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Author Topic: Viability of home grown eggs  (Read 10014 times)

Offline Cindi

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Viability of home grown eggs
« on: January 25, 2008, 09:54:01 am »
Upon reading an e-mail this morning from my oldest Daughter, I was shocked at something that she told me.  She was saying that her and her Husband will be coming down for his 40th birthday party to our area, she has booked a Japanese restaurant for 25 people and that it is going to be a surprise dinner/birthday celebration.  The thought has been placed in his mind that they are coming down for us to take them out for dinner.  Should be a great hoot and a hollar.

She proceeded to mention that she can't wait to get some of our farm fresh eggs to bring home.  She is paying $6 a dozen at the health food store for freaking eggs.  I almost fell over!!!!  We charge $3 for our local clients and the clients that we take the eggs to in the city are charged $4.

I want to send her home with several dozen eggs, I want them to be of the utmost quality.  And that they will.  She will get all the oversized eggs, and some regular sized ones too, this will make her happy.  I would want to send her home with as many dozen as she could use before the time comes before they would not be considered "reasonably fresh".  For example, if I gave her 4 dozen and she used 4 dozen a month, how many should I send her?  How long could she keep these eggs before they lost their taste or became "rotten".  Hee, hee, wouldn't want her to open up and egg and it being a stinky one. Hee, hee, or maybe I might......no hold that thought.  She was the Daughter that never gave me troubles growing up, she was the well behaved Honor Roll student, always held a job while she attended high school at MacDonalds.  Yes.....it was the other Daughter, the younger one.  She was the one that I should give rotten eggs too.  She was quite the opposite.  Now....

That wasn't very nice now was it?  Hee, heee  :evil: :evil: :evil:  Actually, it is a funny thing.  This demon child that I had has grown up to be the most lovely woman.  She has provided me with two beautiful young men for Grandsons, and has done a fabulous job of raising them.  She did mature out of that demon child to a strong and wonderful young woman, whom I love dearly.  I thought for sure that the devil had borne this child, not me.  I thank my lucky stars that she finally grew up, and turned out "normal", I often wondered what would have become of her,  :oops: :-\ :-X ;) ;) :) :) :)

So yes, this thread was about eggs, wonder how I got on the topic of my children.  Oh well, never mind, it is all good. Have a wonderful and beautiful day.  Cindi
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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2008, 09:09:22 pm »
I've kept eggs eatable in the frig for a month but I wouldn't call them fresh.
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Offline poka-bee

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2008, 01:14:53 am »
The eggs bought in the stores are over a week old by the time we get to see em...I've kept em for over a month in the fridge.  If you think about it, the chix lay a whole nest, 10-15 of em & wait to set till they get all they need..so the 1st eggs are 2 weeks old by the time they start incubating & they are viable & hatch..+ they havn't been kept cold!  I wouldn't use em for poached or fried but they would be fine for cooking!

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Offline Angi_H

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2008, 02:26:14 am »
You can keep eggs fresh for a month. Then how you tell is float them in the sink in cool water. If the big end just rises you can boil them as the white till just be runny. When the egg floats to the top it is no good. If you wash the eggs then there shelf life goes down. If you slightly rub mineral oil into the shells and then whipe off the excess you will be able to prolong the the eggs shelf life. As when you wash the eggs you wash off the protective antibacterial stuff the chicken or duck lays on the egg. It also opens up te pours in the shells. By rubbing mineral oil into the shell you close up the pours in the egg which dosnt allow the egg to dry down as fast there for prolonging the shelf life. I get 4.00 a doz for my eggs. And 5.00 a doz for Duck eggs.

Angi

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2008, 01:14:59 pm »
Judging by comparing them to my eggs, the eggs you get in the store are several months old by the time you get them.  Fresh eggs will keep for months in the refrigerator if you've never washed them.
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Offline Cindi

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2008, 01:30:12 pm »
Good answers, excellent knowledge.  I see that washing the eggs is not the best for long keepers, hee, hee.  The eggs that I will be saving for my Daughter to take home with her will not be washed, that way they will keep until I can get her some new ones.   That would probably be about 2 months before I would see her again to give her some fresh ones.

