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ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: Cindi on December 08, 2008, 10:27:16 pm

Title: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Cindi on December 08, 2008, 10:27:16 pm
OK, so us that have chickens, ducks and turkeys (or maybe just the chickens, or ducks, or turkeys), know the strange things that happen in those chickenyards.  We have seen it all, those strange things done in the midnight sun.

I have encountered these eggs before -- those eggs that look like they have thousands of little tiny eggs growing on their shells.  Alien?  Doubt it, just those strange things done in that midnight sun.

Today, I thought that I would bring one of these strange eggs onto my picture taking counter.  It is a counter in my kitchen that has green, it is a great counter for taking pictures, due to the contrast of the green...oh I am ramblin'....I bet you can't wait to hear the story.  I shall go on.

If the egg is recently laid, these little teeny tiny balls are very hard still, but they can be moved around the surface of the egg, if the egg is left for the day, picked up after many hours, these little teeny tiny balls have become hard, and fairly well-stuck onto the surface of the egg, weird.

What I am positive that happens is that too much calcium comes out of the vent of the chicken when she lays the egg.  The little calcium balls get stuck on the surface of the egg, and then what.....well, I really don't know.  Are these thousands of little chicken egg balls that are all over the surface of the egg, the thousands of little eggs that may have come to fruition one day.  I leave that to your imagination, mine has already gone wild.  Beautiful and most great night and day, life, health.  Cindi

(http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3684/eggcalciumballsql8.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)

My Husband actually thought that it looked kind of like a globe map

(http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4820/eggcalciumballs2fq8.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)

Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Frantz on December 08, 2008, 10:39:36 pm
Wow, I have never seen that before and I have had hens for a long time. :shock:
I will be very interested to hear/see what others think of this.
Very cool pic Cindi, for sure. Keep me posted if you find anything out.
F
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Shawn on December 09, 2008, 12:24:09 am
Is it calcium build up?
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: JP on December 09, 2008, 12:30:46 am
They kinda look like fly eggs.


...JP
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Jerrymac on December 09, 2008, 12:32:03 am
Are you sure there is nothing in the nest sticking to the egg?
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: reinbeau on December 09, 2008, 09:06:28 am
Cindi, I may be wrong but I saw something about this over on BYC, I think those are some kind of insect egg.  Seriously.  I can't find the post, if you want, post it over there and see what they say.  Or I will, if you don't have an account there.
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Irwin on December 09, 2008, 10:27:09 am
I have seen this before like Cindi said if you get an egg right after it's laid they are soft when they dry they are part of the shell.
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Cindi on December 09, 2008, 10:37:12 am
Irwin and Shawn, bingo!!!

No, they are not bug eggs.

They are calcium balls.  I have seen this many times just after the eggs have recently been laid and are still reasonably warm.  Many times.

Not bugs.  Once the egg has become cold, the little ball things do become part of the egg, just as Irwin said -- and the little balls do not move around easily.  I have looked closely at these under the magnifying glass, they are calcium balls.  When the egg is still warm, the little balls can be moved all over the egg with a simple roll of your finger.  Definitely part of some kind of calcium stuff that comes out with the egg.  No worries about alien bugs in there or something, smiling.  Beautiful day, life, health.  Cindi
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: JP on December 09, 2008, 09:41:05 pm
Cindi, make a snowman with your little egg balls.


...JP
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Cindi on December 09, 2008, 09:55:13 pm
JP, that's it!!!  You gonna get it now!!!  Give them egg balls back!!!  And at the same time, tell Frantz that I want my GREEN snips back, bad, bad.  Have that great and most awesomely great day, health.  Cindi
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Kathyp on December 11, 2008, 03:57:43 pm
i am a little disapointed.  that was a misleading title for this post   :evil:

i wish i could keep chickens here without building a chicken vault.  they just get eaten by the wildlife :-(
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Brian D. Bray on December 11, 2008, 08:50:12 pm
i am a little disapointed.  that was a misleading title for this post   :evil:

i wish i could keep chickens here without building a chicken vault.  they just get eaten by the wildlife :-(

I can Sympathize, I'm at the point of building a bear fence around my chicken yard due to it continually being raided by raccoons.  They are stealing both the chickens and the eggs.  The chickens are so rattled I'm only get 1 or 2 eggs a day and my flock is down to 21 from 32 a month and 1/2 ago.  They even stole Christmas (the turkey I was raising for Christmas dinner).  I refuse to let the critters win.  The chickens and turkeys are a large part of my self-sufficiency in retirement program.

