No Room at the Inn

I wonder if two nests just aren't quite enough for the 7 hens. Came out to the coop the other day and found this pile-up//gd

How long will fresh chicken eggs keep in the fridge?

I got this information from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_long_will_fresh_chicken_eggs_keep_in_the_refrigerator

Length of Time Chicken Eggs Are GoodVarious answers by our contributors:

Eggs can remain edible for even longer than a month, but freshness (egg yolk that sits firm and high, and a thick viscous egg white) will be noticeably less after two weeks. If eggs start out as Grade AA, they remain AA for only two weeks if properly refrigerated. After that, they'll be Grade A for another 2 weeks.

Here is a true test of freshness: Get a bowl of cold water. Put the whole egg in the water. If it sinks, it's fresh; if it floats to the top, it is old. It will kind of lay almost on its side. You can see the age of it by how much it floats. It's a good idea to do this test before selling any eggs if you suspect they are older than two weeks. However, by putting the eggs in water, you wash away the bloom from the egg, a protective layering that prevents bacteria from entering the egg. Therefore, unless you are not expecting to keep the eggs for very long, you should not put them in water. If you must wash the eggs, use HOT running water.

Farmers have 30 days from the day an egg is laid to get it to stores. Then, the stores have another 30 days to sell the eggs. The USDA recommends a maximum of 5 weeks in your refrigerator before you discard your eggs. What does this all boil down to? On April 1, you could be eating an egg that was laid on Christmas.

Many eggs in the U.S. get to market within a few days of laying. If there is a USDA shield on the carton, it must have at least a Julian pack date. A use-by is not required, but if used, it must not be more than 45 days from packing. If the eggs are not distributed interstate, state laws will apply and are variable.

Keep in mind that farmers generally get their eggs to stores within a week, and both the "pack date" and "sell by" date are stamped onto the carton. The numbers run from 1-365, depending on the day of the year. Lastly, there is a big difference in taste between farm fresh eggs and week-old eggs. If you want the freshest eggs, you can buy from a local farmer.

There is an expiration date on the carton. If in doubt, put the egg in water. If it floats, do not use it.

Eggs last about 4-5 weeks in your refrigerator. If you don't know how long the egg has been in the refrigerator, fill a cup with water (enough to cover the egg), and put the egg in the cup. If the egg sinks to the bottom, it is still good to eat; if the egg floats, however, it is bad and should be discarded.

Reaching your full potential or 7 eggs = no Roosters!

We have gathered 7 eggs on a couple different occasions now, which tells me, finally, that I've got no roosters in the group! Elder Cody Denton wanted some shots of the hen house since I lettered it. While I was out there I noticed hens in each of the boxes, so I took a shot of that too!

Happiness is....

Getting 6 eggs in one day...like today! It's been fun giving out some of the eggs and getting feedback that they taste great!

Cooking and eating the first egg!

Here's a picture of my smaller "home made" egg on the left with the darker yolk compared to a Costco XL egg. My chicken egg had a much harder shell to crack than the much softer Costco egg. I couldn't tell a difference in taste, but I always take a bite of egg and then a bite of toast at the same time because eating egg all by itself like that is not my favorite thing to do.

The first dozen

Here are pictures of the first dozen eggs that we've got. You'll notice that on one day (7/28) we did get 3 eggs, but it has been 1 or 2 the rest of the time. The eggs to the back are XL eggs from Costco. The three egg comparison is from our first egg on 7/25, an egg I got this morning on 8/1, and then one of the Costco eggs. We're going to offer up the first dozen to the Allmen family to see if they would want them since they gave us the chickens. (We've got about 3 dozen eggs we still need to use up around the house.) You can click on the pictures to see a larger image.

Got Eggs?

Over the past 3 days we have got 1 egg/day. The size is about 1/3 that of an XL egg that we get from the store. The hen that is laying is not the most "mature looking" hen out in the hen house, surprisingly enough. By looking at how big their combs and wobbles are, I think I should have at least 3 of them laying by now, with the others sneaking up right behind them.

I've been writing the date that the egg was laid right on the egg in pencil. I'm going to save a few up and then take a picture of them all together to see how long it takes for the hen to produce the larger eggs I know she's capable of. Maybe we'll then take and have a big pan of scrambled eggs for breakfast with them.

The Hen House

It's still not lettered, and the plexi-glass in the door will need to be re-done, and the door needs some trim, etc., etc. Wanted to get pictures of it because I've been promising to send them to Elder Kyle Denton in Argentina...he hasn't seen this yet.

Chickens are growing!

The chickens have grown quite a bit and are starting to cluck when they get startled. Still can't figure out if we have any rooster's yet. I did have one of the eight chicks get sick and had to remove it from the herd. It would sit in one corner by itself and close its eyes and just wobble back and forth. We are now down to seven.

We went up to Forrest Sutherlands' (our nephew!) graduation on 5/27 and I was reminded that my non-farmer brother-in-law had a chicken coop that just sat out in his back yard. Connie and I took a look at it and liked it, so we asked Stephen & Tiffany about it and they let us have it. Cody and I went back up and took the roof off (no small chore) and hauled the bottom half back with us. I am having to borrow a trailer from a neighbor to go back up and get the top half because it was just 4" too wide to fit in my trailer. We're going to try and make another trip up today to get the rest of it, but we'll have to see how that goes.