The only problem here is, what do you do with the poopy eggs.  No matter how clean the nest boxes are, there seems to still be poop on the eggs sometimes.  Some eggs are spotless, others, well, let the imagination roll.  I would imagine just wiping them with a damp cloth would suffice, but that poop is really sticky stuff,  :( ;) :)  Any recommendations on how to get that crap off?  Have an awesome day.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline JP

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2008, 02:18:52 pm »
Cindi, you could try using a little lemon juice or the mineral oil to clean the eggs couldn't you?

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Offline Cindi

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2008, 02:41:55 pm »
JP, yep that is my intention.  I will get some mineral oil (whatever that is) and use that stuff, sounds like it might have an oily texture to the liquid, so it might get the gucky stuff off easily.  Awesome and wonderful day, Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline JP

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2008, 02:48:40 pm »
If you don't like the mineral oil I bet olive oil would work fine.

Just a thought , JP
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Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2008, 06:17:16 pm »
>The only problem here is, what do you do with the poopy eggs. 

Soak them for a little while in water.  Wipe them off.  Eat them first.
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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2008, 05:59:50 pm »
>The only problem here is, what do you do with the poopy eggs. 

Soak them for a little while in water.  Wipe them off.  Eat them first.


Use a slightly damp cloth, to much water drowns the egg and it will spoil rather fast in comparison to untouched eggs.  Yes, eat them first.
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Offline Frantz

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2008, 09:12:49 pm »
I just feed the poopy eggs to my kids, they never know!! :evil: I only sell the clean ones and I don't wash them. The eggs you get from the store have been washed and then lightly sprayed with vegetable oil. You can get the machine that does the cleaning and the spraying for around $25K.  :shock: It was all part of a lobbist conspiracy to put down the little man (egg farmer) So only the big boys could play.. Don't get me started. Ok well since you got me started. This is a reply I got concerning cleaning eggs one time. Got a lot of good info..

A fresh-laid egg has a "Bloom". are you aware of this and have you ever watched the bloom dry?
the egg has a very thin sticky wet clear coat (bloom) that will dry within 30 seconds or so of the egg being in the air. this bloom seals the pores in the eggshell to protect it and give it a long shelf life.
if you wash the outside of the shell, chances are you also wash away the protective bloom. also, if you place the eggs in wash/rinse water that is hotter than the shell temperature, the pores of the shell (used for air exchange during) will open and allow any bacteria to penetrate into the egg.
The commercial egg farms get around this by washing, drying and then spraying on a thin coating of vegetable oil to seal the pores.
some people say the cleaning spray coating is not necessary. they feel/think it was a political/financial act to weed out the Mom & Pop egg farms from competing because they could not afford the expensive equipment. then the elected officials made it a law where all FDA inspected eggs must have this procedure done. this effectively put an end to small egg producers that maybe only had 200 to 300 layers to supply the local community. if you need 25,000 layers to justify the equipment, your only option is to go out of business!
if it were me, I'd only sell the clean eggs, and eat the dirty ones. clean eggs have absolutely no need to be washed! washing shortens the shelf life. clean nest mean clean eggs. if your going to be selling the eggs, check the egg laws in your state.
Here in Arkansas, all non-washed eggs were illegal from the 1950's (about the time Tyson poultry turned giant corp)until around 2,000 when an amendment was added to excuse small flock owners (less than 200 layers)from the washing/coating laws. I see it as a sick joke! My thought is if I can safely sell 199 eggs per day, what is the difference if I sell 400 or 600 or whatever.
egg washing/coating laws did not come into effect until the producers went corporate and demanded the law makers pass things like this.
if eggs are slightly/lightly soiled you may soak them a minute of two in water cooler than the shell temp, and see if that helps. very soiled eggs (poop on them) are ok to eat for a couple of days, and should not be sold.
egg washing is a myth. we don't need it, never did. out grandparents never got sick from non washed egg shells!
if you wish to wash to make yourself feel better, be sure to use a soap you would feel safe drinking, and remember you have just greatly reduced the shelf live of the eggs, unless you coat them.
 




