Good News For Chicken Owners

[Nyboy]

 

[journey11]

I saw an interview with a 106-year-old woman who said she contributed her good health to eating 2 eggs every day all throughout life. My mom buys 5 dozen off of me every two weeks, so I hope it works.

 

[ducks4you]

I love chickens that lay big eggs, BUT I have considered maybe picking up a few bantams this year just for the heck of it to see if really might enjoy some little sunny side up eggs.
ANYBODY who incubates chickens will tell you that the incubation rate is somewhere around 50%, at least in MY experience. You MUST keep the eggs very warm, over 100 degrees F and with consistent humidity or they will not develop. IF the egg that is laid sits for several days it will NOT develop.
I think that our modern culture has taught Americans that you are eating and killing possible baby chicks, and this is simply not true. You must have about 3 roosters/12 hens to have a good fertility and most eggs come from farms that just raise hens.
I have kept 5 of my EE hens into their third year. I meant to incubate chicks last year but DH had some serious heart problems and most of my plans went out the window. Fortunately he is doing very well, feeling great again (gained some weight bc his appetite came back) and I can focus on baby chicks this year. I was getting pretty much few to no eggs this winter. I do NOT have a light set up in my new coop, which helps them to lay since they prefer 13 hours sunlight/day. Yesterday I was home and I collected 9 eggs, a 2 days worth, which means all of my 7 hens laid and 2 hens laid twice.
Some people believe that you should let your hens have a rest over the winter. Still, I should be buying some baby chicks next month and will incubate some baby chicks and WILL BE sending ALL of the hens and the two roosters to freezer camp this summer. I will probably buy some baby roosters and butcher them at about 2-3 months. Large chickens are about the size of a Cornish hen at that age. Unless you are breeding for chicks the roosters have no particular purpose and you ALWAYS hatch more roosters than hens every time.

 

[Nyboy]

I think eggs got a bad rap because of cholesterol .

 

[journey11]

@ducks4you - Oh, you should definitely get yourself some pretty banties! They are such nice pets. I felt very practical about it at first, but my kids talked me into it and we just love them. We've got Golden Seabrights and Mille Fleurs and they are very gentle; even the 3 banty roos I have don't fight. You'd be surprised how big their eggs are in comparison to their little bodies. Two will make the equivalent of one large egg. I keep all my banty eggs to use and sell the regular ones.

 

[seedcorn]

The yolks are the same size. It's the whites that are smaller. I have bantams and agree with their gentleness in the roosters. Although just like standards, there is a pecking order.

 

[waretrop]

I love eggs. I am making a very nice business selling eggs these days. I sell 60 to 60 dozen every week...

 

[PennyJo]

I am also @waretrop I am going to build another smaller coop to keep
more chickens

 

[lcertuche]

Thanks for sharing. They are right about eggs over cereal. Cereal of any kind, oatmeal included causes my blood sugar crash after eating but an egg on toast never does. I'm always starving after a hour after eating cereal but egg and toast will last until time to eat again.

 

[lcertuche]

@journey11 what a sweet picture.