Yes, Cleanting.
Have you ever seen Diary of a Mad Black Woman?
This is one of my favorite parts. I highly recommend viewing this movie.
Anyway, when my chickens started laying eggs I was unsure how to clean the eggs. I had read about the bloom (a film that protects the inside of the egg from bacteria etc...) and how easily it can be compromised in the cleaning process. Some sites recommended cold water, some warm, soapy water, and even others a dry cloth or sponge to buff the egg clean.
One night when my mom was over for dinner, she decided we needed to get to the bottom of this and call Uncle Allen (my uncle, her brother). Uncle Allen is a dairy goat farmer and also has chickens, calves etc... He even held the office of President of the American Dairy Goat Association. I am related to agricultural royalty.
Back to the issue at hand... Uncle Allen imparted this wisdom on me:
"It doesn't matter what you do to clean the eggs, the bloom will probably be compromised. The best thing you can do is keep the nesting box clean." *
So I do. And thankfully the ladies tend to keep their egg laying spot pretty tidy.
*(That was a lot of paraphrasing, I have a terrible memory as far as verbatim, but that was the gist.)
Dear Lauren, I very much enjoy your blogging! I will just tell you that your Uncle Allen is Uncle Allen and not Uncle Alan. Where did the word "uncle" come from? If you look at it long enough, it looks like it is spelled wrong! How come you can't cry out "aunt" but you can cry out "uncle"? OK, that's all I have for now. Love, Aunt Paula
ReplyDeleteOh nuts. I will fix that. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI guess it all depends on how you cry out 'Aunt'. Do you say "ant" or "awnt"? You gotta watch out for those Red ones!