Chickens/Eggs

[AKIron]

Chicken fried rib-eye wrapped in bacon.

We do the IT support for the Texas State Fair and I'm gonna propose that royalty free to their vendors. Deep fried of course.

[AKIron]

Actually I have no idea how to propose that to a vendor. Vending at the Texas State Fair ain't cheap. I'll just make some for the local family.

[Eagler]

Anyone who eats animals oughta go hunting at least once in my opinion. Embrace your inner carnivore.

Take a gun.

Skip hunting..

If they had to slaughter their own cows, chickens and pigs vegetarianism would soar imo

Eagler

[hazmatt]

True. Lil more to it.

Based on memories of the farm decades ago….

However, depending on species, most chickens only produce eggs in any large degree for only 2-3 yrs and egg production declines every year.  When they decline they go on your table. Basically for each chicken you get about one egg per day and not every day.

So you need to raise more and time it to where they mature on time to replace the one that gies on your table.

Basically,  you’ll need a small chicken coup with about 6-12 birds to keep up with egg usage.
You’ll also have to keep them healthy enough to lay eggs.

To produce your own fertile eggs for replacement chickens you’ll need 1-2 roosters for breeding. And you have to keep everything real clean and check for diseases.

A little of birds you’ll need a conveyor belt under the cages to keep fecal matter constantly removed. Exposure to bird fecal matter can cause lung issues in you and them. Birds at home not a great idea unless the cage is cleaned daily.

You see your labor building?
500k chickens can produce about 300-400k eggs per day.

1-2 chickens are called pets.

Not sure your info and my chickens and egg production agree with each other. During the middle of the summer we get on average 6 eggs per week per chicken including some that are 3 years old.  With 2 chickens that would be a dozen of eggs a week. I wasn't talking about people starting a egg farm, I was talking about people raising chickens to supply themselves with eggs.

We haven't had any issues with with disease or any other issues. It usually takes about 4 months for our newly hatched chickens to start laying. We currently have around 30 chickens including the 4 that we just hatched, 10 that are going to start laying soon. We have 18 ducks including 7 that we just hatched and 3 we're going to eat soon.

Our operation is very complex, and time consuming. My 10 year old manages it all. She gathers eggs and gives them food and water at 7am and makes sure the automatic doors opened and let the chickens out. At 2 to 3pm she goes out and gathers eggs again and checks their food and water. At dusk she goes out and makes sure they went back into the coop and checks to make sure the automatic doors have closed. I think she might spend 30 minutes doing this over the entire day.

I expect that in within the next month we will be getting 20 to 30 eggs a day. We get so many during the summer that we us pickling lime and put them in jars in our pantry. We've used eggs over a year old that have been stored this way without refrigeration. The trick is to get the into the lime water the day they are laid.

If you're looking for year round constant egg laying and large eggs with huge yokes and you can put a small pool of water like a kiddy pool out,  I would recommend ducks. Ours lay pretty much year round. However, they do seem to produce more fertilizer then chickens.

The fecal matter is not a big issue for us as the animals free range during the day and fertilize our lawn and eat ticks and the like. I've not seen a single tick since we let our chicken free range and they help keep the grasshoppers out of my wife's garden.

Rabbits are another animal that are easy to raise with pretty quick turnaround and I'm looking into quail based on advice I received from another member of our community.

My point was that a couple chickens without a rooster are pretty easy to manage and if all goes well you could expect to get around a dozen of eggs a week.

[hazmatt]

Skip hunting..

If they had to slaughter their own cows, chickens and pigs vegetarianism would soar imo

Eagler

Don't forget plucking the feathers off the birds. That's the biggest pain in the butt to me. I need to make one of those redneck pluckers out of an old wash machine or something. Also don't forget to use a sharp knife. I think my kids were cutting cardboard boxes with my boning knife.

[JimmyD3]

Good for  you Hazmatt, Kids growing up in that type of environment are better equipped to deal with life in general. 

[Animl-AW]

Not sure your info and my chickens and egg production agree with each other. During the middle of the summer we get on average 6 eggs per week per chicken including some that are 3 years old.  With 2 chickens that would be a dozen of eggs a week. I wasn't talking about people starting a egg farm, I was talking about people raising chickens to supply themselves with eggs.

