Proud of my chickens

[RED333]

Production is picking up with the warm weather, getting 18 to 24 eggs a day.
http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac165/redintn/Mobile%20Uploads/0331151838_zps9vtfogps.jpg (http://s896.photobucket.com/user/redintn/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0331151838_zps9vtfogps.jpg.html)
Then today this showed up, 4 OZs of good eating!!!:bigsmyl2:
The brown and blue are 2.5 ozs
http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac165/redintn/Mobile%20Uploads/0401151846c_zpszydk78if.jpg (http://s896.photobucket.com/user/redintn/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0401151846c_zpszydk78if.jpg.html)

[duckey]

I miss my chickens!

[Beagle333]

I sure miss chickens too. Even though I'm still very rural, where I live now I'd have to have a giant shoot-the-stray party for about 6 months before any chickens would last a week.

[bnelson06]

So are you working on making your area chicken friendly beagle

[blademasterii]

You should try quail. The eggs are tiny, but so are the birds. Dont eat much and the eggs are awesome. Also chef's will pay a premium for fresh organic quail eggs supply. We had them at my parents, I don't like animals much, but i liked having the quail. Neat little birds. Much more friendly than chickens.

[Beagle333]

Currently we are working on keeping it guinea friendly. There were 6 two weeks ago and there are only 2 now, but they have lasted for 7 days as a surviving pair. Maybe they are the smart ones? (or just the fast ones!);)

A big ol' fat waddling hen wouldn't last 20 minutes. I'm pretty jealous of Red333.



Quail are cool, but I found Chukars easier to breed and they had a higher survival rate for me than Quail.
(Penned birds, sure - I could have em... but anything that was allowed free range is stray-bait quickly)

[JWFilips]

That is very neat! My town ordinance now specifies no chickens! ( But we can have plenty of border jumpers
: Now!)
I'm on 4 acres of land in the town's outskirts ...I'm a radical so I think I may want to try this!!!
I can just taste those tasty eggs!

[osteodoc08]

Never had a quail egg. Are they similar to chicken eggs in taste?

[JonnyReb]

Chickens are awesome and till we got a trained up "chicken dog" we lost a couple hens to varmints..Molly and bug...plus a couple "driveway monitors" around the coop have kept us from losing a chicken for years now. The "girls" are part of the family and i even like the old rooster. Can't imagine not having some redneck parrots around.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z252/xxjonnyrebxx/20130825_190556.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z252/xxjonnyrebxx/20150324_190203.jpg

This one hurt i'd bet. :)

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z252/xxjonnyrebxx/20140222_214232.jpg

[Bo1]

We lost all 15 of our chickens, and 1 rooster this past fall due to roaming neighborhood dogs. I like to let the chickens out in the mornings, and lock them up at night. Free range eggs just seem to taste better, and the chickens seem happier. Came home on two different afternoons, and had lost everything. Just bought 30 pullets a few weeks ago, and building a chicken yard around the coop to help protect these. Sad thing is that we won't be getting any eggs for another 4 months.... :(

[472x1B/A]

^^^ My grandparents, on dad's side, grew chickens for over 25 years. I never ever seen an egg that big. If it hatched it would be like George Thorougood's song, Bad To The Bone, Chicken!

[Frank46]

One of my neighbors has chickens. Thought I was seeing things one day as about a dozen were in my back yard. My daughters had them for 4H. Was supposed to have only 12 but a lot of people who ordered them never showed up. The guy who was handing them out gave us 24 so had to embark on an emergency chicken coop in my garage. Frank

[twc1964]

Fresh eggs are great. Whenever i go to my moms house , i always seem to be gifted with a few dozen fresh eggs. They have the occasional coon, coyote or such think its the neighborhood kfc and come to dinner. When they meet her hubby and his 30-30, they get indigestion.

[blademasterii]

Quail eggs taste like a richer chicken egg.

[SSGOldfart]

We lost all 15 of our chickens, and 1 rooster this past fall due to roaming neighborhood dogs. I like to let the chickens out in the mornings, and lock them up at night. Free range eggs just seem to taste better, and the chickens seem happier. Came home on two different afternoons, and had lost everything. Just bought 30 pullets a few weeks ago, and building a chicken yard around the coop to help protect these. Sad thing is that we won't be getting any eggs for another 4 months.... :(
Bo good things come to them that wait, load you up a few reduced loads for the roaming neighborhood dogs, I hate to shoot a mans best friend but a few shot shells with cream of wheat or salt worked, now if a neighborhood dog sees me they tuck tail and head the other way, I've not lost a chicken or Rabbit to the dogs in years now I have had to kill a couple coons( four legged type)and a few egg eating chicken snakes, as soon as my #12 shoot gets here I'm going to load up a few more boxes of shot shells to make it through Garden season

[thegatman]

Neighbor had chickens. The local fox took care of the "free range" capabilities of those chickens. Neighbors are anti-gun so I couldn't take care the fox. Oh well.

[osteodoc08]

Neighbor had chickens. The local fox took care of the "free range" capabilities of those chickens. Neighbors are anti-gun so I couldn't take care the fox. Oh well.

