Sadly we are back down to four hens after Aliss died a couple of weeks ago. This leaves us with two oldies who are rarely laying and two newbies who are providing us with a steady supply of eggs. Tiffany doesn’t lay every day, but some days she lays a small egg with one yolk, some days she lays a large egg with two yolks and some days she lays two small eggs, each with one yolk. She quickly got into the routine of laying in one of the nesting boxes. Annagramma, on the other hand lays a smallish egg every day, although these are gradually increasing in size. However, we can’t persuade her to use the nesting box and she has a preferred spot in a lovely inaccessible part of the hedge.
We rapidly got fed up with fighting our way through blackthorns and bramble to retrieve Anna’s eggs, and so a long unused tool was brought out – the slug grabber. Since the chickens have mostly rid the garden of slugs, we no longer have to do the nightly slug hunt, and so the grabber has been hanging in the shed unused for a couple of years. It had been cleaned up after its last use and we realised it made an ideal tool to retrieve eggs. Here it is, expertly operated by Mr Snail:
… you see I know there’s a reason I don’t throw stuff out- you never know when it can be repurposed!
The Snail of Happiness 
katechiconi
/ October 5, 2014I have one of those! Being somewhat vertically challenged compared with the Husband, I need a grabber to get things down from high places, or retrieve socks that have fallen down behind the washing machine. I shall bear it in mind as a chook accessory… My Girls are going to have quite a lot of nice inaccessible bush to hide their eggs in, so I have to pray for sensible behaviour, I suppose.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 5, 2014Yes, but there’s always going to be one, isn’t there? This has reduced wounds from sharp thorns significantly.
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KayT
/ October 5, 2014I do like multi purpose accessories. Going to bear this one in mind. Usually it’s used to retrieve Grandsons trains or cars which he has driven at high speed under the furniture.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 5, 2014This particular grabber lends itself to eggs because of the little cup appendages on the end… and it’s so much easier than crawling into the hedge!
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davidprosser
/ October 5, 2014I can see me on the end of that contraption breaking all the eggs in place. He must have a much steadier hand than me.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 5, 2014And I made it even more difficult for him by getting him to stop mid-grab so I could take the photos!
xxx hugs xxx
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thecontentedcrafter
/ October 5, 2014Ah, the perfect multi-purpose hand tool for the home maker, gardener and small farmer I see. Being somewhat of the vertically challenged type myself and more than a little over having to move the furniture around to retrieve various toys belonging to various pets who insist on ‘losing’ them in obscure places [and who then spend the next hour with backsides in air scrambling about futilely under said furniture interspersed with casting accusing looks at moi] I can see I need to visit the garden section and find one of these ‘slug grabbers’! Ah, the things I learn when reading blogs 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 5, 2014Good point… Sam regularly loses her toys under the furniture and I usually end up moving heavy objects rather than put up with a persistent terrier, but now I realise that my grabber may have another use…. although she’d probably be just as happy to play with the grabber!
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narf77
/ October 5, 2014Slug grabber eh? I thought that was the duck?! Might have to rediscover our own slug grabber that I know is in the back of a cupboard or wardrobe someplace…not sure which one but then they all need a good clean out. I am sure that Earl would enjoy the process of slug grabbing. He is a most nosy little dog indeed. Clever to use your slug grabber for fetching eggs. I could use ours (if I ever find it) for reaching the ducks baby blue eggs that she lays WAY underneath the nesting boxes where narfs fear to tread. Slug grabber to the rescue! Excellent share Ms Snail. My future lack of blackberry scarred hands self applauds and thanks you copiously 🙂
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Ashie
/ October 5, 2014That’s some pretty clever re-purposing. Glad you found an easier way to retrieve eggs!
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katythenightowl
/ October 11, 2014Awwww, I was sorry to read that Aliss has gone, but glad that you’re still getting fresh eggs from the youngsters 🙂
Those grabbers are handy for all sorts of jobs, inside and out, aren’t they? 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 12, 2014Yes, Aliss got ill, started to recover and then suddenly keeled over. The new girls and the two oldies, however, are in fine form.
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