The Cook's Corner: Eggs on the floor

Chickens are amazing animals. They tend to run on instincts more than thought, I think, but still, they are amazing.
Last fall, I bought 15 pullets to raise and replace my old flock. The plan was to have them in a new coop by the time they started laying and then, later this spring, remove the old flock and make soup.
The coop they are in now is an old lean-to addition on a mobile home that was given to us many years ago. It has worked well, but the floor is chipboard and that doesn’t work in a wet environment — and a chicken house floor is going to be wet. Mice have gotten into the walls and messed up the insulation and sheetrock, and it just isn’t nice anymore, so we’ve planned to move the chickens back to the older coop that is as solid as the day we built it. It means a smaller flock, but that is okay with me.
Well, the move didn’t happen as soon as needed, mostly because I couldn’t decide exactly what I wanted to do. Now, I have five, almost six month old pullets in the old chicken house with no nest boxes. I had been telling myself for weeks that I needed to get some nest boxes in there for them when I went out last Thursday morning to find three little eggs on the floor of the pullet pen.
That changed my plans for the rest of the day. Instead of doing what I had planned, I switched gears and got the nest boxes, which were actually in that pen, but high up on a wall and not functional, and pulled them down. What a dirty, dusty, nasty job that was, but it sure needed to be done and the next morning I got three more eggs, this time they were in the nest boxes. Right where they should be.
They are settling into about three or four a day and I am happy with how it is going. Now it is time to get in gear and get the old chicken house cleaned out, reinsulated, and ready to move into later this spring. I am going to enjoy having them closer to the house. I surely won’t be sad about having that old coop go away. It has gotten pretty bad and we’ll probably just burn it down next winter (then it will come off of the taxes, which is a good thing, too).
Eggs used to be used more often as a protein source for meals other than breakfast. Here is a recipe for a lunch or supper that features eggs as the protein source:

Scalloped Eggs with Rice
6 hard-cooked eggs
2 cups medium white sauce
2 cups boiled rice
¾ cups grated cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Combine white sauce with rice and ½ cup cheese. Place half of this mixture in well-oiled baking dish. Add eggs cut in halves lengthwise. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with remaining rice mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, Bake in moderate oven (375º) for 25 minutes or until cheese melts.