How Many Eggs Did You Get Today?

[RoosterCogburn7]

6 Chickens, 4 eggs.

 

[Scott16475]

3 of 4 so far but we have a girl who doesn't like to lay until late afternoon. We'll see if she does.

 

[minnehaha]

I usually don't let eggs go to anyone that are beyond 10 days or less. I never wash the eggs I bring in, but I do refrigerate them right away. Everyone who gets eggs from me is told to be sure to wash them before using them. I have a little handout that goes to "new eggs" in which I explain briefly about the bloom and how important it is, and I come right out and caution them that occasionally they may find a blood or meat spot in an egg. I explain what that is, what they can choose to do with it, (ignore it, remove it, or just not use it) but ask them to let me know - if I'm getting eggs that consistently have such spots I want to know so I can keep an eye on what's happening with the girls.

I don't do anything fancy with the eggs. I do use a plain old pencil to write the date on the egg as it comes into the house. Comes off when the eggs are washed. Older eggs I hard cook and feed back to the chickens, crushed up shells and all. That way I don't accidentally give an older carton out, have someone open it and see a month old date on the eggs! Harder to fix a bad reputation than it is to build a good one.

Yesterday I delivered eggs unwashed to my best friend so she could assess if others would be ok with it. They don't have poop on them, but it is muddy here and 1 out of 3 eggs will have a mark on it from a hens foot. She was perfectly happy with it and since she takes all my eggs to work with her, she knows the customers. She said everyone will be good with a bit of dirt on them, and she prefers them unwashed, so I will stop rinsing them, mark the dates in pencil and add a small egg handling instruction sheet per dozen. Thank you everyone who responded to my questions!

Blooie-I also feed the eggs back to the chickens, warm and scrambled past 10 days old. They love it!

 

[matt44644]

15/15 finally

 

[minnehaha]

Well we are in a unique situation, as we don't sell most of our eggs. We donate 6 dozen eggs a week to two different non-profits that we have partnered with in bringing farm fresh eggs to people in need. One charity is a local food pantry and our other partner is specifically working with Veterans and their families, who are in crisis. We will be exclusively working with Veterans and their families in 2015 as there is a large need there and I have some ideas for working with these families that I would like to implement. So while most people are just gracious they are getting farm eggs, they don't mind if they are a week or two old. The eggs we sell are usually not older than one or two weeks old and I have never had any complaints. We try to sell what we can to supplement our feed costs from donating the eggs.

Top broody candidate? That is easy....it is one of our Dark Cornish/Barnevelder (we are unsure of breed, she's a hatchery mutt) she has been broody since our first cold snap back at the beginning of November. She is the one I have to remove from the nest boxes about every time I check for eggs, which has been about every two hours. She hisses and pecks at me when I am collecting eggs. She doesn't let anyone near her and wants absolutely nothing to do with the roosters. They even stay clear of her when she is giving everyone a piece of her mind. She has a bare belly cause she likes to sit so much (yes I checked her for mites and other parasites that cause the bare belly). I am hoping she will be my #1 mama and help bring up some youngsters this spring. I am hoping she will be like your Black Orph, I can only hope! Other top girls are a Barred Rock and possibly an EE. I can't wait to let someone sit on some eggs this spring.

Here is a shot of her fighting over a nest box with her cornish sister and a shot of me holding her. The whole time she made sort of a duck sound, quack quack, low letting me know she doesn't want to be bothered!
Merry Christmas and happy holidays

I am seriously thinking about donating eggs to our crisis nursery where abused women can go with their babies and toddlers. Thank you for your charity work! I will be looking further into how to go about it here in Washington state. We have really strict egg laws here, so I need to research it.

Goodness gracious i think you found your broodie! She has the same stern, very serious expression as my Black Orp. The instinct is strong in that one! I understand how you feel, I can't wait to give my Orp some eggs. The minute she goes broody, I'l give her a clutch of crested cream Legbar eegs. She hatched 7 late summer. I would be so tempted if she were broodie now like yours is!!! How do you resist?

This is broodie the day she hatched the CLB chicks. I don't use this cage anymore though. I have a whole room behind this cage (see the door) that is now my hatching area. I have to have her away from the nesting boxes while she sits on the eggs because she will return to the wrong box if I do. But, after they hatch, she is a one fierce mama and I can open that door. She then walks her babes around in the hen house, and eventually takes them down the ramp into the outside run. From there she takes them outside to free range, thus teaching them everything they need to know before ditching them at 8 weeks....LOL

 

[minnehaha]

Merry day after Christmas everyone!

Yesterday:
Chicken:
14/27/30
duck:
3/3/3

My husband found a clutch of duck eggs! We were watching 4 or 5 ravens circling and landing in an area of our yard with brush and several trees. We wanted to know what was on the Raven's radar because 10 minutes earlier my husband shot a coyote (I posted about it in Predators and pests, it's called "Christmas Coyote), so he ran out to see what the ravens were so interested in and found the mystery spot where one of my ducks is hiding her eggs!!! The ravens were going to snack on them, but my husband got to them first! I know now that they are all 3 laying eggs still! Silly duck, we do not have a drake, they aren't fertile, so stop hiding them!

 

[tntchix]

So, I go out to the coop this morning and it's chilly again so I figure 5 eggs is gonna be it for the day. NOPE! I went out to work in coop a while ago and low and behold dh says uh there's more eggs in here. I peek around the corner and what do I see but one egg in almost each top nest box and one in almost each bottom box and then 2 in the favorite middle one.

The ones sharing had a broken one so that is 14 eggs today out of 15 layers (banty stopped after 3 eggs for season )from our 28 girls. The gifts just keep rolling in.

Here is the egg skelter since Sunday. I split eggs in carton and some for us.

 

[draye]

13

 

[RonP]

5 from 10 hens

 

[vpatt]

2 eggs today ........mostly just me that eats them so I have plenty right now. I even used some in the Christmas cakes I baked. And I got myself a skelter for Christmas. I love it and I love having fresh eggs for breakfast.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!