INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Finnie]

Yes, it's the Aracauna roo. I'm hopeful he's been busy procreating, but I can't recall seeing him do it.

That budgie is still around. The one we had has died and now Splat is alone again. If someone is looking for one, let us know, we can offer them Splat. I hate to see her alone.

I will let them know, and see if they want Splat. They wanted to see if the one here could try again after she rested a while, but I think not. If they want Splat, I will PM you.

 

[Finnie]

Update on the egg freezing experiment.

We tried one of each type this morning. The egg that was frozen whole was as @JanetMarie said....yolk changed to a thickened/more solid texture. Fried it. Tasted great and the texture was even enjoyable.

The ones I whisked and added salt were pretty much the same as if I'd done a fresh egg. Texture was normal whisked egg texture and I wouldn't have known it was frozen. We also fried that like scrambled egg.

I'm of the opinion that I could use the whisked ones in baking, fritata, etc. just by observing the texture.

A while back, I came across this article. It was from back in the 70s. After I read the whole thing, I came to the conclusion that I could just stockpile eggs in my refrigerator for the winter, and they would still be fine by the time the hens started back to laying. Of course, that assumes I have room for that many dozen eggs in the fridge.

It was a moot point this year because I miscalculated when to start stockpiling, and by the time the hens quit, I only had 3 or 4 dozen saved up. As they ran low, I bought a dozen eggs at the store, because I wanted to make lots of Christmas cookies. Never had time for that, and before I even opened the dozen from the store, the hens started to lay again.

Of course it all depends on your number of hens and your egg consumption, and how much time the hens take off for the winter.

But after I read this article, I got the impression that fridge eggs could still be good after 6 months!

https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/how-to-store-fresh-eggs-zmaz77ndzgoe

PS the article is long. Skip to the bottom if you just want the conclusions.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Finnie
Thanks! I never considered just keeping them in the fridge. I note that they say a "sealed container" rather than just egg cartons.

A while back, I came across this article. It was from back in the 70s. After I read the whole thing, I came to the conclusion that I could just stockpile eggs in my refrigerator for the winter, and they would still be fine by the time the hens started back to laying. Of course, that assumes I have room for that many dozen eggs in the fridge.

It was a moot point this year because I miscalculated when to start stockpiling, and by the time the hens quit, I only had 3 or 4 dozen saved up. As they ran low, I bought a dozen eggs at the store, because I wanted to make lots of Christmas cookies. Never had time for that, and before I even opened the dozen from the store, the hens started to lay again.

Of course it all depends on your number of hens and your egg consumption, and how much time the hens take off for the winter.

But after I read this article, I got the impression that fridge eggs could still be good after 6 months!

https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/how-to-store-fresh-eggs-zmaz77ndzgoe

PS the article is long. Skip to the bottom if you just want the conclusions.

 

[JanetMarie]

But after I read this article, I got the impression that fridge eggs could still be good after 6 months!

I've kept some for about 5 months. I cooked and fed them to the chickens. They lost quite a bit of moisture as the air cells were large. A problem with keeping eggs that long in the refrigerator is they are very high in histamine, and a problem for those sensitive to histamine in food.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Does the histamine increase over time?

 

[weezerfish]

Could have learned a lesson the hard way this week but came through okay. I have a raised coop with a small run that I can close up like fort Knox if I perceive predator problems or it gets really cold. It's wrapped in clear plastic (with a few vents) to help keep the wind of the ladies and keep the snow and rain out. It's not huge though so I try to keep that door open into the bigger run (dog kennel panels with chicken wire overhead) as much as possible to give them extra room. Anyway, DW checked on the ladies on Saturday afternoon because I had to work late (and because she's AWESOME!). I got to bed around 1 am Sunday morning and had to get up at 5:30 am to take DDs to a volleyball tourney down in Yorktown. Didn't have time for a morning check which wasn't a huge deal as they'd have food, water, and free rein in the big run. What I didn't anticipate is the door separating the big and small runs blowing closed and staying that way sometime between DWs check and when we got home Sunday afternoon! Four of the girls had gotten trapped outside in the big run and were separated from food, water, and any substantial cover from the elements. Could have been 15 minutes...could have been 24 hours. Afraid it was on the long end of that spectrum as they were quite happy to see me Sunday afternoon. No apparent problems from their adventure, but I'm sure it wasn't fun for them. I felt really bad. I'm just glad it wasn't any colder than it was! So I've got a new rule about propping the door open with something that won't move when it's left open (my goof...not DWs).

 

[Leahs Mom]

@weezerfish
Isn't if just heart dropping when you come home and find something like that? I've had an instance or 2 when I got home and 1 bird didn't get back into the hen shed and the auto-door had shut and she was out all alone. Where they are now I don't have an auto-door so I have to bring them in myself. But I sure do remember how awful it felt when I've had similar things as you describe.

 

[JanetMarie]

Does the histamine increase over time?

Yes it does. Anything kept in the refrigerator as opposed to freezing will accumulate histamine. The 5 month old eggs looked almost deadly, and even thought the chickens might be affected! But chickens are scavengers.

 

[Leahs Mom]

How is everyone's weather? Getting what I call an "ice storm" here. Rain and snow mix and ice on everything including tree branches. Looks really pretty, but this is the kind of weather we'd get in MO when I was there for college. Electric lines tend to snap in the ice and anything left outside gets covered in ice.

Supposed to get cold overnight with snow so that will be fun in the morning with the layer of ice under there.

 

[Pollitos6]

Hello,
I have a 7 month old Buff Orpintong that has been broody for about 3 weeks. We don't have a rooster so no point to let her go broody. We have been unsuccessfully trying to discouraging broodiness but we haven't have any luck. We collect the eggs as soon as possible and we tried to get her out of the nest as often as possible. When I get her out of the nest she does eat and do her business for a few minutes and then she wants to go back to the nest. Sometimes she lays in an empty nest. How much longer does chickens stay broody? Any advice is appreciated.

UPDATE!
After keeping my broody hen inside a metal crate at night for three days that solved the problem, she is not broody any more and started laying eggs again . I couldn't keep her in the crate all day so during the day and under supervision I let her free range for a while in the back yard. Thanks to all for your advice.