The winter before last, I lost most of my free range flock to predators, leaving me only two laying hens and a rooster. This past winter, a car got my rooster (had to be intentional), and a hen disappeared (likely a predator got her), leaving me with only one hen. Several months back, I bought five hen chicks locally. The remaining adult hen has been acting as their matron since. They've finally reached egg laying age. Here's the first tiny egg (early eggs are always tiny). I expect the others to follow suit soon. It will be nice, once again, not to have to buy crappy grocery store eggs. Even the so call "free range, organic" etc., eggs you get there are total crap compared to eggs from true free range, backyard hens.

Nice, brown eggs!

Pullet eggs.

Yep.

Yep, they are the best.

5 a day, everyday, since last September;

Very nice. Congrats Hawk.

Damb I just ate Lunch and you went and made me hungry again.

Congrat's of the successful raising of the chicks

I managed to steal a few eggs from the turkeys last month. Two hens share a nest in the barn, but it is a race everyday to beat the magpies to the eggs.

Turkey eggs, very pretty with brown speckles all over. Two turkey eggs about equals five large chicken eggs. The membrane under the shell is extremely tough. The final cooked product tastes just like the chicken eggs from the same cow, goat, and sheep pasture.

Also got a couple of duck eggs. Bigger than the chickens' smaller by far than turkey eggs.

The texture of the cooked duck egg is a little firmer than chicken eggs. Not quite rubbery.

Now the momma duck is running around with a dozen babies. Wish we could let them to the pond. But the kids catch three to four pound bass from the pond almost daily. Those ducklings probably would not survive their first crossing.

When I was in college we read about a study that been done using an egg as the subject, to trace the taxation applied to it from the hen to your plate. The number of times that a tax was applied directly and indirectly was in excess of 200. So enjoy those tax free cackleberries fellas :):)

Thanks. I'm surprised you haven't set your son up with a small, free range, laying hen operation on your farm. You guys don't like eggs?

We like eggs and the cat would probably enjoy the chickens.

I've got stray cats all over the place. They will try for a young chick, but will generally not try for a fully feathered pullet or cockerel. In fact, my hens go to my neighbor's yard quite often, and steal their cats dry food right in front of the cats, who are too intimidated to do anything about it. Good thing I have a friendly neighbor.

20 hens and a guinea fowl rooster. He is a heck of a protector and for some reason he is pretty quiet compared to most of them. We get about 15 eggs per day without the morning reverie.

Had 6 originally, Deb's GSP pup decided to use 1 as a play toy !

I stated last September above, but actually it was the year before.

Getting 6-10 more, from a lady that incubates, hatches & starts them, will be July, I believe.

Got too many friends & acquaintances that love our eggs !

Deb gets $5/doz for our surplus supply.

We got young hens last June. We've been in eggs since October. 15 hens, we only get 10 per day on average, but is more than we can eat, so we give a neighbor some and I benefit some tree harvesting land,.

You guys are making me crave eggs! We get all we can eat from a friend that has more eggs than they can eat. Hard to be home grown food of any kind!

Good luck with the new hens!

After the last ones quit laying in my flock, I didn't replace them.

I think I was tired of messing with them somewhat. Buying eggs is much easier.

I did enjoy the non-store bought eggs for a few years though.

Fresh eggs are good, but tough to peel when boiled.

Back when I used to maintain a larger flock (10-15), I used to sell them to a store for $5.00 per dozen, and to individuals for $6.00 a dozen, leaving more than enough for my own consumption. About five years ago I decided to keep my flock smaller, so as to keep me, and perhaps a neighbor or two, supplied, and no more.

Put them in ice water right after boiling, then after cooled, break and roll on a hard surface with your hand, cracking the shell into small pieces.

Shell should peel right off.

No comparison, IMO. Much better tasting when they come from backyard, free range, hens. I think the eggs marked free range at the store are a rip off. To mark your eggs free range, all you need is to provide a small door leading to a few square yards of ground for your hundreds of hens to access, should they happen find that door.

Let them sit on the counter for a day or so prior to hard cooking them. Don’t boil.

