There are just some lessons that you need to learn as a farmer's wife. Some come harder than others. Now, I learned this lesson a while ago, but I never posted about it, because it might be a tough lesson for the readers as well. So, brace yourself, this one might be tough for some of you to swallow (kind of like finding out the ingredients in a hot dog).
Having chickens is fun - it is great, actually. Fresh eggs are so much better than store-bought eggs, there is just something about them. They are healthier too. Here is a fun fact for you! Look at the color of the yolk on your eggs - the paler yellow it is, the more cholesterol the yolk has, and the less healthier the egg. Our chicken eggs, when we crack them open, have a deep yellow orange yolk. That means the chickens are healthier! You see - our chickens are pasture-raised, so they move around more, and they eat stuff off the ground, like grass, or other veggies that we give them, and bugs, or even mice! This varied diet and exercise is so good for them, and then it makes their eggs healthier too. Next time you crack an egg open, check out that yolk - it is your own indicator of the quality of the egg. Deep orange/yellow is what you are looking for.
Now, off that tangent - the lesson. I'm a biology teacher, and in college, I learned that chickens only have one orifice (or opening) where materials exit their body, called the cloaca or vent. It is the only opening that materials exit a bird's body. I never really thought about this, until I started living on our farm. You see, that means, the opening that the eggs come out of, is also the opening that the bird's wastes come out of. To put it shortly, there is typically a little "poo" on the eggs!
You learn this lesson when you first go to take the eggs out of the coop, and they aren't very clean. Now, stop right there, don't let your imagination get the best of you - it's not like they are completely poop-covered eggs. But, there is little bits, here and there. Now, some eggs are spotless, you know its a good day when the eggs are all clean. But, others, require a little cleaning.
When we first had chickens, Luke would clean all the eggs up - and he was good at it! Now, I frequently here the statement, "Mel, can you go clean the chicken eggs for me?" Oh brother, it isn't fun. Scrubbing poop off an egg probably isn't any one's idea of a good time. A lot of industrial companies bleach the eggs, but this isn't good for the egg- because egg shells are porous membranes, which means chemicals can go in (or out). Plus, bleaching the egg starts to break down the shell, hence, it gives the eggs a shorter shelf-life. No, the best way to clean an egg is to just use good old-fashioned paper towel, water, and a little scrubbing power.
Well, sometimes I am a little over-zealous with my scrubbing, and I make a mistake. For example, today, there was one pretty dirty egg, and I had it almost spotless, one tiny more spot. And then, I pushed to hard and broke the egg into pieces - it is very frustrating! That happens rarely though, and it is all part of the business I suppose. But still, cleaning eggs isn't the funnest thing in the world.
And since I'm talking about eggs, I'm going to go ahead and give you another little fun fact! Eggs do not need to be refrigerated when they are fresh! We take them out of the coop and put them on our counter! They are just fine this way - nothing wrong with it! They stay very good! People are used to having them refrigerated, so they think it is gross. But, refrigerating eggs actually decreases the shelf life! Once they are refrigerated, they have to stay that way! So don't go taking your eggs out of the fridge - but if you ever go buy eggs from a farm, don't be freaked out if they aren't in the fridge, because they don't need to be. And, peeling farm-fresh hard-boiled eggs can be difficult, so the best thing to do is put a tiny bit of vinegar in the boiling water. Then, they peel like a charm!
Alright, some of you may be reading this and still can't get over the fact that bird feces is on eggs. But don't get all freaked out and over-react - you have been eating eggs your whole life probably, and it never bothered you before, in fact, you never knew. You learn something new every day. It is all part of the natural process of life, and the eggs are all cleaned when you get them, so there is nothing to worry about. In fact! We rarely clean the eggs we use - you crack them and compost the shell anyway, so there is no reason for us to clean them up (unless there is hay on them, we take that off). So, if I could get used to this, you should all be able to! Just being thankful you aren't the person cleaning them...
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