Do you ever encounter people that don't know where eggs come from?

[CallyB57]

Well...yes, actually- I do know that many people think the egg is coming out of the same place the poop comes out of - they don't know it's a different canal and that the poop canal is closed off when an egg is laid. Before I got 'into' these wonderful creatures, I didn't know much about the 'anatomy' part of egg-laying, either, but never had thought much about it. I was FAR REMOVED from thinking about where my food comes from, unless it was a tomato, potato, or an onion. The worst thing is that many people have a lowly opinion of chickens and think they are dirty, but if they are dirty it's because they are not cared for properly. I know for a fact that chickens have feelings of fear when they are threatened, and they have obvious behavior patterns when they are impatient (such as waiting in line for their favorite egg nest) or feel secure and comfortable, or when they get separated from a 'group' they normally hang with. Getting to know these intelligent little animals has really been one of the most rewarding times of my life, but had someone told me I would spend over $2000 on lumber and hardware cloth, nails, heat lamps, roofing material, chicks and feed/feeders, I never would have believed it. I'm hooked now!

 

[Happy Chooks]

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IMO that's all normal stuff. There are a lot of misconceptions I had about chickens before I got them. I too didn't know much about the chicken anatomy, but I generally knew where eggs came from.

 

[wombat]

He told us they were rooster eggs and they weren't any good. So being the nasty little boys that we were we broke all the brown eggs

You did the right thing. Rooster eggs can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands. Legend has it that if you hatch a rooster egg under a toad on a dung heap during a full moon, you will get a cockatrice!​

 

[FluffyColor]

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[cassie]

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I don't think eggs are either pasteurized or irradiated. How would you pasteurize a whole egg in the shell anyway? I think eggs that are sold bulk by the gallon for commercial use are pasteurized. As for irradiation, it is not a bad thing. It is too bad it is not used more often in the meat industry. Salmonella and e coli contamination occur on the outside of the carcass. If carcasses were irradiated going down the line it would just about eliminate the e coli recalls. One reason it is not done is that people do not understand the difference between radiation and irradiation and would think they would be eating radioactive meat. In other words it is a public relations nightmare.

My brother has a friend that works in a large egg factory nearby. I am getting him to set up an appointment for me to tour the facility so I can find out firsthand what is and what is not done to eggs. That way when I open my mouth I will know for sure what I am talking about.

I do like my home grown eggs, but the eggs that are in the store are not necessarily stale. After all, several BYC members have even gotten them to hatch.

I haven't had the pleasure of running into anyone with a phobia against home grown eggs. If I do, I am going to ask them exactly why they think whatever it is they think. Like how they think store bought eggs get there and how they are handled from chicken to market, and on what they are basing their opinion. I would really like to know.

As for the nurses on a previous post who think fertile eggs are unhealthful, I would like to ask them to explain to me why, if that were the case, fertile eggs are often available in health food stores and cost more than the infertile ones.

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/food_irrad/articles.cfm?ID=1423

Please do your homework.

I did do my homework. I used different references than you. My references say irradiation is safe. Your references say it isn't. Doesn't mean you are right and I am wrong. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

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http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/food_irrad/articles.cfm?ID=1423

Please do your homework.

I did do my homework. I used different references than you. My references say irradiation is safe. Your references say it isn't. Doesn't mean you are right and I am wrong. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Follow the money. Who pays for and benefits from these studies?

 

[FluffyColor]

Here's a story,

My Mom is sort of a city girl.She grew up in NYC and she and daddy got "sick of it" and they moved up here.Ever since I was born,she has mentioned countless times how she "wants to come home."She calls where we live now "practical country".And she takes us there a lot,saying she wants us to "experience the city."Anyway,my mom was fixing my hair before the school bus came.We were chatting about the science fair chicks.Somehow we got on the subject of eating eggs laid by the science fair chick(en)s.I said,"I don't think I'd want to eat an egg laid by the science fair chickens."
"Why?"Mom asked.
"Because they are probably fertile."
"Well,they are too young to mate.That rooster needs to keep himself."

They will be six months on September 20th.She needs to LISTEN when I tell her chicken facts I learned from here.

 

[write2caroline]

Oh Oh - My brother in law gave me this lecture over the phone once (when my Loud mouth gossipy mother in law told him I got a rooster) He said I was completely irresponsible and that the uncontrolled breeded having a rooster around would mean that in no short order we would be up to our necks in chickens.

I let him vent and when he paused I calmly explained that chickens get pregnant on the outside and are not like rabbits, cats or mammals and since we were planning on eating the eggs - I don't think that unplanned chicks were going to be an issue.

Then I told his mother what an idiot her son was and how in the world did she manage to raise a college educated guy who could be so ignorant about chickens and eggs!

She of course couldn't help but laugh a little but I could tell she knew I knew she was gossiping and that the two of them looked like a couple of donkeys!

Cal
JAX FL
Waiting on my first egg

 

[AmyRey]

HA!

My youngest son told MY brother-in-law that we were getting some chickens to which he replied "That's the stupidest thing ever." When I asked him about it, he said "Where are you going to keep them? In barrels?"

*** scratched my head a bit on that one ***

"No, we're not keeping them in barrels."

I have let him know that he will NEVER get any eggs from me. And on Christmas morning, when the family gathers at my house for breakfast, he's not to eat any of OUR eggs. He'll have a special bowl of pale, spongy store bought eggs of his own. I may even make him bring them himself.

 

[canada-goose]

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You get the idea that some of these people have never seen a chicken house! Oh, and that was very rude of him. Were did he get the idea that you keep chickens in barrels anyway?