Farmer George has chickens....

On Friday, April 30th, I rec'd a call from a neighbor. He had picked up some free chickens several weeks ago and the kids were loving them. However, he just got back from vacation and found out how big they were and were now done with them. I had told him I'd take them if it ever got to that point, so I was grateful he called. We now are proud parents to 8 Leg Horn chickens. I am trying to decide what type of chicken coop we'll build for them. I don't want to remove any of my grow boxes, so I'm thinking of perhaps building a tractor chicken coop, which has wheels and you move them around on your lawn so they fertilize it. This also puts them in the category of 'free range' chickens, which also enhances the flavor of their eggs (vs. only feeding them store bought chicken food).

My project for early next spring is to be ready to house our own swarm of honey bees!

28 Apr 2010 - Cody gets his call...

Cody rec'd his mission call to Nicaragua, Manaua North. Click here to see his new blog.

Cody & Whitney updates

At 11am yesterday, both Cody & Whitney went over to the Savages for Temple Prep class. they have a total of 6 classes to attend.

Cody received his Patriarchal blessing yesterday from Patriarch McCoy. It was a beautiful blessing and not so short. He should have it in his hands by this Friday.

Cody also went in to meet with President Tate, who went ahead and submitted his paperwork to the Brethren. If things work out the way we hear they work out, one of the Brethren should assign him to a particular mission this Thur and by the following Wed Cody should have a packet in the mail to open.

Whitney's Bishop is waiting for her medical papers to arrive (the dental already has) and once that gets here, he will forward it to President Tate, who will then call her in, etc. Exciting stuff!

Missionaries Galore!

As many of you know, Cody is very close to going on a mission. Worst case scenario, we should have a letter in hand by May 5th.

Many of you have been finding out that Whitney has decided to go on a mission too! If things progress the way they have, I'm "guessing" she should have her mission call sometime in May as well...she is right behind Cody in filling out the papers. We have even taken "missionary pictures" for the brethren to see when they pull their file up on the screen to decide where they will be going.

Exciting times at the Dentons....Three missionaries out at the same time!!! Whew!! The house will seem pretty darn empty, no doubt about that! More to come....

Cody Prepares for his Mission - Wisdom Teeth Out

As you know, missionaries need to get their wisdom teeth pulled before leaving if there is any chance at all that they can become a problem while they are away. Cody needed 3 pulled and he had that done this morning. Connie went into the back of the dentist office while they prepared Cody for surgery and had him go to sleep. The surgery was only about 45 min and they called us back in as he began to recover. He came to pretty fast...the nurse was impressed. He couldn't speak well because of so much gauze tucked into his chipmunk cheeks. His tongue and lips were very dry...why don't they at least have some vaseline for their poor lips? Cody finally woke up enough to realize he wasn't in the same place he went to sleep...he was now in the recovery room, we told him. The 5'2" nurse told Cody that she simply picked him up out of one chair and placed him in the recovery chair, which is on wheels. Cody said, "Nuh uhh!" She said that rarely do the patients remember getting into the recovery chair because they do it when they are just barely awake enough to do it under their own strength.

His vitals were stable and we prepared to take him home. He got up, put on his jacket and sat in the wheelchair as the nurse drove him out to the car. When we got home, he was dying of thirst and wanted to walk all over the place claiming he was fine. He did get up, kicked something by accident and I had to walk him back over to the couch before he hurt himself, or somebody else.

We got him a drink of water to trickle over his tongue and down his throat. He can't feel his bottom lip at this point and has to pull his lip around the bottom of the cup so he knows it is secure. He took his first drink and then looked at me and began to say something, and water just fell right out of his mouth and he didn't even know it. I was busting up and having Connie take a look. He was still denying that this had happened and then finally felt his jacket...it was all wet. How did that happen, he asked. He took another drink and did the same thing, this time landing in his lap. Then a minute later he asked who put his jacket on him...he remembered taking it off at the dentist and handing it to Connie. We told him that he had put it back on just before climbing into the wheelchair. No recollection. Then a minute or two later he looked down into his lap and felt with his hand and asked, "What the crap...did I pee myself?" I was laughing my butt off! He couldn't remember what had happened just 15 minutes earlier with the water coming out of his mouth.

We finally got some icepacks tucked into his jacket hood on either side of his mouth to help with the swelling. He finally agreed if he couldn't stand up and walk around, he would work on his laptop. The surgery went very well and they will call later today to check up on him. I need to go get him some perscriptions. George.

Jorge!

Hi...I'm George, and I'm the Dad.
I don't know when I'll ever have time to write on this blog, but stranger things have happened. Finally just figured out the email and password to this after it being up for over a year.
Lot's of things going on in our lives right now, cancer being our number one concern. (See http://kicknitwithconnie.blogspot.com/ for more info there).
Whitney has been substitute teaching (long term) for the last month or two. Kyle (See http://elderdenton.blogspot.com/) has been out on his mission for about 9 months. He's in Argentina, Buenos Aires North. His blog is updated mostly on Monday's. Cody is preparing for his mission and is currently filling out his paperwork online. There's lots of questions, but he's slowly moving through it. Chazz is a junior at Bingham High School and is working to keep his grades up to a respectable level. I'm sure he'll do great.
As for me, I focus on Printing 2 Impress (http://www.printing2impress.com/) and my sweet wife, Connie. (Not necessarily in that order!)