We haven't had any issues with with disease or any other issues. It usually takes about 4 months for our newly hatched chickens to start laying. We currently have around 30 chickens including the 4 that we just hatched, 10 that are going to start laying soon. We have 18 ducks including 7 that we just hatched and 3 we're going to eat soon.

Our operation is very complex, and time consuming. My 10 year old manages it all. She gathers eggs and gives them food and water at 7am and makes sure the automatic doors opened and let the chickens out. At 2 to 3pm she goes out and gathers eggs again and checks their food and water. At dusk she goes out and makes sure they went back into the coop and checks to make sure the automatic doors have closed. I think she might spend 30 minutes doing this over the entire day.

I expect that in within the next month we will be getting 20 to 30 eggs a day. We get so many during the summer that we us pickling lime and put them in jars in our pantry. We've used eggs over a year old that have been stored this way without refrigeration. The trick is to get the into the lime water the day they are laid.

If you're looking for year round constant egg laying and large eggs with huge yokes and you can put a small pool of water like a kiddy pool out,  I would recommend ducks. Ours lay pretty much year round. However, they do seem to produce more fertilizer then chickens.

The fecal matter is not a big issue for us as the animals free range during the day and fertilize our lawn and eat ticks and the like. I've not seen a single tick since we let our chicken free range and they help keep the grasshoppers out of my wife's garden.

Rabbits are another animal that are easy to raise with pretty quick turnaround and I'm looking into quail based on advice I received from another member of our community.

My point was that a couple chickens without a rooster are pretty easy to manage and if all goes well you could expect to get around a dozen of eggs a week.

Not so much replying to your post as I am the recent thought fad.
I miss raising most of our food.

Ours were free range, best eggs ever.

The public subject is cost. So when starting a chicken coup for eggs at what point dies the investment pay for itself in savings? If ya spend 300 to build a coup, feed, time spent, its questionable when it pays for itself.

That said, quality can be worth it.

I remember, mid 70s raising 3 Black Angus per year. After butchered we paid $0.68 per lb.
The 3rd was traded to two next door farmers for yr round produce they supplied to us with. I also spent time playing in their crop dusters. Lol

For all the kewl stuff I’ve done, those were the best days. How Opie from Mayberry ended up in the entertainment and big city world is still a mystery, total accident, luck/bad luck.

I miss the farms most. Its certainly healthy living in peace.

[Animl-AW]

Good for  you Hazmatt, Kids growing up in that type of environment are better equipped to deal with life in general. 

Agreed

[hazmatt]

Not so much replying to your post as I am the recent thought fad.
I miss raising most of our food.

Ours were free range, best eggs ever.

The public subject is cost. So when starting a chicken coup for eggs at what point dies the investment pay for itself in savings? If ya spend 300 to build a coup, feed, time spent, its questionable when it pays for itself.

That said, quality can be worth it.

I remember, mid 70s raising 3 Black Angus per year. After butchered we paid $0.68 per lb.
The 3rd was traded to two next door farmers for yr round produce they supplied to us with. I also spent time playing in their crop dusters. Lol

For all the kewl stuff I’ve done, those were the best days. How Opie from Mayberry ended up in the entertainment and big city world is still a mystery, total accident, luck/bad luck.

I miss the farms most. Its certainly healthy living in peace.

$300 for a coop? Dang, that's some fancy coop. If I had 2 chickens I think I would use a big storage container from Walmart for a coop.

Ya, I agree about best eggs ever. Most people have never seen an egg with an orange yoke or an egg that cooks thick and doesn't run all over the pan.

I wish I could raise some beef cause I can't even afford the yellow tag beef at current prices, especially for a family of 5.

[Baloo]

I'm not knocking vegetarianism. Just so long as you stay in your box. 

Of course if you eat eggs you aren't a vegetarian, or a vegan. Unless they're fertilized. I dunno, is there a difference?

I'm not vegetarian or vegan..I just don't want to take other creatures lives when millions are being slaughtered and packaged...done enough hurting of others in this life and im definitely not starving or poor, i can afford organic for now...I'll just pray and eat lol

Also not pushing my morality on anyone...my life, my choices, my experience.