Letting them sit out allows enzymes in the egg to work on the membrane between the shell and the inside, weakening it. We’ve all seen that membrane when peeling.

They will not spoil sitting out for a day or two.

How old are they - 18-20 weeks?

2nd year hens get expensive here in the winter. BTDT.

I used to keep chickens, but I started losing $ so they had to go. I found that it you take a thumb tack & barely pierce the pointed end of the shell they peel easier. It seems to break the shell from the membrane somehow. What type of chickens are they Hawkeye?

Nineteen weeks, about.

I have around 2 dozen laying hens right now, and 4 roosters, but decided I'd incubate and sell some chicks this year. I did incubate about 40, in 2 separate batches, but I didn't sell any. Will get rid of all but the breeding roosters this fall and I guess see how many hens to keep but I already know it'll probably be all of them.

Barred Rocks. First time with that breed.

I started in the Spring of 2010 with 14 Rhode Island Reds. Then, after losing some to hawks, I replaced three of them with Delawares (huge). After that, I pretty much replaced with Black Sex Linked. Got down to two of those and a rooster when I got these Barred Rock chicks. Soon after that, the rooster was hit by a car, and one of the Black Sex Linked hens failed to return to roost (presumed dead). So I was left with one Black Sex Linked older hen and the new five Barred Rock pullets. After they got old enough to start looking and acting like little hens, the older hen accepted them as her flock and took charge.

Here's the rooster that got run over a couple months back.



He was cool because he lived like a wild bird. At dusk, he'd fly straight up into the trees, and roost on the highest tree branch that still provided cover against hawks. He'd get way up there, then start cockadoodledooing till dark. Then, at first hint of morning, he'd start again, till the sun broke over the horizon, at which point, he'd fly down and wander about till I let his hens out. He'd then join them for the day.

The hens all put themselves away at dusk on the roost inside the hen house, then I lock them in to secure them from night predators. I've always found it easy to train hens to do that from pullets. Cogburn wouldn't have it, though. He had to sleep in the treetops.

The rooster he replaced was awesome, too, name of Rodrigo. He was a Black Australorp, and was HUGE. Twice as big as the biggest hen (much bigger than Cogburn, the rooster illustrated above, who was himself of substantial size). Rodrigo, due to his great size, intimidated most people.

Rodrigo died of old age a few years ago. Hens loved him. He was everything you want a rooster to be. He was super protective of the hens and would literally go hungry while the hens ate something he found in the pasture. He'd point it out to them, and they'd all come running over to eat what he found. I didn't lose any hens to any predators while he was alive. Also, unlike Cogburn, he'd always sleep on the roost with his hens in the hen house.

Here he is. You can see the very solid roost perch is bowing under his enormous weight.

We started out with 6 to have a few eggs to eat.
Now we have 24ish laying hens. We give eggs to the neighbors,trade for other goods like salsa,etc and sell a few.
We have a menagerie of breeds, Barred Rocks,Rhode Island Reds,Red Sussex,Americauna,Orphingtons,etc.
We have a 2 acre strip pit in the front yard and a 47 acre strip pit about 100 feet from the house,they sure do
wonders for mosquitoes,bugs,ticks,spiders,etc.
Thinking about some Jersey Giants next spring for meat birds.

Wow, I just remembered. My new hens are Barred Rocks not Plymouth Rocks.

That's a nice looking Rooster that got run over.
I don't have Chickens, but my Son next door here has 6,and I eat 3 eggs pretty much everyday.

Recently, a Rooster from down the road (10 years old) decided he wanted to live at my place here, I found out he was getting beat up by the other Roosters or some shyte and ran away. He would let us pick him up and would hang out with me when I was doing something, or nothing lol, pizzed me off when a Raccoon got him.........theres a couple dead coons.

Most of mine were White rocks, & a few barred rocks. I think they're relatively the same. My neighbor had white leghorn & they laid like crazy til winter, then shut down. The Plymouth rocks lay all year long just a little less in winter.

Oh that's cool.

