What can your character do with their egg shells? How many eggs do chickens lay? What do toothpaste and chicken mites have to do with egg shells? Find out on this episode!
You can find full episode notes and links to find more information on each topic at my website: https://alleyhart.com/
What can your character do with their egg shells? How many eggs do chickens lay? What do toothpaste and chicken mites have to do with egg shells? Find out on this episode!
You can find full episode notes and links to find more information on each topic at my website: https://alleyhart.com/
What can your character do with their eggshells? How many eggs do chickens lay? What do toothpaste and chicken mites have to do with eggshells? Find out on this episode. Welcome to Writing Rural With Alley, the Fiction Writers Weekly Inspirations Station for Rural Life and Lifestyle's from historical to post-apocalyptic, helping you bring your rural stories to life. I'm Alley. This is episode number 64, The Many Uses of Eggs. Stick around to the end to find out all the ways things could possibly go wrong. Now, let's get into this. Chickens are one of the most well-known farm animals. A quick Google search says that people can't agree when they were first domesticated, with estimates as little as 3,000 years ago and as high as 10,000 years ago. The one thing they do all agree on is that they believe they were first domesticated in Asia. These feathery little alarm clocks taste great. But before we eat them, they are useful for making eggs. On the lowest end, a chicken can lay 104 eggs per year. A hybrid egg layer can lay as many as 300 eggs per year. However, the average chicken will lay between 180 to 260 eggs per year, which is still a lot of eggs. Even five hens laying as little as 180 eggs per year adds up to 900 eggs per year. That's over two eggs per day. That's a lot of eggs and a bunch of eggshells. Today, we will cover some of the many ways they can be used. I bet you can guess the first thing on this list. If you guessed throwing eggs to the neighbor's car, you guessed wrong and were likely a misbehaving child. If you guessed to eat them, you would be right. Eggs are one of the most widely used foods. Everything from scramble eggs, a favorite among kids, to baked cakes or cookies, omelets, casseroles, mayonnaise, and I have even seen ice cream with eggs as an ingredient. Remember, the eggs on a farm do not go through the same process store-bought eggs. Historically, and even in other countries today, people do not wash their eggs, and in doing so, they do not refrigerate them. I'll leave some links in the show notes to learn more. Also, there is a greater chance for bloody eggs. There is also a risk of rotten eggs. Let me check in a quick disclaimer that eggs are on the top eight major food allergies in the United States. If you are writing after 2004, it is the law here that anything made with the top eight food allergies have to be clearly labeled on the product. Moving on from that, eggs have been used as part of dog food for as long as anyone can remember. Others that give their dogs a raw diet will add this. There is a debate about letting dogs see the egg if it is uncooked, if there is any chance that they might come in contact with an egg that you don't want them to eat. Basically, the eggs out in the chicken pen. I have seen this go both ways. I have seen dogs be given raw and then they want to go into the chicken pen to eat their eggs. I have seen dogs be given eggs daily that never touch any eggs that the owner did not give to them. Take that however you will. If there are more eggs, then your character can eat now, they can be saved for your character or your character's dog. They could be pickleed or water glassed. I see dehydrated egg powder being sold to doomsday preppers, but I've never actually used it, so I can't tell you what my thoughts are on them. Next on the list is that, historically, eggs have been used to barter and trade for. Maybe your character wants honey or cloth to make clothes. Eggs are a perfect thing to use to barter and trade with. Just remember that if they use them to rip people off, other people will take notice, and they will do the same back to them, but at a time where it will greatly hurt the other person, likely when they are ill or they're about to have a new baby. It is just human nature to desire to get even. However, this could be a great chance for them to fight the instinct and instead forgive, whatever your story calls for. Eggs can also be sold outright. This happened historically and also happens today. Keep in mind, there are many states that have laws about eggs being sold by individuals. I don't know what any of them are. So remember, if you're writing a modern story and you want to be realistic, check out the modern laws. Another way to make money off of them is to hatch the eggs and sell the baby chickens. We did this when I was a child and I had a great time doing it. Some people sell them the day after they hatch to make sure that they are dried off, and others, like my dad, sold them when they were about 21 days old. They are starting to feather out and are ready to join the flock at that time. I know you're thinking about the chickens in the wild, but remember, they had their mothers to take care of them, and these chickens were just hatched out of a hatcher and didn't have that. The other part of egg is the shell. Whether your character eats or bakes with eggs, they will have a shell left over. Not to worry, the shell does not have to get a waste. First, the shells can be used in the compost. They add calcium to the compost that will later be used in the garden. Both vegetable garden and flower garden can use this. I've been told to add fertilizer to the list that it is the same as compost, but for those of you who count them separately, eggshells could be used in both. Now for the next thing you need to know is how to make eggshell powder. Also called eggshell flour. Take