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Offline Cindi

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2008, 09:25:23 am »
Frantz, very good and well written advice.  Yes, I have seen this bloom you speak about.  I saw it the other day, exactly for example.  I have a white chicken that went into the egg laying box.  I watched her lay the egg.  What an interesting process.  She was in there for awhile, after awhile she got up, looked and looked and looked below her body and then got off the nest.  I immediately went over there because I wanted to see what colour of egg she had laid.  I was wondering if it was going to be white.  I picked up the egg, it was a light brown colour, not white, and it was slightly damp in spots.  I didn't know what this moisture was, but now I know.  It was the bloom.  What a beautiful word, it depicts so many wonderful things.  Think about the word "bloom", beautiful.

So, she is not a white leghorn I guess, her egg was brown.  I think that she is a White Plymouth Rock.  She is lovely.  Now if only I could find out what type of white bird Lucy is (my Sister still contends she is a rooster), she is the one with the blue legs I have posted a picture about.  Have a wonderful and great day, Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline Scadsobees

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2008, 02:16:12 pm »
On the subject of shelf life of eggs... (but slightly off topic)

I've read that if you want eggs that you don't need to refridgerate for a while (say a week) but don't want hard boiled eggs, to boil them for about 30 seconds (I don't remember how much time exactly), this will preserve the egg while leaving it raw.

I assume by sterilizing the shell and sealing the outer layer of egg white as well as killing it so it doesn't develop?

Is this true?
Rick

Offline dpence

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2008, 02:40:04 pm »
I just feed the poopy eggs to my kids, they never know!! :evil:

LOL Frantz...

Offline Cindi

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #15 on: January 30, 2008, 09:48:41 am »
Rick, that was pretty interesting thoughts there, I would wonder too if that is true, seems like it might be true, maybe someone will know for surely.  Have a wonderful day, Cndi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

Offline SteveSC

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #16 on: February 20, 2008, 02:49:07 pm »
I've had laying chickens for yrs...  I rotate them out every two yrs....just got a new batch ( 3 doz. ) back in Oct..  They ought to be laying in a month or so.  I've got some Speckled Susex - Barred Rocks - Silver and Golden Laced Wyendotes...

Fresh eggs will keep in a refrig. for 4 or 5 weeks without a problem.
 
Here's a guideline:

Look at the date code on a store bought carton of eggs.  It'll be something like "  P.474215 " then there's a sell by date under those #s.  The P.474 is the plant location in which the eggs were packed.  The 215 is the consecutive day of the year of the date packed. Ex.: if the last 3 #s were 365 this means they were packed on Dec. 31..  Most of the time the sell by date is 3 to 4 wks after the packing date and this is after the eggs have been washed which does reduce the keep fresh times on eggs.

I'd say you're safe on home grown fresh eggs for at least a month unwashed in the refrig..

Offline BEH

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2008, 11:36:31 am »
I am just a consumer not a producer but here is my experience with eggs for what its worth...
 
Last spring we were planing a big Easter egg hunt, and the kids din NOT want plastic eggs. Ofcourse half the fun of a hunt is decorating all the eggs in the first place.  Any way, I bought about 8 dozen cheep eggs , 99 cents a dozen so not the freshest or best quality, figured most of them would end up broken not eaten.  To make a long story short, an emergency came up and we never used the real eggs. They got stuck in my 'extra' refridgerator and we used them when we remembered them. I wasnt paying attention to the dates, I'd ask my son to fetch me some eggs and he would bring me a couple. We had eaten most of them when I decided to clean out that refridgerator. We had been eating eggs that were a month or more past their experation date. They tasted fine, for factory eggs anyway, none of us had gotten sick. I did give the rest to the dogs though. Those eggs had to be at least 2 months old, and were definitely washed and oiled, therefore 'freshness challenged' to begin with.

