Chicken Ear Lobes

First off, let me say that I didn't even know they had ear lobes.

My dad requested this blog post on the chickens.  One of his favorite things to do when he comes to visit is collect the chicken eggs.  If I know he is coming, I leave the eggs in there for him, otherwise he is disappointed.  :)

But back to the ear lobes....

A hen with white ear lobes will lay white eggs, a hen with red or brown ear lobes will lay brown eggs.  Who knew?  We didn't have chickens when I was growing up so our eggs came from the store and they were always white.  I remember seeing a brown egg for the first time as a kid and thinking how weird that was.  Now brown eggs are normal. 

We only have 3 hens, and all 3 have red lobes, thus we only get brown eggs. 

Since this post is at my dad's request, I also have to add a bit of trivia.  Dad is always coming up with interesting information about one thing or another.  His latest bit comes from Gulliver's Travels (which I admit, I have never read).  He told me to look up specifically about the "Big-Enders" vs. the "Little-Enders".  Here is what I found:

In Lilliput, Gulliver finds that the tiny people are going to war with their neighbors over the right way to open a hard boiled egg - from the big or little end. This was basically the author, Jonathan Swift's, satire on the wars between England and France in his own time - which were based on points just as silly as the "Big-Enders" vs the "Little-Enders" and their quarrel.

 

Interesting.  So, which end is it?  I say, break it right in the middle....  problem solved.