Well I'm sure you have all been at the edge of your keyboards wondering what happened in the Sophie's Choice experiment. Wish I had something definitive to tell you, but here is the report...
I took four eggs and blew them out, then syringed dishsoap into them. You are supposed to tape the holes--oh please, a rounded eggshell with egg and soap on it??? I sorta got the tape to stick and stuck one in each nesting box. I collected the good eggs and it just happened that both Sophie and Rocks Anne were in the coop. So, I shut everyone else out for 45 minutes or so to set them up.
Returned only to find that Rocks Ann had laid an egg, but the soap ones were untouched. Then I got to thinking, maybe Sophie was just cleaning up someone else's mess and was busted on circumstantial evidence. I let everyone else in and left them alone.
That evening I found several good eggs and all of the soap ones were fine. What the heck? Am I back to thinking a weak egg cracked and or got sat on? Either way, you don't want hens getting a taste of eggs, so I just left the soap ones there.
Last night I noticed a good egg and one of the soap ones broken. OK. Now what? I left the others and this morning when I checked Sophie was laying, but there was one more broken soap one and I can't even find the other two. I did scan everyone to see if somebody was blowing bubbles LOL! Didn't see any suds spewing out either end, so who knows? I will likely find them when I muck out the coop this weekend. (I suspect they smell the soap as it was pretty hard to wash off the ends.)
I just got back from work and I got 5 eggs, but 2 (below) of them had holes on an end, but not broken through the membrane so it wasn't eaten...I have been feeding the latest organic, complete (and expensive Omega 3) diet for laying hens, but am adding more oyster shell.
So the game plan is to make more soap eggs and put a cushy floor in each box and see what happens. I have plenty of eggs, so right now is a good time to straighten this out! I will keep you all posted as the mystery unfolds!
Yours in the coop,
Gale
P.S. I thought it might be nice to add an inspiring "Quote for the Post" at the bottom of my posts from now on...
"Worry is the darkroom where negatives develop!" --Author Unknown
I took four eggs and blew them out, then syringed dishsoap into them. You are supposed to tape the holes--oh please, a rounded eggshell with egg and soap on it??? I sorta got the tape to stick and stuck one in each nesting box. I collected the good eggs and it just happened that both Sophie and Rocks Anne were in the coop. So, I shut everyone else out for 45 minutes or so to set them up.
Returned only to find that Rocks Ann had laid an egg, but the soap ones were untouched. Then I got to thinking, maybe Sophie was just cleaning up someone else's mess and was busted on circumstantial evidence. I let everyone else in and left them alone.
That evening I found several good eggs and all of the soap ones were fine. What the heck? Am I back to thinking a weak egg cracked and or got sat on? Either way, you don't want hens getting a taste of eggs, so I just left the soap ones there.
Last night I noticed a good egg and one of the soap ones broken. OK. Now what? I left the others and this morning when I checked Sophie was laying, but there was one more broken soap one and I can't even find the other two. I did scan everyone to see if somebody was blowing bubbles LOL! Didn't see any suds spewing out either end, so who knows? I will likely find them when I muck out the coop this weekend. (I suspect they smell the soap as it was pretty hard to wash off the ends.)
I just got back from work and I got 5 eggs, but 2 (below) of them had holes on an end, but not broken through the membrane so it wasn't eaten...I have been feeding the latest organic, complete (and expensive Omega 3) diet for laying hens, but am adding more oyster shell.
So the game plan is to make more soap eggs and put a cushy floor in each box and see what happens. I have plenty of eggs, so right now is a good time to straighten this out! I will keep you all posted as the mystery unfolds!
Yours in the coop,
Gale
P.S. I thought it might be nice to add an inspiring "Quote for the Post" at the bottom of my posts from now on...
"Worry is the darkroom where negatives develop!" --Author Unknown
Egg eating is a hard one to stop from what I read so I wish you luck. Maybe it's not her so I would sort that out first. You didn't leave enough time for her without most of the others. She apparently is smarter than you are giving her credit for. :)
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Goldenray Yorkies