        I worked at a grocery store in the 80's to pay my way thru college. When new eggs came in they were routinely stored just in the back room, no refridgeration at all, room temperature, for a week or so.  As the eggs in the display sold they would be replenished by ones from the cooler and the oldest of the room temperature ones would be rotated to the cooler. Unless there was a special sale going on and they sold fast, most of the eggs were in the store about a month befor even being offered to the public for sale.

Just had to throw in my two cents worth  :)  Barbra

Offline Cindi

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2008, 10:31:37 am »
Barbra, that was cool, some nice information to know and thankyou for sharing.  Sounds like eggs can be "good" for a long time.  Eggs around our place never make it past a month old.  Thank goodness I have clients to buy the eggs, that is a good thing.  Have a wonderful, great day, love our life. Cindi
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Offline ooptec

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Keeping Eggs
« Reply #19 on: February 25, 2008, 06:40:21 pm »
I remember dad's stories from the olden days pre refridgeration.

They had a few ways and also found this on line

keeping eggs

cheers

peter

Offline Kev

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #20 on: February 25, 2008, 08:47:07 pm »
very soiled eggs (poop on them) are ok to eat for a couple of days, and should not be sold.
egg washing is a myth.

You're right about egg washing. We just wipe ours off with vegetable oil.

It's not the poop getting into the egg that's a problem. It's keeping poop out of people.

In large commercial farms salmonella is a serious problem in the chicken gut, so handwashing is key to keeping it out of people gut. When people pick up eggs, handle them and then don't wash their hands before touch other food products that won't be cooked there's a serious potential for illness.

There's been some interesting research that demonstrated that if you feed chickens food containing yogurt bacteria, the yogurt crowds out the salmonella. BUt I think it raised costs.

Kev
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Offline BEH

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #21 on: February 26, 2008, 12:35:59 pm »
That is a really neat site Peter, thanks for the link!

8 to 10 month!   Who would have thought?

Barbra  :)

Offline danno

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #22 on: February 26, 2008, 01:52:36 pm »
Last summer I found a large pc of some kind of erosion control blanket that was made up of a web type plastic material about 1/2" thick.  I cut it up and put it in my nest boxes.  If a hen poops in a box it drops through and the eggs dont sit in it.  I seldom get dirty eggs anymore.  I never wash the eggs I sell.  If I get a couple slightly dirty I use green scrubby pad to brush the off dry

Offline Cindi

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #23 on: February 27, 2008, 10:38:18 am »
Last summer I found a large pc of some kind of erosion control blanket that was made up of a web type plastic material about 1/2" thick.  I cut it up and put it in my nest boxes.  If a hen poops in a box it drops through and the eggs dont sit in it.  I seldom get dirty eggs anymore.  I never wash the eggs I sell.  If I get a couple slightly dirty I use green scrubby pad to brush the off dry

Danno, hey that was pretty interesting.  I am rethinking for sure what to use for nesting.  Straw is pretty good I guess, but I am thinking that hemlock shavings may be better.  I can't imagine what you are talking about, but it sounds very cool.  I use hemlock shavings for things now and then.  Have a beautiful and wonderful, great day, love this beautiful life we live.  Cindi
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Offline poka-bee

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #24 on: February 27, 2008, 12:54:14 pm »
Danno, what a great idea, Im gonna look for some, I too use a scrubby for the chunks...it's funny people are turned off by the "natural" stuff..if they only knew what really goes on and into the processed junk they buy.... :-X
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Offline Beekissed

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #25 on: March 17, 2008, 11:02:22 pm »
I agree, Poka-bee!  The commercial eggs come from chicken H*ll!!  I live in a county that seems to be the commercial chicken capital of the world!  The smell in the spring and summer, as you drive by, makes you gag and gasp for air! 

