Anyone else give their excess eggs away rather than cut down on hens?

[Criskin]

My chickens are primarily yard art and pets but when the ladies are laying I have far more eggs than we can use. I give them away to family (my in-laws thank me by buying a bag of feed every now and then) and also cook and feed them to my animals. I don't consider it wasting...I enjoy fresh, healthy eggs so why shouldn't they? After reading this thread, though, I think I'll check in with the local food bank. DH 's family volunteers there a lot and while I think most of the stuff they distribute is non-perishable, it couldn't hurt to ask. To answer the original question, the size of my flock is only limited by the size of my coop!

 

[featherz]

I will feed eggs back to the chickens when I get a huge overflow and a lot of pullet eggs. I have taken many dozen to the food bank, but when I have piles of itty bitty eggs it seems best to just feed those back, shells and all. I use them as well, of course - but if they pass 4 weeks old they go to the chickens. I also feed back defective/cracked/frozen/etc eggs - scramble them up with shells - it's really no different to me than buying them special 'treats' and they love it.

I take the larger eggs to the food bank if I can't sell them at work.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

We get way more eggs than we could ever eat. And then, both my husband and i have developed a sensitivity to eggs lately. So it's rare we even eat them. i hard boil a bunch to feed back to chickens for treats. i give away a ton to family, friends, and neighbors. Then when things get too overwhelming i load up huge baskets of chicken and duck eggs for my husband to take to work and everyone there helps themselves.

It's funny really. i originally got chickens as a source of fresh eggs. Now, i hardly ever eat them. It is fun to give them away, though. Everyone is always so grateful.

 

[seedcorn]

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I don't feel so guilty now as mine are also primarily yard art. I love to hear rooster crow.

 

[redhen]

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What a waste. Your hens went through a lot to lay them and you toss them out. Lately I've been taking 6 to 8 dozen to the local food bank every week. They fight over who's going to get them.

That's one opinion and good for you... But mine is that if you're feeding it to your other animals, it's not a "waste". They're not "tossed out" into the garbage or yard and left to rot. They ARE being eaten. It's a way to keep your animals healthy and cut down on your feed budget.

Yep.... they dont go to waste.... the animals eat them. Whats the big deal?
Now if i let them rot... yeah.... i can see a problem.
Trust me... my pigs dont think its a waste, they think i'm god when i bring them out a bunch of hard boiled eggs to scarf down... Hammie does this>>>

And its also healthy for the hens to eat them... gives them exta protein. In the winter i mix them with warm oatmeal and maaaan, they LOVE it.
Actually, its kinda stingy if you dont ever feed your hens back some of their eggs as a treat now and then... JMO

 

[redhen]

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THIS is the BEST thing to do with them....

 

[GLBRWyans]

I give my eggs to people that I know that are needy and might come up short with making a bill of groceries .

 

[redhen]

I have 2 teen boys here... between the 2 of them they can eat 10 eggs...
Yep... 10 eggs i scrambled the other day with bacon and a couple of pancakes.... and not a scrape of egg left for the dogs(which was WHY i cooked so many...), little beasts....

So i dont usually have enough anymore to give away...i used to though when i had more coming in. But that was always a worry for me. What if someone got sick and blamed the eggs?? Nah.. not worth it to me. I just gave to folks i knew...

 

[Ema]

I was selling all my eggs except the ones I kept for myself, I was selling them at 2.50 a dozen, and then I found a customer of mine was selling my eggs for double that to other people. She was telling me she need them for baking and making all her extra waffles etc...but in reality she would get 10 dozen from me a week and paying me 25 bucks and then turning around and making 50 from my hens hard work. So I stopped selling to her, then I found out another customer, a friend of the other was doing the exact same. so I got a little peeved and now I sell none except to those I really trust and know could use the eggs, I didn't get chickens to make money from their eggs, but to supply ourselves with eggs.

A lot of times I just give my eggs away to my close friends who have kids and low paying jobs and are stuggling. I have brought dozens upon dozens of eggs to the food bank on many occasions and supplied the school's church with eggs during all the breakfast charity events.

when I have too many, like right now I think I have close to 30 dozen in my fridge, what I do is feed my animals a whole bunch, make hard boiled eggs for ourselves and do a ton of baking and give the rest away.

Ema

 

[EmtheFishLady]

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What a waste. Your hens went through a lot to lay them and you toss them out. Lately I've been taking 6 to 8 dozen to the local food bank every week. They fight over who's going to get them.

I guess I'm incredibly wasteful then, because if I even collect the eggs..IF, I just feed them back to the chickens.

I don't eat eggs generally.

In fact, I don't really care if my hens lay or not, I just like watching them. So, if they do go through all that work, they're the only ones who benefit from it. Wasteful to you, but my chickens love it.