My experience has been that my hens (regardless of breed) would lay all year the first laying year, and after that from late December through late September, then no eggs October, November, and most of December. But I'd usually have accumulated about six dozen to get me through that period, assuming I didn't have any first year layers in the flock that fall to carry me through.

I got Rodrigo from a neighbor who had two roosters who were always fighting, too.

Only have meat birds now - Freedom rangers. Far better than the CornishX.

Killed 20 this past Saturday. Chopped the head off my 8 pound cock, I did.

Back before meat birds were a thing, folks usually just slaughtered their extra roosters, once full sized, for the dinner table.

Can’t imagine why anybody would want him dead.

My neighbors loved him. They asked me when I was going to get another one to replace him. Working folks, I guess.

PS I still hear rooster crowing at all the correct times, just a little more distant. Lots of people around here maintain flocks, to include roosters.

Clearly.

The driver wasn't a neighbor. One neighbor witnessed it, and reported it to me. Just someone being mean spirited. Can you account for your whereabouts at that time, Deflave?

I would never run over another man’s COCK.

Well, that's good to know.

I don’t like going outside but I also don’t like sweatshop eggs.

So I buy them from a local lady. She says about once a year somebody steals some of her chickens.

I thought man, you gotta be one sorry mother fugker to steal somebody’s chickens. That’s low.

I've wondered about some that have suddenly disappeared, i.e., didn't return to the roost for the night and are never seen again.

It’s a thing apparently.

She says her son has caught people in the act before. I couldn’t help but laugh. Chicken stealing fugks.

I'd like to raise some meat birds. Seems like a shorter commitment😁

You just buy a commercial feed?

Can't remember what breed, ours are, anyone know ?





Ours laid all winter, have a light bulb on a timer, set for 13 hours of light, in the coop & a 2 setting heat lamp all winter too.

Where are the jumbo eggs?

Look like some of mine.
Isa Browns.

Yup. That’s how I started ~ 1980 or so. Butcher cockerels and keep the hens. Actually had an egg biz back then. Sold maybe 8 dozen a week or so at work.

Now, just straight run freedoms.

Yes. Purina flock raiser crumbles.

Actually kept receipts this year.

Total cost of 20 birds and feed to butcher, came to $175. $8.75/bird.

Nothing like fresh eggs!

I've had several more since that first one. All tiny except one, which was normal size. When I broke the normal sized egg, I found it was a double yolk.

We have 10 layers and get about 8 eggs daily. We've gotten some hybrids each recent year, Golden Comets and Easter Eggers, and are quite pleased with the mix. Cackle Hatchery in Missouri has a wide variety of breeds available and accurate descriptions of their egg production and hardiness levels. They have earned a big thumbs up for efficient delivery (USPS), accuracy in sexing and their reasonable vaccination costs. Our old rooster (a big Buff Orpington), bought locally, is not friendly, but he coaxes the sun to rise every morning.

I put a wire cover over their runs to keep out the hawks, otherwise, predators "eat up our profits". Our small flock supplies all our breakfast needs and we share with multiple neighbors. A big plus for us is the individual nature of the birds, esp. the Easter Eggers. They act like loyal pets and follow us around as we do our family farm chores. Wife loves them and I can see why she is happy to do more than half the work involved!

Best of the best!
🥚🍳 😄 👍

Dr Joel Wallach says that you should eat at least half a.dozen a day, sunny side up.

Frikken jinxt ma self !!

Only got 4 eggs yesterday !

Here are five of my hens. I have six, total, but one of the Barred Rock hens was laying an egg when this shot was taken. The grey hen, all the way to the left, is an older one, the last of a previous flock. She's in charge.

PS Been getting lots of nice little eggs on a daily basis since I first posted this. They are gradually getting bigger.

Young hens are a hoot!
Don't know WTF they are doing.
Little eggs, funny shaped eggs, double yolkers.....
After awhile, they get it figured out.


Double yolkers are a thing.
Can't get city folk or market buyers to buy them. Think they aren't "right".
Lots of schidstompers, as Flave calls us, love 'em!