Too bad they don't depend on those chickens. I'm sure they'd change their mind or starve to death. Either way is fine by me.

[cga]

We have a few Leghorns.135677

The egg in post#9 reminds me of this cartoon135678

[Alexn20]

I love my chickens! They have such a great personality. I never got eggs that big though. Talk about a squeeze!

Here are mine a couple years ago when they were little:
135679

[snowwolfe]

RED333,
What do you do with all the eggs? I been thinking of building a small coop once we move to Crossville with the intent of supplying just the wife and I with enough eggs for us to eat so this is a good thread.

[s mac]

We used to raise pullets commercially, a few times they started laying before they picked them up. We would pick up eggs by the 5 gallon bucket full. We were told, and proved it to ourselves that if you don't wash the eggs, which have a protective film on them, they will keep up to 5 weeks at room temp.

[mold maker]

Until I left home I had to deal with chicken droppings all over the yard. They would even even rooste on my truck.
I love fresh eggs, but have already had a life time of chicken Poo.

[Alexn20]

You need a dog like my wife's. He just follows them around and eats everything they leave behind. [smilie=l:

[Fishman]

Chickens are great and free range chicken eggs are the best. Mine are currently locked up in their chicken fortress or as my wife likes to call it the "Taj-ma-coop". A neighborhood dog is nursing and that has overcome her fear of #9 shot, resulting in several missing hens. So I can't let them out during the day while I am at work. I just wish people would take care of their pets. Most of the neighborhood dogs belong to neighborhood boys and girls so I can't bring myself to harm them (the dogs, not the kids lol). But losing a hen you've invested a year of feed into right when she hits her stride laying is the pits. We had to give away our ducks to a friend too, since they wouldn't voluntarily go back into their pen and they were getting decimated.

We have 34 eggs in the incubator right now. Six weren't developing when candled, so it's not quite full. Hatching chicks is lots of fun, particularly when you have a mixed flock and you don't know what they are going to look like.

[pressonregardless]

Picked up 5 eggs from our 5 Ohio Buckeye hens this afternoon. Nothing better then fresh eggs
for breakfast.

[Bad Water Bill]

Years ago I could get FRESH eggs.

Even in the winter I would always get a car full of "free roaming flys" every time I visited his farm.

Yes you could SMELL his place a loooong way off.

[Wolfer]

I live in a pretty rural area with plenty of chicken eatin varmints around. I don't care for eggs but wanted some chickens to eat the ticks and I like to hear a rooster crow in the mornings.

I got some Bantys from a neighbor and they commenced raising babies. At times I would get up around 50 head completely free range since I don't have a coop. The coyotes/coons would work on them until I got down to 15 or so. These survivors seemed to be coyote proof. They can fly like a crow, exaggerated a little and are as wild as the turkeys that eat with them most mornings.

Every spring they'll build up a good sized flock and the coyotes will whittle them down to 15 or 20 and then can't seem to catch any more.

Just a few minutes ago I saw my first hen of the season on a hidden nest as I was feeding the horses.

Ive tried adding some full sized chickens to the flock hoping to get a better eating chicken but they can't run/fly fast enough here.

A guy could starve to death eating Bantam/ game type chickens.

As a side note, there's nothing chicken about a game chicken. When one of these hens had babies anything that tried to mess with them was in harms way!

[bear67]

My maternal grandmother raised 13 of her children and 5 orphans on top as a sharecropper's wife. She taught me how to keep eggs for Christmas baking. She would start saving surplus eggs in the September October time before the hens slowed down laying before winter. She said never wash, roll in a piece of newspaper and place upright (big end up) in a wooden cheese box and store under the bed until needed for the holidays. I can testify that this works. My wife taught food preservation for school kids in a model 1880s farm that they used in their outdoor education facility. She did this every year and it seemed to always work. I even have 4 or 5 wooden cheese boxes. We keep hens over at the farm, but have to leave them penned as nobody lives close to "police" the chicken poachers. We use glass or ceramic eggs to foil the black, chicken, and rat snakes that develop a taste for fresh eggs.

[webfoot10]

Pickle them with some sausages and enjoy. Good way to use up extra eggs. Fresh eggs are excellent.

[RED333]

I give away most of them, daughter has a friend that bakes cakes for charity.
We give to my family and a local church, we had 26 eggs today from 30 chickens.
My birds dont get out in the yard at all, way to many chicken hunters.
This is what I use for 4 of my girls, had 8 at the start.
http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac165/redintn/COUP/DSCF1148_zps3719f00b.jpg (http://s896.photobucket.com/user/redintn/media/COUP/DSCF1148_zps3719f00b.jpg.html)
I put the wheels in the pipe to roll it round the yard.
http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac165/redintn/COUP/DSCF1147_zps474a1533.jpg (http://s896.photobucket.com/user/redintn/media/COUP/DSCF1147_zps474a1533.jpg.html)
The big coop and pen
http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac165/redintn/big%20coup/bigcoup1_zps3d0bcb60.jpg (http://s896.photobucket.com/user/redintn/media/big%20coup/bigcoup1_zps3d0bcb60.jpg.html)
As cold as it got here this past winter I did not loose a bird to cold.