the empty eggshells and place them on a baking sheet, and bake them in the oven until they are bone dry. Some say to bake them at 250 degrees, and others say at 300 degrees. Frankly, they all work, but being bone dry is the important thing. This takes the minimum of 25 minutes, but could be longer. Once they are cool, your character will want to take a mortar and pestle and grind them into a fine powder. In modern times, a blender could be used. An important note is that all water, including condensation, must be kept away from this powder. If it is not, the powder will turn clumpy. Other signs are that the powder smells like rotten eggs or there is a mold growth. If any of these happen, they need to throw it away. The first thing that can be done with this is to feed it to the chickens. Okay, that sounds a bit mean, but hear me out. The shells are made of calcium, and chickens need calciums in their diet. Using the shell is a great way for the characters to get what they need to make more eggs. Next is that eggshell powder can be used as a pest control. Many people, myself included, use diatomatous earth as a way to kill garden pests and chicken mites. This is done by simply spreading the dust in the chicken pen and/or on the plants. When these soft-bodied bugs climb over these, it cuts them up and they die or dry out, depending on who you ask. Either way, it works. The eggshell powder can be used as a substitute. Personally, I do not feel that it works as well, but if I didn't have dietomaceous earth, I would not hesitate to use egg powder. On the same note, the eggshell powder is a gentle abrasive the same way that baking soda is. This is why it makes a great replacement for baking soda in some recipes. The ones that I can think of are homemade face exfoliant and homemade toothpaste. If the recipe calls for baking soda, it can be replaced with eggshell powder in circumstances like these. It does not work as a fluffing agent for your food. Another thing it has been used for is calcium supplements for people. Dry eggshells are made of 95% calcium carbonate. That is the same type of calcium in supplements. Some people put these in capsules and swallow them like a pill. Others mix it with water or other kinds of drinks. Some mix it in with their food. I have even known some people who tried to swallow it dry. On the same note, can you guess what else is made of calcium carbonate? That's right, antacids. Meaning eggshell powder could be a replacement for Tums after the Apocalypse. Some people who feed their dogs a raw diet will use eggshell powder as a replacement for bonemeal powder. I know there's a technical reason for why, but with conflicting ideas on why and which is best, I really don't know why. Only that they both agree that the other can be used if their favorite is not available. Last on my list, but feel free to leave me a comment if you know of more, is making chalk. You remember those old chalkboards and banging the erasers together? What? You don't? Okay, maybe I watched a few too many episodes of Little House on the Prairie. Either way, eggshell powder can be used to make chalk. A simple recipe is to mix three parts eggshell powder, two parts hot water, and one part flour. Mix fully. Shape and let dry.
Fun fact:eggs have been used to wash hair throughout history and are still used by many DIY-ers today. Now for everyone's favorite part, what could possibly go wrong? Before we get into the best part, if you enjoy today's podcast, I hope you will take a minute to follow, rate, and review on your favorite podcasting platform. If you're listening on YouTube, subscribe, hit the like button, and drop me a comment. I love to hear from you. Don't forget to share with a friend. As always, you can find the episode's show notes and helpful links to learn more on my website, alleyhart. Com. Now for everyone's favorite part.
Likely to go wrong:your character takes the baby chickens out to the hen house before they have enough adult feathers. Without the feathers to keep them warm, in the night, they die. your character's chickens get so old that they stop laying eggs.
Also likely to go wrong:your character didn't know they were allergic to eggs. When they eat some, they quickly swell up and struggle to breathe. This could be deadly. Possible to go wrong: your character makes eggshell chalk for their child to play with. When they come back to play with it a few days later, they find mold growing on the chalk.
Also possible to go wrong:your character cracks open an egg to mix scramble eggs, only to find the egg had gone bad. Their whole home fills with the smell of a rotten egg. your character feeds eggs to their dog every day with the shell included. The dog starts to see eggs as yummy and sneaks into the chicken pen to get more goodies.
Unlikely to go wrong:your character trades honey to get eggs. However, when they get home, they learn all the eggs are rotten and they have been tricked. your character tries to eat a spoonful of eggshell powder dry. They struggle to swallow it like this.
Also unlikely to go wrong:your character makes eggshell powder. As they are crushing the eggshells, they accidentally inhale some of the powder. This irritates their lungs. They have a hard time coughing it all out. Some of it settles in their lungs and your character soon spirals into a lung infection. Improbable, but still technically in the realm of possibilities: your character really hates their neighbor and eggs their car with their rotten eggs. On top of the smell, the eggs ruin the car's paint. Also improbable, but still technically in the realm of possibilities: your character's child has an ant farm, and they see their appearance adding eggshells to the compost to make the soil better. They decide to add eggshell powder to their ant farm to make the soil better. They unknowingly kill all of the ants in their ant farm before they realize what's causing the deaths. Thanks for listening. Until next time. Happy wordsmithing.