Here it is.
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| When I went to the farm this morning, this is what I found. |
There are two eggs in the nest, but only one is real.
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| We always put a fake egg in the nest box so chickens have no doubt where to go when they're in egg-laying mood. |
Today morning, there was a real, beautiful, still warm egg in the nest box, right next to the plastic one which is there all the time.
And why is this a miracle?
Our elderly hens have not laid a single egg for almost three months, and given their age ( 4 and a half years) we didn't expect any. Nevertheless I still kept one nest box full of straw and with a fake egg in as usual. This was done 80% out of nostalgia, 15% out of laziness to clean the box, and 5% "just in case." And that case happened this morning!
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| The Miracle. December 31, 2019. |
This special day, December 31, 2019, will stay forever in The Chronicles of Chickens' Playground, which are scheduled to become a world classic in about 500 years. By then, around the year 2520 A.D., every university with a chickenology major will have a copy of The Chicken Chronicles, as they will be casually known, in its library, and students will be writing thesis about which of the Three Heroines (Mabuko, Liliko or Maiko) accomplished this great deed.
I watched the three closely this morning, but I couldn't tell which one laid the egg. The heroine either doesn't want to take the credit, or she already forgot.
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| Was the culprit Mabuko, Liliko or Maiko? (Photo from breakfast on Dec. 31, 2019) |
Now, back to practical issues. The Miracle Egg could have been put on some kind of pedestal or enshrined in some kind of home-made shrine, but being the only Egg in many, many days, and being a great source of some 7 grams of perfect protein (with ALL essential aminoacids in the right balance), its fate was more pragmatic.
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| Miracle Egg, Phase 1 |
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| Miracle Egg, Phase 2 |
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| Miracle Egg, Phase 3 |
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| Miracle Egg, Phase 4 |
The egg was swiftly made into a sunny-side up and became part of Suu. (Nobuo, who is not a big fan of eggs, was not interested in the feast.)
So the miracle egg will, after all due digestion, end up somewhere in my bones or muscles or internal organs.
I'm sorry for taking it all myself. If we have more miracle eggs next time, I will share!
Happy New Year soon!