With the Shells?

This week was a new one.

I've gotten hit with a few questions from non chicken people from time to time that are clearly a demonstration of a lack of knowledge of how the natural world works. At a guess I'd say the two most common are "Where do you keep your chickens in winter?" and "Oh, you need a rooster so that the hens will lay eggs, right?".

Okay, fairly innocent from folks that have never been around any kind of animal other than say, a cat or a dog, and didn't pay any kind of attention in grade school, I guess.

This week we were hit with a new one.

My wife works in a fairly urban, yet somewhat isolated part of New Jersey just across the river from NYC. She brings extra eggs in from time to time to gift to her regular customers. She told me about a peculiar exchange this week.

"Are these eggs from YOUR chickens?" asked the grateful receiver.

"Yes they are!" my lovely bride proudly exclaimed.

"They lay them like this?" the woman queried.

"Like what?" my wife responded

"Like ... they lay them IN the shells???" The confused woman responded.

What kind of a response can a person even have in that situation? A person so disconnected with the world ... likely raised so disconnected from the world by disconnected parents ... that even though she had bought eggs from the store many times over had no actual notion as to what they are or how they are formed.

My mind boggles at this. You think of isolated groups of people living in remote areas that might not know what the internet does. In most extreme cases, maybe not a TV or even an airplane or something. It fascinates me (and on some level horrifies me) that there can be people so insular in their own towns ... even urban ones in metropolitan areas ... that have no concept on things as simple as an egg. I don't mean to judge harshly, but this is the kind of disquieting experience that has me thinking 'the world is doomed'. Anyway, I surely hope she enjoys the eggs!

In other news, my broody hen is still trying to sit, and everyday I take her off of the nest and collect any eggs from under her. I hope she gives up soon, she'll need to get food and exercise. When I do take her off and place her gently in the run, she takes a few pecks of food, so I'm not overly concerned. I could use one of the methods to 'break' her of her broodiness, but the methods seems cruel, and anecdotally, they are not always effective. I'll let her sit, but I'm not going to let her hatch this year. That seems cruel enough to my overly sensitive heart.

Well, I have overly determined animals.

My broody hen is determined to sit.
My pig is determined to wake me at four each morning for breakfast.
NOT my cat is determined to come by about once a week for a free meal.

I am determined to try to get some more sleep when I can!