OT: backyard chickens

[huskymedic]

 

[Conndog]

We're getting them, it was my wife's idea, haven't even received them yet and even she is conceding it might not be best idea. The breed she chose is Icelandic something, they are small birds two pounds or so and hearty supposedly for cold climates. Well, 25 birds cost so much, then you have to buy/build a coop that costs that much more, get feed etc. and take care of them. At some point, you pay someone to come and kill/process them. I'm not gonna do it myself, call me squeamish. So, I have no idea how much each chicken will ultimately cost, but it would be lots cheaper to just buy organic birds at the store. As far as eggs, I go past lots of people who have chickens and sell eggs for $3.00 dozen, you can see the birds pecking in the yard, just the kind you would want to get anyway.

Oh well, this should be just a one-time experience.

 

[August_West]

Backyard chicken eggs skieve me.

They dont look right. And they dont taste right.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Two guys in my office run chicken egg businesses from their desks. It's weird.

 

[intlzncster]

Backyard chicken eggs skieve me.

They dont look right. And they dont taste right.

Not enough hormones for Auggie's tastes.

 

[August_West]

Not enough hormones for Auggie's tastes.

hormones, radiation. Whatever you want to call it.
When I crack open backyard eggs (and seeing as my wife is a wookette and all my friends are crunchy hippies) everyone has chickens. Everyone. Wife always bringing home eggs friends gave her. Gross. Yolks dont look right. Different colors. All kinds of weirdness.

I like a uniformity and sterility to my eggs that only giant factory farms can give you.

 

[tykurez]

hormones, radiation. Whatever you want to call it.
When I crack open backyard eggs (and seeing as my wife is a wookette and all my friends are crunchy hippies) everyone has chickens. Everyone. Wife always bringing home eggs friends gave her. Gross. Yolks dont look right. Different colors. All kinds of weirdness.

I like a uniformity and sterility to my eggs that only giant factory farms can give you.

I also find it strange that if you don't wash the feces off of them you don't need to refrigerate them. But rinse those stains off? Keep em cool!

 

[intlzncster]

I also find it strange that if you don't wash the feces off of them you don't need to refrigerate them. But rinse those stains off? Keep em cool!

Really? That's an awesome fact. Unless you're trolling. I'm very gullible RE eggs.

 

[tykurez]

Really? That's an awesome fact. Unless you're trolling. I'm very gullible RE eggs.

I hope it's true - that's what my neighbor with chickens told me. So I kept those stinky bastards on the counter.

 

[August_West]

Really? That's an awesome fact. Unless you're trolling. I'm very gullible RE eggs.

No its true. I think it is a very good idea for you to sit a bunch a covered eggs on your kitchen counter. Maybe have a date come over too.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Having chickens is a PITA but having a close friend or neighbor with chickens is great.

Next door neighbor tapped his maple trees this year. The fires were a bit much some days, but early syrup samples had a nice smokiness. We know several in Westville who have chickens, so maybe eggs are next.

Best of all was when one sister had a swimming pool & a sailboat nearby, and the other a lake house & power boat 5 hours away. Now, it's just the lake house, and expensive gas, grown up kids, & aging bodies have pretty much ended tube rides. Extra credit: I love being with my sisters & their families.

 

[Robertelamin]

No its true. I think it is a very good idea for you to sit a bunch a covered eggs on your kitchen counter. Maybe have a date come over too.

It works with ice cream too. Just throw a couple turds on top and leave it on the dinner table.

 

[MadDogRevival]

So, I have no idea how much each chicken will ultimately cost, but it would be lots cheaper to just buy organic birds at the store.

Really didn't think my first post back on the BY would be about chickens, but cluck it.