I've bought netting to drape over the yard and electric fence wire to string long the sides of the fence about head high.  The problem is that it is going to take me the rest of the winter to get it done as my bad back is acting up again.
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Cindi on December 12, 2008, 10:14:07 am
Brian, so sickening about the racoons getting in and the destruction wreaked, I can't stand that.  At my place, one half hour before sundown I put the turkeys into their night house.  THey love to go to bed early, long before the chickens are even thinking about it.  I think they don't see well in the dark.  If they aren't put into their night house early, then they fly up on the roofs, that is an OK spot, but I would rather the inside, safe and sound.  Then the chickens go into their house just at sundown, the ducks follow right after the chickens, when the sun is down and it is dark.  It it then that I close up the door, nothing can get in.  The night houses are so secure, there is nothing now that could ever enter to get them.  That is what must be in place or the night creatures will come.

All around my chickenyards I also have 6 feet tall, one inch chicken wire fencing.  It is wobbly at the top, so for anything to climb over would be very difficult, too wobbly.  Beneath the ground the chicken wire is folded to the inside of the pens, and then dirt on top, so they can't even dig underneath.  My Sister and I have worked very hard to get our yards 100% safe from the outside vermin.

The last massacre occurred last November, we have not had a single loss since that time, so I know that we have safely taken care of our stock.  It has been an enormous undertaking, but all is safe.  I can't stand those critters that do such damage to our birds that feed us.

Remember this post?  http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,12002.0.html

Have a most wonderful and awesomely great day, health, Cindi
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: HomeBru on December 12, 2008, 02:50:24 pm
We get those every now and again as well as other odd eggs, more often when we have mixed-variety birds laying.

As far as critters, we laid the bottom 10" of the fence on the ground on the outside and pinned it down with landscape staples. After a few weeks, the grass had grown up through it and holds it very well in place. Anything that tries to dig, diggs at the fence and can't get through. Added to that is a line of electric fence about 6" off the ground just in case "they" want to try and climb.

The biggest help in keeping critters out, though, has been Duke-the-Dog our lab-mix. In the spring and fall, he generally trees a coon or possum at least three times a week! Fitted with a small .22 inch brain implant, the critters never return.  ;)

J-
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Kathyp on December 12, 2008, 03:21:18 pm
lost one of my favorite cats last night.  he was about 9 months old and just starting to wander.  i don't get attached to often because i know they are going to get eaten, but he was a beauty and a nice cat. 
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: reinbeau on December 12, 2008, 07:20:00 pm
Oh, I'm sorry, Kathy.  I love my kitties, they don't go out because we live on a bad road, and they just get killed out there.  I've always had cats, until I lived here they were outside cats.  But as you say, they get eaten out there - I'd rather they were eaten then smushed in the road.....

Just a thought - do you know it's gone, or has it just disappeared?
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Kathyp on December 12, 2008, 08:06:18 pm
i'm pretty sure he's gone.  he was the last of a litter.  lost the 3 other early.  he'd been living on the back porch, but had been venturing out farther lately.  i am lucky if they make it to a year.  the mother of that cat and the new bunch has been around almost 2 year.  that's a record.  i suspect i have a coyote hunting my place just for cats.  i shot one, but there are others.  i have seen tracks.  most don't bother, but every once in awhile, i get one that likes the sport of cat hunting.
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Brian D. Bray on December 12, 2008, 09:28:38 pm
I live within the city limits so giving a raccoon a brain tap from a 22 or any other sized hip cannon is out of the question.  An arrest or citation for discharging a weapon could be used to deny my CCW permit on the next renewal so I have to look at other solutions when it comes to pest problems.  The fact that I only live 2 blocks from over 1500 acres of community forest lands doesn't help either, it gives the predators a good home base from which to launch lunch and dinner strikes.