That site was very, very interesting!  I read a book once that described preparing eggs for an ocean voyage where they coated the eggs in vaseline!  This stored the eggs for 3-4 months without refrigeration.  But nothing I've read tops the lengths of time described in that link!  I have found if the eggs are gathered in a timely fashion, no matter what material I use for nest boxes, I rarely have fecal matter on the shells.  My hens just don't seem to poop in the nests....don't know why. 
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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #26 on: March 19, 2008, 12:36:50 am »
The more crowded the hen house the more dirty eggs you'll get.  Same is true for cracked and broken eggs.  When you have too many hens fighting over too few nest boxes the dirt and the eggs fly and the hens and roosters end up roosting in the nests.  You're also more likely to develop an egg eater that way too.

Ample space means clean eggs.
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Offline Cindi

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #27 on: March 19, 2008, 08:54:10 am »
Oh, Brian, some good words of advice.  I have four nest boxes in each of the chickens houses, I find that they all like to lay their eggs in only two of these boxes.  How can the chickens be encouraged to use more instead of cramming all their eggs into just the two boxes.  That makes 100% perfect sense about what you are saying, but my chickens like to cluster their eggs.  Thoughts?  Have the greatest and most fabulous day, love this life.  Cindi
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Offline Beekissed

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #28 on: March 19, 2008, 02:55:25 pm »
I agree, Cindi!  I have 10 nests for 7 hens right now and they all chose to lay their eggs in a galvanized washtub in the storage shed....on the bare metal!  I lined it with hay and they have completely abandoned the nice, cozy nesting boxes and all lay in the tub.  Go figure!  My nest boxes are the old galvanized, mount-on-the wall unit with the fold down perches, so they are more than adequate in design and space, but the girls prefer to climb into my old washtubs up on a stand in the next building.  Fickle women!
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Offline JordanM

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2008, 06:53:27 pm »
I have laying chickens, but right now the other chickens are eating each others eggs. Any ideas how to make them stop. They dont break as many in the summer when the get to go outside in the yard and run around and yes they are getting all the food they can eat. I sell my eggs here to my family for $1 a dozen. I have a chicken right now that can barely stand and has go tumors on his feet and couldnt even stand on the roost so i brought him in the heated garadge and he is doing better, any ideas what is wrong with him.

Thanks Jordan

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #30 on: March 19, 2008, 11:47:20 pm »
I have laying chickens, but right now the other chickens are eating each others eggs. Any ideas how to make them stop. They dont break as many in the summer when the get to go outside in the yard and run around and yes they are getting all the food they can eat. I sell my eggs here to my family for $1 a dozen. I have a chicken right now that can barely stand and has go tumors on his feet and couldnt even stand on the roost so i brought him in the heated garadge and he is doing better, any ideas what is wrong with him.

Thanks Jordan

The only solution to egg eating, that works, that I've found is intentional Ax-idents.  Is Intentional Accidents an Oxymoron?  I think so.  But intentional ax-idents isn't.

For your chicken with gout, try rubbing olive oil and honey into the scales on his legs.  He probably has a foot fungus of some type and bathing the feet in olive oil twice a day seems to work.  Adding the honey will aid with any bacteria ride-a-longs.
Life is a school.  What have you learned?   :brian:      The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

Offline ooptec

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #31 on: March 27, 2008, 04:54:27 pm »
Gee, $1 a dozen??  Isn't that less that 1/2 of the cost of a factory produced doz. in the superstores??

I see here a doz. free range factory farmed eggs, so that means they get to free range packed shoulder to shoulder on the barn floor and still never see the sun, are going for $3.50 a doz. and I know a lot of people who look at what they eat would not blink at $4 doz. for real farmyard free range eggs. (or more)

cheers

peter

Offline reinbeau

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Re: Viability of home grown eggs
« Reply #32 on: March 27, 2008, 10:18:44 pm »
I buy farm fresh eggs from a local farm for $2.50 a dozen.  I can see the hens from the road as I drive buy, they're happily pecking around on the ground under pine trees and in a nice open field.  I know these hens are living as hens should live.  I won't buy a supermarket egg ever again (especially after this year, when I'll have my own laying hens).

 

anything