Been raising meat and egg birds for nearly 10 years now. 1st, there's egg birds and there's meat birds, and there's no sense in mixing the two. A true egg bird is made to lay. It's shockingly light and has less meat on it than an anorexic rabbit. We have had several varieties, but the leghorn has been the best. As in the Foghorn Leghorn guy. They eat about as much as they need to make an egg each day, then a bit more to keep their Twiggy bodies moving. They're pack animals, and they're quiet. You will never hear them, unless they sneak up on you, which they do, and when you're on your back fixing the mower and you look to the side and there's one Eye Balling you sideways from a foot away like it wants to peck your eyeball out and play hacky sack with her pack, you get a Jurassic Park moment that makes you wonder why it took until the 70s for the bird-from-dinosaur theory to finally get traction.
In terms of cost, yeah, it's not worth your time, unless you make 8 bucks an hour, then it would be. In terms of product? Depends what you like. I used to be like August - home/farm eggs were weird. And then you get used to them and what you realize is that they are deep yellow because they have better nutrition (i suppose). You can't hard boil them and have peelable eggs unless you let them sit on the counter for 2 weeks, minimum, at which point you're fine. The implication, of course, is that all factory eggs are old. Which they are.
Regarding the crap on the eggs theory, that's crap. Eggs, unbroken, have a natural anti-bacterial molecular structure, and they can sit out for 2 or more weeks no problem. We do it all the time. To get peelable eggs. Yep.
Regarding product? What's organic? 90% organic can be labelled organic, right? Or something like that.
In terms of butchering, egg birds get whacked and fed to the pigs, which eat them head and toes and all. We don't have Chinese pigs either.
Meat birds are a whole different shebang. Avoid the rockX chickens. They are the factory farm birds and they are disgusting. They can't walk easily. Their chest feathers are matted with crap because they sit on their chests all day. Many have twisted and broken legs. We did that two years, then not again. Gross. The chicken meat you eat out and from the store is from that bird. They should not exist. They're like most of the female talk shows - an abomination.
We use freedom rangers. Great birds. Great meat. More in a PM if you want it, but I'm done talking about chickens. Could probably write a lot more. Have Amish folks out here will butcher for 3 bucks a bird. I do it for free. Good family work.
Good for the soul brother. Support your wife. It's a good thing to be doing.

ctrop

 

[August_West]

Really didn't think my first post back on the BY would be about chickens, but cluck it.

Been raising meat and egg birds for nearly 10 years now. 1st, there's egg birds and there's meat birds, and there's no sense in mixing the two. A true egg bird is made to lay. It's shockingly light and has less meat on it than an anorexic rabbit. We have had several varieties, but the leghorn has been the best. As in the Foghorn Leghorn guy. They eat about as much as they need to make an egg each day, then a bit more to keep their Twiggy bodies moving. They're pack animals, and they're quiet. You will never hear them, unless they sneak up on you, which they do, and when you're on your back fixing the mower and you look to the side and there's one Eye Balling you sideways from a foot away like it wants to peck your eyeball out and play hacky sack with her pack, you get a Jurassic Park moment that makes you wonder why it took until the 70s for the bird-from-dinosaur theory to finally get traction.
In terms of cost, yeah, it's not worth your time, unless you make 8 bucks an hour, then it would be. In terms of product? Depends what you like. I used to be like August - home/farm eggs were weird. And then you get used to them and what you realize is that they are deep yellow because they have better nutrition (i suppose). You can't hard boil them and have peelable eggs unless you let them sit on the counter for 2 weeks, minimum, at which point you're fine. The implication, of course, is that all factory eggs are old. Which they are.
Regarding the crap on the eggs theory, that's crap. Eggs, unbroken, have a natural anti-bacterial molecular structure, and they can sit out for 2 or more weeks no problem. We do it all the time. To get peelable eggs. Yep.
Regarding product? What's organic? 90% organic can be labelled organic, right? Or something like that.
In terms of butchering, egg birds get whacked and fed to the pigs, which eat them head and toes and all. We don't have Chinese pigs either.
Meat birds are a whole different shebang. Avoid the rockX chickens. They are the factory farm birds and they are disgusting. They can't walk easily. Their chest feathers are matted with crap because they sit on their chests all day. Many have twisted and broken legs. We did that two years, then not again. Gross. The chicken meat you eat out and from the store is from that bird. They should not exist. They're like most of the female talk shows - an abomination.
We use freedom rangers. Great birds. Great meat. More in a PM if you want it, but I'm done talking about chickens. Could probably write a lot more. Have Amish folks out here will butcher for 3 bucks a bird. I do it for free. Good family work.
Good for the soul brother. Support your wife. It's a good thing to be doing.

ctrop

I love this post

 

[zyron]

Backyard chicken eggs skieve me.

