Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[perchie.girl]

Quote: LOL.... The pictures are pretty amazing though. Hes selling them off as something other than incubators ..... Like Saunas, Wine coolers, Meat aging rooms..... Besides they weight 5000 lbs each. Nothing you could fit in your golf bag.... LOL.

deb

 

[ozexpat]

I have had an interesting few days.

I have done two egg runs.

The first, on Sunday, to San Diego a 225 mile circle. I picked up eggs in Lake Elsinore, Valley Center and Delmar.

Then I spent Monday night unpacking shipped eggs. The quality of packing is improving.

Any broken eggs were really not USPS fault. I had 2 shipments of turkey eggs destroyed. They are heavy and require stabilization in the box. They end up banging into each other. If the box travels on its side, the weight of the eggs piled on each other smashes the eggs now on the bottom.

I got some of the last pheasant eggs of 2013 and some quail eggs too.

Yesterday I did a 270 mile trip into the high desert north of Los Angeles. I had made arrangements to pick up eggs from a vendor up there - White Rocks and Cuckoo Marans. This place was in the middle of no where. When I arrived the gate was locked and a voice mail. I hung out for an hour and gave up. I went onto my next two stops and collected 40 eggs. It was a nasty drive back to Orange County. Half way back I got a call from the missing vendor. Too little too late. I feel like sending them an invoice for breach of verbal contract and the 50 bucks in gas I spent.

My flight is in 12 hours.

I cant wait to hug the wife and kids.

 

[joannefiddler]

I have had an interesting few days.

I have done two egg runs.

The first, on Sunday, to San Diego a 225 mile circle. I picked up eggs in Lake Elsinore, Valley Center and Delmar.

Then I spent Monday night unpacking shipped eggs. The quality of packing is improving.

Any broken eggs were really not USPS fault. I had 2 shipments of turkey eggs destroyed. They are heavy and require stabilization in the box. They end up banging into each other. If the box travels on its side, the weight of the eggs piled on each other smashes the eggs now on the bottom.

I got some of the last pheasant eggs of 2013 and some quail eggs too.

Yesterday I did a 270 mile trip into the high desert north of Los Angeles. I had made arrangements to pick up eggs from a vendor up there - White Rocks and Cuckoo Marans. This place was in the middle of no where. When I arrived the gate was locked and a voice mail. I hung out for an hour and gave up. I went onto my next two stops and collected 40 eggs. It was a nasty drive back to Orange County. Half way back I got a call from the missing vendor. Too little too late. I feel like sending them an invoice for breach of verbal contract and the 50 bucks in gas I spent.

My flight is in 12 hours.

I cant wait to hug the wife and kids.

You must be exhausted! Please be careful of your heart...don't need you becoming your own patient! Safe travels.

 

[ozexpat]

You must be exhausted! Please be careful of your heart...don't need you becoming your own patient! Safe travels.

My heart is certified A-OK.

Its my brain that has its moments.

Thanks. I have an upgrade to business class so I will be sleeping well in a nice reclining chair. The plane is flying direct so I will have a about 9 hours of the 14 hours uninterrupted to sleep straight.

http://www1.philippineairlines.com/...ior/boeing-747-400-business-class-lower-deck/

Racking up all those miles has its rewards.

 

[Phage]

Hey Oz, I fertility checked the 3 eggs from Wednesday and all look good! Yours were collected Thursday-Sunday. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[ozexpat]

Hey Oz, I fertility checked the 3 eggs from Wednesday and all look good! Yours were collected Thursday-Sunday. GOOD LUCK!!!

Thanks Phage.

I really appreciate the eggs. I will treat them with kid gloves and prey they hatch.

 

[Roxannemc]

You can use dirt even if you want to take the chance Thing is you may swim in it but would you drink it?Chickens arent just walking on it they are ingesting it.If you have many of a breed or ones you donrt care a lot about i woukd do it too but anyone who has invest substanial money or care into their chicken might want to go the whole 9 yards and buy sterile.Maybe im wrong but todays world factories dumping waste chemical spills im not sure any stream river or creek is clean enough to drink from but them wild animals do so who knows

River sand can be bought at Sand and Gravel companies......  sterilized and cleaned.   But I would say any river or stream bed you would consider swimming in yourself would be fine.   I personally use decomposed granite scratched up from my own property.  Dog poop rabbit deer poop and all.    The only danger I have seen is bringing in weeds.  

deb "Whos making a very hard descision today"

 

[ozexpat]

You can use dirt even if you want to take the chance Thing is you may swim in it but would you drink it?Chickens arent just walking on it they are ingesting it.If you have many of a breed or ones you donrt care a lot about i woukd do it too but anyone who has invest substanial money or care into their chicken might want to go the whole 9 yards and buy sterile.Maybe im wrong but todays world factories dumping waste chemical spills im not sure any stream river or creek is clean enough to drink from but them wild animals do so who knows

Most of the world's chickens dont live on anything sterile. I know many rivers that dont have factories spewing waste into them. The world is too big a place for narrow generalizations.

 

[perchie.girl]

You can use dirt even if you want to take the chance Thing is you may swim in it but would you drink it?Chickens arent just walking on it they are ingesting it.If you have many of a breed or ones you donrt care a lot about i woukd do it too but anyone who has invest substanial money or care into their chicken might want to go the whole 9 yards and buy sterile.Maybe im wrong but todays world factories dumping waste chemical spills im not sure any stream river or creek is clean enough to drink from but them wild animals do so who knows
Quote: Gawd I wish I had dirt..... sigh. you now like soil with earthworms in it and microbes and little roots ..... I just have decomposed granite. My annual precipitation is between 10 and 12 inches per year. Grass doesnt grow here except in shady sheltered spots. I dont water anything except my animals.

Each person collects info for a problem they want to solve. And then makes an informed decision. Its all according to availability, portability, and feasibility.... LOL i am in alliteration mode.... ahem. Here the stream beds are only wet during the rainy season and then you'd better stay out of em because they are freaking dangerous. The only place my chickens had to scratch about was the Horse manure pile..... yummy stuff in there. Especially the green steamy piles.

Cleaned and sterilized river sand is not expensive its probably a tenth the cost of play sand. including transporting it to your property. So its not like shelling out the big bucks.

I just lost an incredible investment in a flock of Welsummers and Guinea fowl. I dont breed for show or for birds for sale.... but that doesnt mean I dont Care about their quality of life....

deb

 

[scottcaddy]

I have had an interesting few days.

I have done two egg runs.

The first, on Sunday, to San Diego a 225 mile circle. I picked up eggs in Lake Elsinore, Valley Center and Delmar.

Then I spent Monday night unpacking shipped eggs. The quality of packing is improving.

Any broken eggs were really not USPS fault. I had 2 shipments of turkey eggs destroyed. They are heavy and require stabilization in the box. They end up banging into each other. If the box travels on its side, the weight of the eggs piled on each other smashes the eggs now on the bottom.

I got some of the last pheasant eggs of 2013 and some quail eggs too.

Yesterday I did a 270 mile trip into the high desert north of Los Angeles. I had made arrangements to pick up eggs from a vendor up there - White Rocks and Cuckoo Marans. This place was in the middle of no where. When I arrived the gate was locked and a voice mail. I hung out for an hour and gave up. I went onto my next two stops and collected 40 eggs. It was a nasty drive back to Orange County. Half way back I got a call from the missing vendor. Too little too late. I feel like sending them an invoice for breach of verbal contract and the 50 bucks in gas I spent.

My flight is in 12 hours.

I cant wait to hug the wife and kids.

I DO SO Hope that you have a way better trip then the start is looking like!!

Scott