NY chicken lover!!!!

[tao chick]

I am so jealous of your gardens. This fall we're clearing a large section to start a garden in the spring. Perhaps I'll convince DH to help me work on that soon by telling him it's time to plant garlic. I'm incubating eggs right now. I'm getting discouraged with this batch. There's got to be a bacterial issue as I've had a few eggs end up with droplets of ooze on them and at candle or eggtopsie show a dead embryo. I started with 24 but I'm down to 17. I might move them all to the new homemade incubator and hope it works out at hatch time. That is the benefit of having two incubators.

I enjoy the monster stories. I have some young chickens that don't even want to wander outside. The coop is too comfy I guess. Chickengirl, how are you keeping up with your eggs? I'm going to bake some breads and muffins, learn how to freeze them, and hopefully by winter get a pasta attachment for my kitchen aid.

What do y'all do with surplus eggs? I'm not getting enough to sell yet, and I want to get a good sized egg before I start selling. I want to preserve them. Does anyone here pickle eggs?

 

[boskelli1571]

I am so jealous of your gardens. This fall we're clearing a large section to start a garden in the spring. Perhaps I'll convince DH to help me work on that soon by telling him it's time to plant garlic. I'm incubating eggs right now. I'm getting discouraged with this batch. There's got to be a bacterial issue as I've had a few eggs end up with droplets of ooze on them and at candle or eggtopsie show a dead embryo. I started with 24 but I'm down to 17. I might move them all to the new homemade incubator and hope it works out at hatch time. That is the benefit of having two incubators.

I enjoy the monster stories. I have some young chickens that don't even want to wander outside. The coop is too comfy I guess. Chickengirl, how are you keeping up with your eggs? I'm going to bake some breads and muffins, learn how to freeze them, and hopefully by winter get a pasta attachment for my kitchen aid.

What do y'all do with surplus eggs? I'm not getting enough to sell yet, and I want to get a good sized egg before I start selling. I want to preserve them. Does anyone here pickle eggs?

I freeze my extras. I used to pickle eggs, but finding malt vinegar in large quantities proves challenging!

Not only that, it's a b**** trying to peel fresh eggs! You can pickle with cider vinegar, but it has a completely different taste. Can't help it - it's the Brit. in me....

 

[rancher hicks]

Oh I dang well known them bugger head monsters are smart. Again tonight they hid on the run from me. The center of the run is 7ft high and 12ft from the side. I'm 5'2" where did they go tonight you ask?! 7ft up 12ft in!!!! I am doing 96 hour lock in. No more free time gurls!!!

You could run some plastic snow fencing on top?

I've used 2x4's to secure a roof on mine but you use use 2x3's or even center poles to hold up the fencing or bird netting.

IN this pic you can see the metal brackets I used to run "stringers" across. Could you do the same but instead of corrugated panels use poultry wire. or something that would not hold the snow? Flat roofs on runs are not good since the weight of the snow will break them. Mine is slanted and still requires some clearing of the snow.



Keep in mind folks nothing I do is done all at once but as time and funds allow. Sometimes I save up funds and materials until I have enough to do a job.

 

[rancher hicks]

I am so jealous of your gardens. This fall we're clearing a large section to start a garden in the spring. Perhaps I'll convince DH to help me work on that soon by telling him it's time to plant garlic. I'm incubating eggs right now. I'm getting discouraged with this batch. There's got to be a bacterial issue as I've had a few eggs end up with droplets of ooze on them and at candle or eggtopsie show a dead embryo. I started with 24 but I'm down to 17. I might move them all to the new homemade incubator and hope it works out at hatch time. That is the benefit of having two incubators.

I enjoy the monster stories. I have some young chickens that don't even want to wander outside. The coop is too comfy I guess. Chickengirl, how are you keeping up with your eggs? I'm going to bake some breads and muffins, learn how to freeze them, and hopefully by winter get a pasta attachment for my kitchen aid.

What do y'all do with surplus eggs? I'm not getting enough to sell yet, and I want to get a good sized egg before I start selling. I want to preserve them. Does anyone here pickle eggs?

If clearing is hard and since winter is coming, you might consider card board laid out to kill weeds during the winter. Come spring just roto till the cardboard and all right in. Once the cardboard gets wet it stays put.

Check out the local grocer, BJ's or Sams for any size cardboard boxes.

I get mine from the local school where I volunteer. I suppose you could drive behind places and load up any cardboard you find. OH a furniture store would have some serious large boxes.

While cardboard won't eliminate all weeds it does help to keep things manageable and in check.

 

[Purpletie3]

I freeze my extras. I used to pickle eggs, but finding malt vinegar in large quantities proves challenging!

Not only that, it's a b**** trying to peel fresh eggs! You can pickle with cider vinegar, but it has a completely different taste. Can't help it - it's the Brit. in me....

I have had great luck with a slice of fresh lemon and a drop of white vinegar....allows the shell to peel off!

 

[boskelli1571]

I have had great luck with a slice of fresh lemon and a drop of white vinegar....allows the shell to peel off!

Ok - dumb question - in the boiling water or the peeling water? I have tried vinegar alone...

 

[tao chick]

Ok - dumb question - in the boiling water or the peeling water? I have tried vinegar alone...:/

I was going to ask the same thing.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I am so jealous of your gardens. This fall we're clearing a large section to start a garden in the spring. Perhaps I'll convince DH to help me work on that soon by telling him it's time to plant garlic. I'm incubating eggs right now. I'm getting discouraged with this batch. There's got to be a bacterial issue as I've had a few eggs end up with droplets of ooze on them and at candle or eggtopsie show a dead embryo. I started with 24 but I'm down to 17. I might move them all to the new homemade incubator and hope it works out at hatch time. That is the benefit of having two incubators.

I enjoy the monster stories. I have some young chickens that don't even want to wander outside. The coop is too comfy I guess. Chickengirl, how are you keeping up with your eggs? I'm going to bake some breads and muffins, learn how to freeze them, and hopefully by winter get a pasta attachment for my kitchen aid.

What do y'all do with surplus eggs? I'm not getting enough to sell yet, and I want to get a good sized egg before I start selling. I want to preserve them. Does anyone here pickle eggs?

To keep up with the eggs I just feed the kids an egg or 2 a day. For now, once I start getting backed up I found a trick to freezing them. Buy a few ice trays and Crack each raw egg into one cube. Freeze until solid then put into bags. The shells don't freeze well. Look into the Ball canning website for pickled eggs directions.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

You could run some plastic snow fencing on top? I've used 2x4's to secure a roof on mine but you use use 2x3's or even center poles to hold up the fencing or bird netting. IN this pic you can see the metal brackets I used to run "stringers" across. Could you do the same but instead of corrugated panels use poultry wire. or something that would not hold the snow? Flat roofs on runs are not good since the weight of the snow will break them. Mine is slanted and still requires some clearing of the snow. Keep in mind folks nothing I do is done all at once but as time and funds allow. Sometimes I save up funds and materials until I have enough to do a job.

a roof isn't the solution to these monsters, grounding is. They were on top of the roof of the coop half the day yesterday. They just want to be UP.

 

[shodack]

To keep up with the eggs I just feed the kids an egg or 2 a day. For now, once I start getting backed up I found a trick to freezing them. Buy a few ice trays and Crack each raw egg into one cube. Freeze until solid then put into bags. The shells don't freeze well. Look into the Ball canning website for pickled eggs directions.

My 2.5 year old daughter used to want eggs every day, but she is currently refusing all eggs. Just when we start getting good fresh ones... toddlers!!