They dont look right. And they dont taste right.

My Mother had chickens before she got sick. They eggs taste so much better than store bought eggs. Also a much deeper colored yolk.

 

[TRest]

I love this post

I would rather read this all day then the fickleness of high school kids who can play ball.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

The UCONN world is self destructing and we are worried about backyard chickens???

 

[August_West]

Hey @MadDogRevival lets have some more details here please. Lets hear about your pigs.
Also you hate turkeys, right?

 

[zyron]

Really? That's an awesome fact. Unless you're trolling. I'm very gullible RE eggs.

It's true, other countries don't refrigerate their eggs. In they US they are required to clean the eggs which strips off its protective coating.

 

[intlzncster]

It's true, other countries don't refrigerate their eggs. In they US they are required to clean the eggs which strips off its protective coating.

Thanks. You are an expert on warning about sh t lately.

 

[mauconnfan]

Was this a "Best Backyard Chickens" thread or just regular backyard chickens thread?

 

[huskymedic]

Ha... in today's New Haven Register:

 

[Bryan Lord]

Really didn't think my first post back on the BY would be about chickens, but cluck it.

Been raising meat and egg birds for nearly 10 years now. 1st, there's egg birds and there's meat birds, and there's no sense in mixing the two. A true egg bird is made to lay. It's shockingly light and has less meat on it than an anorexic rabbit. We have had several varieties, but the leghorn has been the best. As in the Foghorn Leghorn guy. They eat about as much as they need to make an egg each day, then a bit more to keep their Twiggy bodies moving. They're pack animals, and they're quiet. You will never hear them, unless they sneak up on you, which they do, and when you're on your back fixing the mower and you look to the side and there's one Eye Balling you sideways from a foot away like it wants to peck your eyeball out and play hacky sack with her pack, you get a Jurassic Park moment that makes you wonder why it took until the 70s for the bird-from-dinosaur theory to finally get traction.
In terms of cost, yeah, it's not worth your time, unless you make 8 bucks an hour, then it would be. In terms of product? Depends what you like. I used to be like August - home/farm eggs were weird. And then you get used to them and what you realize is that they are deep yellow because they have better nutrition (i suppose). You can't hard boil them and have peelable eggs unless you let them sit on the counter for 2 weeks, minimum, at which point you're fine. The implication, of course, is that all factory eggs are old. Which they are.
Regarding the crap on the eggs theory, that's crap. Eggs, unbroken, have a natural anti-bacterial molecular structure, and they can sit out for 2 or more weeks no problem. We do it all the time. To get peelable eggs. Yep.
Regarding product? What's organic? 90% organic can be labelled organic, right? Or something like that.
In terms of butchering, egg birds get whacked and fed to the pigs, which eat them head and toes and all. We don't have Chinese pigs either.
Meat birds are a whole different shebang. Avoid the rockX chickens. They are the factory farm birds and they are disgusting. They can't walk easily. Their chest feathers are matted with crap because they sit on their chests all day. Many have twisted and broken legs. We did that two years, then not again. Gross. The chicken meat you eat out and from the store is from that bird. They should not exist. They're like most of the female talk shows - an abomination.
We use freedom rangers. Great birds. Great meat. More in a PM if you want it, but I'm done talking about chickens. Could probably write a lot more. Have Amish folks out here will butcher for 3 bucks a bird. I do it for free. Good family work.
Good for the soul brother. Support your wife. It's a good thing to be doing.

ctrop

Thanks and welcome to the yard!

 

[Bryan Lord]

One of my roosters wants to transfer, he thinks he's an eagle but he's just a
Mix breed Easter egger.

 

[CTMike]

The Yard is a hell of a place.