Cool eggsperiments to try with your eggs

[loverOFchickens]

Here are a few cool things to try with your eggs:

*Put the egg in a jar full of normal vinegar for a few days. The vinegar will dissolve the shell and the membrane will be all that is left holding the egg togather. Also if you take the egg out of the vinegar and leave it sit for a day or so it should have enough calcium left in it to recreate a shell. Pretty cool huh?

*Put the egg in a jar full of corn syrup for a few days. Because the egg has more water inside of it than the syrup a lot of the water will eventually drain into the corn syrup causing the egg to shrink in the jar.

*Put one egg in a jar full of food coloring water and another in a jar with (non-watercolor) paint. After about two days take both eggs out and crack them open in seperate containers. The one in the food coloring water should have absorbed whatever color the food coloring is but the other one should look normal. The egg rejects the paint water and will not let it in because of the toxins in the paint.

Have fun!

 

[cluckcluck42]

I am totally trying the vinegar tricks if anyone decides to lay an egg tomorrow.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Finally something to offer my DH where eggs are concerned! He doesn't really like to eat them and , well......he's not so into the chickens

He will be so eager to try these experiments with the boys! Thanks

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Oh, those are really amazing! I'm going to try the vinegar one sometime soon.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Kim_NC]

Quote:
Hey, the food coloring water sounds like a way to make "green eggs and ham"! Does it color both the white and the yolk?

 

[loverOFchickens]

I would assume that it depends how long you keep it in. You could keep the jar in the refrigerator to keep it super fresh. It probably also depends on how much pigmentation is already in the yolk. Maybe store eggs would work better? To make green scrambled eggs you can just stir in the food coloring when you scramble the eggs in a bowl.

 

[Julie08]

any chance you could hatch the shell-less egg?

 

[silkiechicken]

*Put the egg in a jar full of normal vinegar for a few days. The vinegar will dissolve the shell and the membrane will be all that is left holding the egg togather. Also if you take the egg out of the vinegar and leave it sit for a day or so it should have enough calcium left in it to recreate a shell. Pretty cool huh?

The vinegar is acidic and will dissolve the calcium carbonate shell. When it dries, the shell does not recreate, the membrane dries and the new "shell" is the dried protein. The inside of the hen has glands that deposit calcium carbonate. If you drop it back in vinegar, that new "shell" will just rehydrate.

*Put the egg in a jar full of corn syrup for a few days. Because the egg has more water inside of it than the syrup a lot of the water will eventually drain into the corn syrup causing the egg to shrink in the jar.

You'll have to put the dissolved vinegar egg into the syrup. Classic second half to the osmosis project usually done in science class. Put it back in water and the egg will get bigger.


*Put one egg in a jar full of food coloring water and another in a jar with (non-watercolor) paint. After about two days take both eggs out and crack them open in seperate containers. The one in the food coloring water should have absorbed whatever color the food coloring is but the other one should look normal. The egg rejects the paint water and will not let it in because of the toxins in the paint.

Water based food coloring is small and water soluble, thus along with the water's osmotic gradient, through diffusion the small moleculares can permeate the shell. Non water based paints are just that, paint, usually oil based, and won't go in for various reasons. First, oils or acrylics generally will seal the pores in the egg preventing diffusion of pigments, and the oil or silicone based paint will not provide the aid of osmosis to help draw in the pigments as a water based food coloring would do.

Presence of toxins has NOTHING to do with the movement of "paint water" through the egg shell. Put a water soluble drug into water and it will get through to the egg if there is a osmotic gradient and still poison you. The reason for water going into the egg, is because the water content of the egg is less than that of the water. Dissolve food coloring in corn syrup and the only color that will go through will be that due to diffusion without the aid of osmosis. Just takes longer.

Wiki is pretty good at explaining osmosis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis


Because the shell is porous, it is another reason behind washing eggs if you do so with water warmer than the egg, or you may aid the invasion of bacteria through the shell by change in pressure due to temperature.


That shell less egg will not hatch because you just lost the mode in which water is maintained in the egg, and putting it in the vinegar solution would have essentially pickled the egg. There will be a bit of acetic acid in there (vinegar).


Here are some good teaching links:

http://www.texashste.com/documents/curriculum/pathophysiology/eggsperiment.pdf
http://www.purchon.com/biology/osmosis.htm

 

[loverOFchickens]

Just posted and noticed new post. Sorry all

. This was the info that was givento me at least in the way I understood it.

Didn't mean to be misleading




Wow what a good question! I don't think you could. Maybe after the shell re-formed? The two reasons I dont think it would be possible are:

1 Without the shell chances are it would sweat too much or absorb harmful bacteria when turned.

2 The air sack is gone. True the air sack is the membrain layer but it is heald taunt. If you handle the egg after it has been soaked you will notice that it is very flexable. You can push (gently) on the egg with one finger and make the egg indent to it. so it would spring out when the bird was trying to peck it's way out.

It would be interesting to try it and open the egg around the 4th day and see if it had developed. So far as hatching it after the shell came back I suppose it would work if the air sack forms again? It would also be cool to try the food coloring one. Wonder if it would be a safer way to get colored chicks?

 

[silkiechicken]

The egg won't "sweat", but rather lose water though the membrane. The shell is gone, so no air cell will form. Assuming the egg was not too pickled and didn't dry out in 4 days of incubation, you will likly find a small embryo. You can crack an egg carefully in a cup and it will start to develop given the right conditions.