I really love collecting eggs from my hens. It makes me smile. Every single time. From the smallest, to the largest, I just love finding those little gems in the nest boxes.
I keep a daily count of the eggs I’ve collected. In January, I collected a total of 274 eggs. Not bad for a bunch of new layers, with six of them in the middle of molt. Especially considering it’s winter, when most hens decrease production, or do not lay at all. That’s an average of 8.84 eggs a day. I need to work on that one laying the .84 egg.
Not only do I count my eggs, I weigh them. I don’t weigh every single one of them, but I take a sample of each day’s collection and put them on my nifty egg scale, just for the fun of it:
I keep that baby on the counter, right next to the refrigerator.
Here are the minimum for egg weights as defined by the USDA:
Fascinating, isn’t it? OK, not really, but it does help you understand the terminology on my nifty egg scale.
Most of the eggs around here weigh in at almost medium
Some of them weigh in at small
And I still get the occassional peewee
Every one of them just tickles me. Just absolutely tickles me to death.
Today Bernie is chopping wood and I have puppy duty. These little buggers are growing like crazy. And they keep us hopping. They are doing great on their potty training and we’ve had no accidents in the house for two days. They’re even learning to walk to the door when they have to go potty.
And for those of you with pups of any age, I’m including a recipe for some tail-wagging, puppy pleasing cookie treats. I used to make these for our other dogs and they just loved them. I wish I could remember where I got this recipe so I could give the appropriate attribution. I think I got it out of a dog food recipe book I can no longer find – I’m sure it’s packed in one of those boxes somewhere….
Peanut Butter Doggie Biscuits
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (you can use oatmeal – but NOT the instant type)
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Beat together peanut butter and eggs. Gradually beat in oil and water until well mixed.
3. In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine flour, oats, and cornmeal.
4. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and blend well to form a dough.
5. Roll out the dough to approximately 1/4″ thickness and cut into shapes, or just slice them into squares if you don’t have cookie cutters.
6. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2 between biscuits. Bake for 20 minutes until browned. Turn off the oven, but leave the biscuits inside to “crisp”. (NOTE: If you are using a smaller cookie sheet and have several batches to cook, you can place the finished biscuits in a single layer on a plate and leave them on the counter to “crisp” as you bake the rest.) Once the biscuits have hardened, treat your dogs! Store the remianing biscuits in an airtight container.
This recipe makes a fair amount of doggie biscuits, so I keep a few in a cookie jar, and freeze the remaining in a freezer bag.
Bon Appetite, Fido!
Bee Free,
Penny
Thats a great egg scale you got going on there. I dont have hens, but a friend of mine gifts me with eggs from her hens every once in a while.
And I totally weigh each and every one. I love it! I cant wait to get my own birds.
Neat egg scale, Penny. Where’d you find that?
We need to see more puppy pictures!!! Soon, they’ll be full-grown dogs!
Thanks for the recipe. I like to make homemade dog treats for our crew and it’s about time for another batch.
Frugalmom, I read on your blog about you weighing the eggs from your friend. I think that’s just too darn cute! I bet it just thrills her to pieces that you take such interest. If you lived closer, I’d take up the slack when your not getting her eggs.
Lilla, I got the egg scale here http://www.eggcartons.com/product-exec/product_id/247/nm/_Grade_A_Egg_Scale_FHP_ES1 I really have absolutely no reason to weigh them, except I love my eggs! It just makes me feel good. And I promise to post more pup pics soon. You are completely correct – they are growing like weeds. They go back to the vet tomorrow for booster shots, and I’m really excited to see if they gained weight this week. They are such sweeties – I really wish you lived close enough for a play date with your crew. The cats are warming up a little – but just a little.
Wanted to let you know that I made the dog cookies tonight and my crew loved them! I was lazy and didn’t roll them out and cut them, I just rolled them into balls with my hands and flattened them on the cookie sheets. They looked and smelled a lot like peanut butter cookies! Captain D LOVES peanut butter and as soon as I pulled out the jar, his nose went up in the air, searching for the source! He was a good boy and patiently waited until they were done, though.
Speaking of peanut butter, have you tried the Kong toys that you can stuff with goodies for the puppies? They are great for teething dogs, as well as keeping them occupied for long periods of time. If you stuff them with peanut butter, stick a few small dog biscuits inside and freeze them, it really gives their little jaws a workout!
Thanks for the recipe.
Lilla – I’m so glad your pups liked the cookies. When our Springer Spaniel and Cocker Spaniel were alive, those are the only treats they really liked. I made them every couple of weeks.
We do have a couple of those Kong toys for them – I’ve put treats in them, and they play with them until the treat falls out. The peanut butter is an excellent idea and should keep them busy for a while! And I’ll also try freezing them. They love to chew on ice cubes. My friend Charlotte said she froze those pig ear treats for Bob’o when he was teething. I am definitely going to do the peanut butter and freezing thing! Anything to keep them busy from gnawing on us!