Earlier, we learned that regardless of how convenient it may be, putting eggs in a coat pocket instead of the egg basket is inviting trouble (and a mess). Well, it’s time for another cautionary tale: don’t leave freshly-collected eggs around dogs. It’s not because they eat them. Here’s what happened…
We have an older dog and a young dog. They both like to play, and they can get pretty rambunctious. We collected an early egg laid by our Rhode Island Red hen and two duck eggs, and set them on a bench just inside the door of the house. We had a couple of other tasks to complete in the garage, where the brooder is, so we left for a few minutes.
When we returned, the eggs were no longer on the bench. The beautiful chicken egg (the RIR lays a plump, round, lightly speckled egg) was now on the rubber boot tray on the floor, smashed. The duck eggs were on the carpet. One duck egg now sported a dent. Neither dog had eaten the eggs; they had horsed around, and in doing so, knocked the eggs to the ground.
The chicken egg was a loss, but we were able to use the cracked duck egg in breakfast. We had a similar issue occur some time ago when the cats knocked a couple of duck eggs off a chair onto the carpet. Miraculously, those eggs survived without damage. The lesson? Indoor animals apparently get bored and think eggs are fun to play with – or they just like to play around and sometimes there’s collateral damage. Either way, it’s a reminder to put eggs in a safe place right away after collection…or risk finding your breakfast smashed on the floor.