"An egg today is better than a hen tomorrow" Part VI - The Rest

aka, I've been fairly comprehensive up to this point, and now I'm starting to get busy with other life things...too busy to focus so heavily on a project that I myself won't be able to do for at least several years.  So I'm doing a cop-out:  here's a fantastic link, from backyardchickens.com about everything else you will need to know about raising chickens.  This includes diseases, if you get them from egg vs. chick, suppliers, all that fun stuff.

So I hope you enjoyed my random six-part informational section about the backyard hen house!  I know I did, and I will definitely be using all this research sometime in the near(ish) future.

"An Egg Today is Better Than a Hen Tomorrow": an Introduction to the Backyard Hen House

Farm fresh eggs - that golden orange yolk, that hormone-free goodness.  We all would love to have them, but unless you have a very large wallet or live on or near a farm, you're a bit out of luck.  Perhaps this reason (and the rising popularity of a self-sustained living) is why more and more people are building backyard hen houses?  If I had the space for it, I would do it in a heartbeat.  That is why I have decided to create a series of posts about the backyard hen house - for those that can do it, but do not know how (and for myself in the future). 

For those of you who do not know/have never noticed the difference, please take a gander at this photo and article from Spoonful New York's blog:

 

Left = farm fresh.  Right = supermarket

Look forward to more in-depth posts about how to start your very own backyard hen house in the near future. 

National Egg Month (?)

According to the American Egg Board (yes, such a thing does indeed exist...), May is National Egg Month. 

What exactly IS National Egg Month?  Why is there a National Egg Month?  According to the American Egg Board and the Incredible Edible Egg: 

"Because sales tend to slow at that time"

 There ya go.  

So, what can you do with National Egg Month (besides eat eggs)?  Well, you can buy some really nifty things like: 

- A National Egg Month magnifying ruler! (Ooo!) 

   

- A National Egg Month mini notepad! (Wow!)

  

- A National Egg Month "a-mazing" maze!  (Swell!)

  

- A National Egg Month chicken-shaped yellow scrubber! (...part of me actually kind of wants this...)

Happy National Egg Month everybody!

6 uses for eggs (besides eating and decorating)

Instructables.com has a great list of 6 unusual uses for eggs: 

1.  Hair care.  Gross?  Very, but eggs, being high in protein, make good conditioning masks.  Take some egg whites, beat them with a whisk till frothy, add a bit of olive oil, put on your hair, leave for 20 minutes, rinse, and voila!  Conditioning.  And, if you want to smell more fresh than freshly laid, add some scented oils to the concoction.   Supposedly this also works for dogs (feeding them scrambled eggs) and skin care (whisk whites or yolks with water and use it as face wash - alternate each night). 

2.  Arts and Crafts Glue.  Egg whites as they dry become very sticky.  or for papier-mâché, egg whites + flour + sugar + a little alum. 

3.  Plant water (from making hard or soft boiled eggs).  let it cool first (obviously), then go ahead!  Shells are full o' calcium, so besides the water, save the shells for composting. 

 4.  Ghetto band-aid and first aid.  From a hard-boiled egg, use the thin membrane between the white and the shell to cover your wound.  Also, if you get a bruise, use a freshly hard-boiled egg to rub over the bruised surface.  The warm pressure dissipates some of the pooling blood. 

5.  Leather cleaner.  Gentry rub hard-boiled egg whites onto leather (supposedly any leather), and wipe off with a damp cloth.  Makes your leather clean and shiny!

6.  Jewelry cleaner (not sterling silver).  From Instructables: "First boil an egg or two, depending on the size of your jewelry. You only need the hardboiled yolk...Break up the yolks a bit, and place at the bottom of a container that you can easily seal. Set a wire rack over the yolks so you can hold your jewelry above without directly touching the yolks. If you don't have a rack, use some paper towels. Place your jewelry in, and seal the container. Let sit for a day (or longer if you want it darker), and wash silver with a bit of soap. Heads up: the yolks will smell pretty nasty after sitting out, so be sure to open your container in a well-ventilated area."  There you go.

Aren't eggs awesome?  I'm not sure if I would do some of these...but hey!  Who knows?