapo set ups is fun. Especially when you get those details right. Things can and do go wrong but that's life. Happy hatching!


Cheers!

Mumsy

Leigh Says:

As a side note, on Mumsy’s advice, I have modified my own Little Giant incubator and am having far, far better results than my last attempt at incubating! No more 3 degree temperature swings and so much less worry!

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