Meyer Meal Maker Layer - what do you do?

[Doc7]

i am thinking about adding a MealMaker to my order of 3 chicks for this spring (to bring to a total of 4).

With 9 or 10 hens instead of 6 I am
Thinking identifying a specific hen as a layer gets tougher. I might try the food coloring trick to positively identify my current 6 layers once they’ve been laying another month or so and shape/size is more consistent than it is right now. But I have had a couple of 6 eggs days and it’s hard to say that there’s 6 identifiable shades in there, more like 4 (the green EE is super easy of course).

If you have a Meal Maker hen do you attempt to identify her eggs, or do you instead just donate say 18-24 random eggs from your flock per month? I am thinking either works to satisfy the “intent” of the program and want to donate eggs anyway. It would be fresher for me just to collect food pantry eggs the last few days before going rather than collect one particular hens eggs for a month.

In the end, I’m not trying to be legalistic about it (as the Bible tells me “tithing on your mint and cumin” but ignoring justice mercy and faith is wrong), but more just wondering what y’all do when it comes to this.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I would just make a reasonable donation of eggs in general..... trying to identify only eggs from that one bird, excluding an obvious like it being the only white egg layer, etc would not be anything I'm inclined to do.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Keep in mind also, if you share your eggs with a friend neighbor, family member, etc you've also honored the intent of the program

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You never know what they will send as a meal maker
They will send you a breed they have excess of on hatch day, if you are ordering layers then it could be any laying breed. I have always had brown egg layers, last time I got a meal maker it was a White Leghorn, so white eggs made it easy to i.d. but....I don't necessarily worry about color when donating/giving away eggs, I just give the freshest regardless if they are brown/white.
Make sense?

 

[Doc7]

My wife receiving the news about adding a meal maker.

Can you tell which one is our least favorite, aggressive pecking layer?

 

[21hens-incharge]

My advice is to make sure there is a place you can donate to.

I have a lot of extra eggs in the spring and the answer I got was....

"We can only take eggs that have been inspected by the FDA."

Interesting thing though was 2 months later while heading into a favorite restaurant there was a poster asking local gardeners to donate to the same facility.

So....cannot accept eggs from my hens but can accept produce from my garden fertilized with poo from those same hens?!?!

 

[Doc7]

My advice is to make sure there is a place you can donate to.

I have a lot of extra eggs in the spring and the answer I got was....

"We can only take eggs that have been inspected by the FDA."

Interesting thing though was 2 months later while heading into a favorite restaurant there was a poster asking local gardeners to donate to the same facility.

So....cannot accept eggs from my hens but can accept produce from my garden fertilized with poo from those same hens?!?!

Our local food pantry takes them.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Our local food pantry takes them.

That is very good. It can be disheartening to go to the effort and be turned away like you are trying to poison someone.