The Raccoons I can outwit, I think I can anyway, but hawks that follow the pigeons through the traps and into the loft cause a bit of mayhem of their own.  Currently we have the entire city up in arms because some local dimwit is using the deer for target practice, sawing off the antlers and leaving the meat to rot.  It wouldn't be so bad if they were taking the meat, at least it would be serving some purpose but to hunt for the antlers is asinine.  Plus the encreased citizen awareness makes any thought of firearm power more dangerous and a raccoon shot with bow and arrow that didn't die on my property would also cause an outcry.

You have to play the hand you're dealt and for me that means varmit proof.
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: poka-bee on December 12, 2008, 11:12:09 pm
Oh Kathy, I'm so sorry. There are just some animals that we connect with. I love my cats & would be very upset if anything happened.  Living in the country does pose risks though.  I like the idea of the "brain implant" although I don't have a .22 so have to settle for .45..over the top but makes less clean up.. :evil:  The coyote don't come into the neighborhood as much since build up, too many big dogs running loose.  They have the cowpastures, flume & river to hang out at.   Brian, I heard about that, sickens me, what a waste of life.  At least give the meat to someone who will eat it.  I hope they find this/these persons.  You could trap & give swimlessons..a 33gl trashcan works great for the backstroke! :evil: :evil: Kathy, maybe he is out sowing his oats??? Is there anywhere he could get trapped into, like a garage or shed?  I've had that happen too.  J
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Kathyp on December 13, 2008, 01:06:29 am
i don't know where he was, but he showed up tonight soaking wet.  just about made me mad enough to shoot him after looking for him all day and feeling bad!
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: reinbeau on December 13, 2008, 09:28:09 am
i don't know where he was, but he showed up tonight soaking wet.  just about made me mad enough to shoot him after looking for him all day and feeling bad!
Now you put that gun down and give your little furry pal a pat on the head!  :) 

I had one outdoor kitty, I posted about him here, he came to my house from a house down the street where the kids were absolute terrors, they delighted in torturing animals and had great parents who did nothing about it  :roll:  Evan was definitely an outdoor cat, I tried to keep him in but he was miserable.  I knew sooner or later he'd get it out there.  He was with me for seven years.  I usually could cajole him into the house at night, I think he knew there were dangers out there, but he'd still spend a night or two out to torment me, I was convinced he'd been smooshed or eaten, but he'd show up sooner or later.  He did eventually get smooshed, my poor husband was heartbroken, that cat waited for his truck at the end of the driveway, followed him down as he parked, and walked him into the house every night.  Greg claimed to not be a cat person, but Evan won his heart.

(http://annzoid.com/images/Evan-on-bricks.jpg)

He was my gardening pal.  I miss having a kittie in the garden.
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Kathyp on December 13, 2008, 11:15:45 am
my husband had one like that.  it used to sit on the porch rail in the morning and wait for him to go to work.  he'd kiss it on the head every morning as he left.  he did it quickly so no one would see :-).  that cat got hit on a quiet road.  never did figure out how such a smart cat could get nailed by one of the few cars on the road.  my husband was also heartbroken.  on of the few times i have seen him cry. 
Title: Re: Ha!!! The Egg that Had the Balls
Post by: Jerrymac on December 13, 2008, 08:14:24 pm
Brian

Think blowgun

http://www.wholesalegoods.net/

(http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:3UCu0Og-rq40AM:http://www.wholesalegoods.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/2084b.jpg)

Or they have  tranquilizer or immobilization darts for relocation of animals

Look here http://www.wholesalegoods.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=WGI&Category_Code=blowguns