[JWFilips]

OK ...I'm really following this thread! Total novice here when it comes to live poultry!!!

Family of 2 ( me & my wife) Don't need a lot of surplus: How many & what type chickens do I need to get to keep us supplied with those nice brown eggs... ? or is it just a dream.......Tired of paying for EB eggs in the super market Got 4 acres of land the girls can free range on!

[cattleskinner]

Try any of the "Rock" breeds if you are looking for a dual purpose breed. Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshire Reds also fit in this category. Some of the sexlinks work really well if you just want the eggs. Brahmas lay large brown eggs throughout the winter but do not lay quite as many as the previous kinds. Now if you want white ones, stick with Leghorns.

[Nicholas]

OK ...I'm really following this thread! Total novice here when it comes to live poultry!!!

Family of 2 ( me & my wife) Don't need a lot of surplus: How many & what type chickens do I need to get to keep us supplied with those nice brown eggs... ? or is it just a dream.......Tired of paying for EB eggs in the super market Got 4 acres of land the girls can free range on!

I have had to give up on my flock of chickens until I can get a health issue remedied. But I got started a few years ago and kept records on costs and eggs produced. I did not beat the price of commercial eggs in that endeavor and that is without counting the infrastructure I had to come up with. I did include chick costs and other operating costs.

Free range might make a big difference, if you do not lose a bunch of birds, or you have replacement capability through broody hens or incubation (another capital item).

So don't sweat it. Eat some truly fresh eggs from chickens on a wholesome diet and revel in the taste.

Another tip - I gave all my excess eggs away. That is way more satisfying than trying to make a business of it. And people loved receiving them way beyond their actual value. An alternative might be to barter, but I never considered it.

[RED333]

I do not keep track of pros and cons with the cost of what I am doing, I know in the back of my head
it is on the down side of coming out ahead. It is more fun to not track the cost and give my eggs away.

[rtracy2001]

You need a dog like my wife's. He just follows them around and eats everything they leave behind. [smilie=l:
Does the dog then jump up in your wife's lap and lick her face? That would be worth a chuckle or two.

[JWFilips]

I do not keep track of pros and cons with the cost of what I am doing, I know in the back of my head
it is on the down side of coming out ahead. It is more fun to not track the cost and give my eggs away.

Ah Hah! I'm starting to see this is just like boolit casting...

We all get into it because it is cheaper to shoot ( as long as we don't add in all those cool NOE moulds & great deals on wheel weights and lino etc!):bigsmyl2:

[Pigboat]

This is what I had for mine. (If I can remember how to post a picture)

http://s10.postimg.org/e2xnz9gx5/PICT0119.jpg (http://postimage.org/) upload (http://postimage.org/)

[RED333]

Ah Hah! I'm starting to see this is just like boolit casting...

We all get into it because it is cheaper to shoot ( as long as we don't add in all those cool NOE moulds & great deals on wheel weights and lino etc!):bigsmyl2:
Very close to the same "ends to the means"
My feed costs 10 dollars a 50 lb bag, lasts about 5 days for 30 birds.
Getting average of 70 eggs a week, we call 6 dozen.
Eggs at the store 2 to 4 dollars a dozen.
I did see 10 dollars a dozen at Whole Foods one time.:shock:
"IF" I did sell my eggs I "might" come out ahead, but more fun to give them away.

[snowwolfe]

I been researching chickens since we bought 42 acres of land in Tennessee. One of the main reasons I am leaning towards having a coop is because of how many insects the chickens will eat. Been reading lots about how chickens and a duck or two will eat every spider, grasshopper, and tick in sight.

[leebuilder]

Love having birds, eggs are great, lots of fun giving the eggs away to peaple that have never had freash eggs. They realy keep the bugs down and are a consant source of amusment. They are illigal were live, but i dont care.
Be well

[pressonregardless]

Love having birds, eggs are great, lots of fun giving the eggs away to peaple that have never had freash eggs. They realy keep the bugs down and are a consant source of amusment. They are illigal were live, but i dont care.
Be well

Why are they illegal? Do you live in a city ?

[leebuilder]

I live in the outskirts of the city, pay city rates for boonie service. It all started with a lady in the city having 3 hens, a whiney niegbour got his way. Comes up every year here, i pay no mind to it and wait for my five minute eggs and toast.

[Adk Mike]

I've had chickens for years. Never lost one to a predator. I keep 18 or so I also give the eggs away. Building a secound house now to keep for a breeding pen. Great Fun.

[mexicanjoe]

We've had upwards of 65 hens and had to give eggs away everyday.. Our guineas stayed for awhile then moved on to greener pastures( neighbors) but come by to visit occasionally .....as for insects..... None with the hens and guineas.. Guineas will also murder snakes who happen to pass thru.... Had a rattler help himself to eggs once, mrs Joe placed a few glass eggs out, and we later found aforementioned reptile, very much in rigor mortis. If you have guineas DO NOT attempt to pick up the chicks..... They are the mafia hit men for the poultry world.