[Meatwad]

Those pre-built shed places will sell you a 10x10 pre-built chicken coop for $2000 with "free setup and delivery"

[hazmatt]

Those pre-built shed places will sell you a 10x10 pre-built chicken coop for $2000 with "free setup and delivery"

DANG! Maybe I need to start selling coops!

I've built mine with auto doors and all for less then $100 but then again I've used pallets, salvaged a scrap wood and only bought the wood I had to.

[Animl-AW]

$300 for a coop? Dang, that's some fancy coop. If I had 2 chickens I think I would use a big storage container from Walmart for a coop.

Ya, I agree about best eggs ever. Most people have never seen an egg with an orange yoke or an egg that cooks thick and doesn't run all over the pan.

I wish I could raise some beef cause I can't even afford the yellow tag beef at current prices, especially for a family of 5.

You can find a farmer who could sell or raise beef for ya. Buy a head, split it with someone and find a butcher. Still probably cheaper than any middleman store. Been several yrs since I split cow with someone.

I was referring to lumber, caging expenses, feed, time spent. A lot of these people with raising chickens live in suburbia, even the city. They probably are not as resourceful or knowledgeable based on this stuff. Its not free, down the road it would be cheaper.

[Animl-AW]

Those pre-built shed places will sell you a 10x10 pre-built chicken coop for $2000 with "free setup and delivery"

Ok, sounds right with todays prices.

But now ya have to do the math. How many eggs do you not buy to pay for itself.

Edit: if you sell eggs (or don’t buy) eggs at $7 per dozen it will take 285 dozen eggs fir that 2k shed to pay for itself. OR, if you eat 2 dozen per week it will take 142 weeks to pay for itself before its “free”.

[hazmatt]

You can find a farmer who could sell or raise beef for ya. Buy a head, sit it with someone and find a butcher. Still probably cheaper than any middleman store. Been several yrs since I split cow with someone.
 
A lot of these people with raising chickens live in suburbia, even the city. They probably are not as resourceful or knowledgeable based on this stuff. Its not free, .

Ya, I should look into that. Would be nice to have beef in excess instead of once in a while.

I find it amazing just how much people have lost even the most basic skills. I heard a young man in the break room at work telling others how he couldn't figure out how to change a flat tire and he almost sounded proud of it. I helped an older lady change a flat in front of a restaurant where we were going into eat in about 5 minutes. This used to be a common skill.

I had a stuck caliper on my truck. The best quote I had was over $500 to fix it. I did it for the cost of the caliper and some brake fluid.

I'm not saying I'm some highly skilled person and I'm not saying this stuff to brag as my dad and grandpa could do much more then I can. These were basic skills when I was a kid. I'm just saying I can skin a buck and run a trot line. I can replace an alternator and do a little bit of welding, and solder, and replace a fuel pump or a wheel bearing. I can do basic electrical, carpentry and plumbing. I an tie a slip knot, I can hang a swing high in a tree without a ladder that will reach. I can pickle eggs, can food, grow a garden (mostly my wife on this one) I an plug a tire, I can set the valve clearance on a lawn mower engine. I can build a coop and put up a fence.

This was just a list of random stuff that I can recall doing recently that everybody could have done when I was a kid.

I'm not sure if it's just that we've lost respect for the wisdom of our elders or if the phones and internet have just lowered peoples IQ to room temperature.

I have related story that comes to mind.
I was replacing a fuel pump on an old 6.2 diesel. The fuel pump used to be higher up on the old 350s and you could change it in in about 10 minutes. I did it once in the parking lot at work. However, the genius engineers move this fuel pump down to where it was near the frame on the 6.2. It was a tricky job where you had to use a bent hacksaw blade to hold the pushrod in while you put the pump back on. I wasn't able do get the thing lined up properly so I asked one of my buddies to try and he couldn't either. His grandpa was visiting and he said he'd ask him to take a look. His grandpa looked at it for less then a minute and said. "You're gong to have to jack the engine up" That was it. What we didn't realize was that the motor mount was worn and that it was allowing the motor to sag just enough that we couldn't get the full pump to line up properly.

Guess I should stop. The current generation will probably TLDR this one lolz.