Anyone have chickens?

[j.w]

So it seems if one was to buy some store bought ones to use for boiling and then use the fresh eggs for other stuff then all would be good or you could leave the fresh ones sit around for awhile till they become peelable. Don't know how long that would take tho. I know I just hate it when I try to peel an egg and I lose all the good whites that get stuck and all ya have left is the yolk :grumble:

 

[addy1]

jw, I have good success with eggs, by getting to room temp, put in cold water with lots of salt. Bring to a boil, turn off stove, let sit in hot water for 10 minutes, put eggs right away into ice water. They peel perfectly.

 

[Fishylove]

Addys got it! That the way you do it! Lol. Or JW keep them in the fridge for a month or two and then boil them. Either way your good to go

 

[Fishylove]

Fishin buff orpingtons are pretty laid back, and make good layers. Aricannas are good layers, but can be a bit high strung, unless you hand raise them. I always like the different colored eggs they laid if you get the right mix of breeds, you don't have to color eggs for Easter cause they are already colored for you we would get pink, tan, sky blue, robin blue, green, kacky green, and army green. A rooster is good for protection of the girls if they are going to be " free range fed ", he watches over them, but you wouldn't want more than one rooster. If you are refrigerating the eggs, it really doesn't matter if they are fertilized or not as long as you get them in the fridge before they start incubating. That is before the hen starts setting. Oh and letting a hen raise a clutch of eggs is a Completely Other ballgame, so have a rooster, but until your ready to take on the clutch sitting, make sure you don't let them have any eggs to keep. You have lots of stuff to read in the link she gave you, but if you ever wanna know my take on the setting delemma, let me know lol. (It may just be me and my OCD on certain things )

 

[Jennywren]

So that's why my eggs don't peel well, their too fresh, get them from a farmer.

Jenny wren, Those look like nice fat plump thanksgiving dinner, sorry food always on my brain.... or are they must pets?

Just pets, Colleen. They are very good at keeping the grasshopper population down.

I have found the same thing, J.W.....fresh eggs do not peel well. I cook them as per already mentioned, minus the salt. I have found they need to be a few days to a week old to peel well.

I also sort of crush the shell on each egg and leave them in the water when peeling them.

 

[addy1]

They say cooking in salted water makes the shell release. Which seems to work well. I do have store bought eggs, even just bought ones (not as fresh as just laid) peel well.

 

[blessedfamily]

Good morning everyone. Here are some recent pics of the chicks and how excited my kids are to have them They are starting to become really friendly and want to perch on your hand and shoulder. The coop has not been cleaned out yet so it's a little dirty looking. Have a great day.

 

[CountryEscape]

Wow, neat looking coop, Blessed! Very fancy and looks like it will do the job very well. As I said before, be very careful with chickens on your shoulders. I loved mine when they did that, too, but when one pecked at my eyeball, it hurt like heck, scratched the eye. So, just a warning to make sure your kids don't look directly at them while they are on their shoulder. It's not worth getting pecked in the eye. Or, tell them to wear glasses or safety goggles. LOL
My mom always said that older store bought eggs peel far easier than fresh ones, and we all know that what the stores calls "fresh" are probably minimally a week old, if not more. Someone said that a fresh egg can last maybe 2 weeks unrefrigerated and 2 months in the fridge? I can't remember the specifics, but was surprised at the length of time they would last before putting in the fridge.
Also, IF you want to raise a clutch of chickens, save the eggs, candle them and make sure they are fertile, then you you have a clutch (maybe 12 eggs or however many it would take to fill up a nesting box for the hen to lay on, put them into the box that the hen that seems to be the most likely to "set" will use. I think people often think that hens lay an egg and are supposed to sit on it all day, but they only lay one egg a day, and won't start sitting until they have a full clutch. THEN the eggs all get incubated at the same time. And, somehow, the hen's body stops producing any new eggs once she starts sitting and incubating them eggs.

 

[Fishylove]

Yep ce It's 3 weeks out of the fridge and 3 months in the fridge. Also, if you are serious about letting a hen set on a clutch, if you can separated the female from the rest of the girls, because when she gets up to eat and potty another female will sit on her clutch and when she comes back, if they are still there the mom will forget about her clutch it's really frustrating. So I found its easier to separated

 

[capewind]

I want to get some laying chickens. We have a old chain link fence that was on the property when we bought it. I took it down to build the barn and thinking about trying to get someone to help me put it back up and put a fence cover over it with a partial sheet metal roof over half to give some shade and protect against predators. I think it's 14' x 16' a half dozen in this size pen with an appropriate size coop should be ok for them don't you think? What kinds are best to start with? I've never kept a chicken in my life. Anything I should really know ahead of time?

I havent been online much, so sorry if you have already gotten responses that I missed. 14x16 is plenty of room for even a dozen or so. Our main pen is 16x22 and most of the time they stay to one side LOL. I will say tho that if you do not have a larger area to let them run on, you may want to feed them a bit more. We have a feeder inside the coop for their layer pellets, but also toss them a cereal bowl full of cracked corn each day that they dont have the big yard...

As far as breeds, it depends what you want/like, goals... I prefer the heavy breeds, as they generally lay well through the winter. My absolute favorite is the Buff Orpingtons, but in this last batch, I tried some white orpingtons as well (for color variety) and they have the same personality as the Buffs... nice friendly bird and great layer. I also like the black australorps.. another laid back personality... Here's a link from the company I order from for their "heavy" breed chicks.

 

[capewind]

Seeing different methods for boiling eggs... this is what I do (found online and works perfect for me).... IF eggs were in the fridge, set out for 45 minutes to come down to room temp... Bring a pot of water (6-8 cups for a dozen eggs), with 1/4 cup WHITE vinegar... ONCE at a rapid boil, add eggs (I use a plastic slotted spoon), and set the timer for 14 minutes... when the timer goes off, IMMEDIATELY fish them out of the pot with the slotted spoon into an ice bath (I use a big family salad bowl about half ice, and cold water)... Once they are cool, either store them in the fridge, or peel... peel super easy