eggs-cellent eggs

I just cannot resist an egg-y pun.

Today was the first Sunday of the month, which meant that today was our monthly 4-H meeting. I was really scrambling (ha!!) for an activity, because well, there was this CHRISTMAS thing between now and the last meeting, and organizationally, I seem to be stuck somewhere in late September.

The idea of focusing on eggs gelled sometime late yesterday, and as the majority of our members own chickens, it seemed to be a workable one. I had such fun putting it together, and they had such fun answering the questions, that I thought I would share the True/False quiz I came up with. Try answering before you check the answers at the bottom of the page!

1.         A hen requires 48 hours to produce an egg.

2.         Thirty minutes after laying an egg, a hen starts the process over again.

3.         Most eggs are laid between 7 pm and 11 pm.

4.         An eggshell has up to 17,000 tiny pores on its surface, through which odors and flavors can be absorbed.

5.         Eggs age more during 1 day at room temperature than 1 week in the refrigerator.

6.         Brown eggs can be produced by any hen, based upon the feed content.

7.         Brown eggs cost more than white eggs because they are more expensive to produce.

8.         Seeing if an egg floats in water will tell you if it is raw or hard cooked.

9.         If you drop an egg on the floor, sprinkling it heavily with salt will make clean-up easier.

10.       Egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D.

11.       Yolk color depends on the hen’s breed.

12.       A young hen is called a pullet.

13.       The egg shell counts for about 50% of an egg’s total weight.

14.       Shell strength is influenced by the hen’s diet, especially in calcium.

15.       Shell strength is related to the hen’s age.

16.       The protein in 1 egg is equivalent to the protein in 1 ounce of lean meat or fish.

17.       Double-yolked eggs are usually produced by older hens.

18.       It is impossible for a hen to lay an egg with no yolk.

19.       The bacteria salmonella can only be on the outside of an egg.

20.       Legend has it that a chef’s white hat (called a toque) has a pleat for each way that an egg can be cooked, because eggs are so versatile.

Eggs are egg-mazing! (OK, I stretched it with that last one. But hopefully you learned something new, and not about my bottomless capacity for bad puns.)

1. F (24-26 hours); 2. T; 3. F (a.m.); 4. T; 5. T; 6. F (the color of an hen's ear lobes indicates the color of her eggs); 7. T (because brown egg laying breeds are usually larger, requiring more feed); 8. F (putting an egg in water demonstrates the freshness as a floating egg is a rotten one; spinning an egg on the counter tells you whether it is hard-boiled (spins freely) or raw (wobbles then stops)); 9. T (only if you don't have a dog, of course); 10. T; 11. F (yolk color depends on the diet of the hen); 12. T; 13. F (9-12%); 14. T; 15. T (as the hen ages, egg size increases but shell material does not, so the same amount of shell material must cover a larger surface, producing a thinner-shelled egg); 16. T; 17. F (double-yolked eggs are usually produced by younger hens, who have not fully synchronized their egg production cycle); 18. F (it's rare, but not impossible); 19. F (salmonella can be on the inside or outside of an egg that looks normal); 20. T.