Displayed in the Museum Room at the historic Sikes Adobe Farmhouse are a set of small oblong orbs, white in color and made of glass. They bear a striking resemblance to chicken eggs. And that is exactly the point! Faux eggs have had a role in domestic chicken farming for hundreds of years.
Wild or jungle fowl typically lay eggs only for the purpose of procreation. Biologists tell us that egg laying as an independent activity detached from the giving of life is not a natural phenomenon in birds.
Laying cycles are seasonal and usually produce a brood (offspring) in the spring only. Because of this, chicken hens naturally will lay their eggs in a safe, hidden spot to protect the precious next generation from predators.
Faux Chicken Eggs
Once humans began the breeding of chicken hens to encourage egg laying, their natural habit of hiding eggs became frustrating to the farmer. Corralling hens into barns and specialized hen houses (coops) required a novel approach to encourage the hens to come inside and lay their eggs.
By using decoy eggs, it was thought that a hen will be assured that the coop is a safe place since other hens were already laying eggs there. Therefore, a hen will be more apt to lay her eggs in that coop as well. For the farmer this was a blessing as it made the hen’s eggs easier to find, kept them cleaner, and provided a safe place to encourage even more egg production.
The use of faux chicken eggs is still common. Glass eggs are very popular as well as ones made of wood and ceramic. Even golf balls are used by modern chicken owners.
Be sure to ask your friendly, knowledgeable docent to show you the display of Victorian era glass chicken eggs during your next visit to the historic Sikes Adobe Farmstead.
And be sure to stop by and say hello to our farmhouse chicken family! Will you find a set of glass eggs in their coop?
Written by: Anita Hissem, Friends of Sikes Adobe Member
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