yes, VERY small, anywhere from the size of a lima bean to 1/2 walnut. She was a great lil friend, had one wing amputated and would just chatter to get up and down from her cage door. Learned to walk up and down the hallways after she lost her wing. Darling lil pet! She used to say "hot tot hot tot" when trying to eat off my hot plate of food, I thought it was her way of talking. Now I have a lil human baby that says the same thing Obviously it's the way I pronounce the words together
I had the same thing happen to a flock of meat birds. I should have stuck with my six laying hens, but no, I had to ruin it by going too big and not experienced enough to know the pitfalls. When I had the six hens, all was well. Fresh eggs, tame birds that I kept in a tool shed. Then I raised two turkeys. Big dumb mistake. No one would eat them. Nothing I could do or say changed their feelings. I had good intentions, but the rest of the family wasn't in the same frame of mind. After that, I just stuck to the garden.
savemoney, I feel your pain. Just when you think you got it figured out. Like Gilda Ratner says, "it's always something" . lol
That's true. I like throwing my egg shell into the garden. I haven't thought about that in years. Thanks for the memory and a good laugh.
Why do grocery stores need to refigerate eggs and get busted when they are not cold enough? Because the protective coating is gone? Because they are older than 3 weeks or more? Whats up with expiration dates?
Grocery eggs are washed then coated with mineral oil to seal the porous egg shells. Washed eggs do not last as long as fresh eggs as I remember. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. We do not refrigerate eggs. Everyday when eggs are collected we take a pencil and write the date on the fat end of the egg. Fresh eggs should always be stored pointy end down. That has something to do with the air sack in the egg. Wanna test a egg to see if it's bad, Smell it.
Here are a couple of coop pics. We started with a 4x8 coop then added another 4x8. You can see some of the run. 6'x10' kennel panels. It's a work in progress. You can see the nesting boxes mounted to the front of the coop. 5 boxes in there. 2 are used for storage. Deep overhangs keep it dry. The raised coop is nice for the chickens to run under when there is any kind of weather. 3 roost inside with 2 poop boards. Poop boards help keep the coop clean. Plenty of ventilation. Pine shavings for the litter and we are using the deep litter method. Seems to be working good. 2 hanging feeders and a 2 gallon bucket of water in the coop. The water will not freeze inside the coop until we get down to 10 degrees or less.
We're on our second group of chickens, 3 Barred Rocks and 2 RIRs. 2 of them have been laying for a few weeks and we got a pullet bullet from a third the other day, so we're pretty much back to not buying store eggs. Our last chickens (white rocks) were egg laying machines. With the new chickens I'm going to try some different feeding methods to get them to cut back on their laying. We don't mind giving eggs away, but 35 eggs a week is just too much. And I'm also hoping that I can extend their egg laying career by cutting back production. Everything I've read says that eggs are good for 5 weeks and that's what I've gone by. I won't even hard boil eggs unless they're 4 weeks old. We always gather our eggs in a plastic container, take it in the house and put a drop of dishsoap in it and add water. We leave it sit on the counter for a while, clean and rinse them and put them in an egg carton on the window sill to dry. Chickens are nasty, dirty, germy birds and are known for carrying salmonella. We'd rather be safe than sorry.
Here's a good USDA article on egg shelf life and bacteria on eggs. http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/jun04/egg0604.htm
Agricultural Research Service food technologists Mike Musgrove and Deana Jones, of the Poultry Processing and Meat Quality Research Unit in Athens, Georgia, tested the quality and functionality of eggs during 10 weeks of storage—well beyond the current 30-day industry standard for keeping eggs on the store shelf. Properly refrigerated, eggs are considered safe for consumption 4 to 5 weeks beyond the date they are packed.
The natural protected layer is gone, replaced with an oil. You either wash the egg and refrigerate it or don't . U.S. Ag picked washed and recoated as a standard back when refrigeration pretty much replaced ice boxes here on this part of the continent . Refrigeration also keeps the eggs about twice as long, which helps stabilize prices and helps to ensure your eggs are "fresh". I float test eggs in a cup of water. A fresh one sinks to the bottom - a store bought egg usually stands up on the bottom rather than lying on its side. An egg that floats on top like a balloon I throw against a tree in the woods. The ones in between sinking and floating : if they float but are mostly underwater I'll still eat, but if they float a little too high they go in a cake or baked somehow.
I was scanning thru the 1st 2 pages of this thread and the talk about how long the eggs will last without refrigeration.... Well, here's a question for you folks: How long before the "eggs" are cracked open for an omlette and instead you end up with a wet, feathery, slimy tiny baby chicken instead? I've always wondered that! My neighbor has some ginnea (sp?) hens, and now and then offers up some fresh eggs. I'm always wondering how they know there won't be a chick in the egg???
2 things have to happen. 1. You need a rooster to fertilize. 2. An egg needs to be 99 degrees for a time which I don't know, for the bird to begin to develop.
If you sit on that egg and keep it at 100ºF for 21 days you'll have a chicken. Is your crack worthy ?
oh, I should add that my father in law is an egg distributor and sells 100 to 150 MILLION eggs a week! That is a LOT of omelets!
So how are your chickens doing this winter? We have had some brutal cold and snow but our girls won't give up. 18 girls and their slowest day was 4 eggs. we have been getting 6 to 8 regularly. No heat, no light. We feed regular layer feed and give a daily treat. Most days the treat is black sunflower seeds. They love them.
So they lay eggs that are not fertilized? hmmmmmmm..... what is the point (from a nature point of view) of laying an egg that will never do anything? Kinda weird....
