Official BYC Poll: How Important Is It That You Get Eggs From Your Chickens?

[LavenderDaFlerf]

I voted somewhat important because I have them for eggs but I buy heritage breeds and I enjoy their company.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

What do you do with the older ones you cull., Obviously tough. Compost them, eat them, if so how do you cook them?

Aaron

I save the breasts and thighs only, with bones. Slow-cooked in a crock pot, or pressure-cooked on the stove. Then freeze the broth and meat for chicken & dumplings, soups, anything really. The rest of the bird goes into our burn barrel with the household trash, or buried in the garden. If we cull a whole bunch and my life is too busy at the moment, and I have plenty still in the freezer, then I don't save them at all - just goes in the burn barrel. My plan this year, now that I have more time (retired!), is to process all of the culled birds. Parts I don't freeze for us will be used for dog food. Waste nothing!

 

[Ascholten]

Instead of a burn barrel, if you have a worm barrel, kind of a must for gardeners, you bury the carcass down in that, the worms go crazy, and you'll have tons of new worms in a few weeks to sell / spread around the garden too, along with the worm castings etc.

Now obviously don't go putting 50 lbs of chicken guts in that thing you don't want to stink up too badly or attract rats / coons but composting I have found does very well to be rid of things like that and not wasting it.

Aaron

 

[BDutch]

I changed my vote from somewhat important to very important. But probably not for the obvious reason.

My girls are no egg factories at all. But I started to hate the chicken industry more and more and don’t want to buy commercial eggs anymore.

This egg industry is the cause of the HPAI. The HPAI is a big problem in my country where we have too much chickens for eggs and meat. And lots of wild water birds.
Most eggs and meat in our chicken industry is for export. The feed is imported. And the farms cause damage to our natural environment.

Because of this HPAI all commercial poultry is confined to stay inside stables from October till now. In the Netherlands its not allowed to have organic or free range labelled chickens anymore.
And BYC chickens are obliged to stay in a coop and run were they not escape from. With new types of bird flu it’s possible that this situation is not improving anymore.

 

[630004]

We got the chickens for eggs, The rooster is a pet and has a name. The hens will be eaten when egg production slows down.

 

[Psychofeatherlover]

They don't have to work for their room and board. I just want them to be happy.

 

[BDutch]

… Because of this HPAI all commercial poultry is confined to stay inside stables from October till now. In the Netherlands its not allowed to have organic or free range labelled chickens anymore.
And BYC chickens are obliged to stay in a coop and run were they not escape from. With new types of bird flu it’s possible that this situation is not improving anymore.

I made a mistake with this. This is true for free range chickens that go outside in the open air , who get gmo feed, but not for organic eggs.
There are still organic eggs available. But because of the bird flu and the fact that all commercial chickens have to stay behind a fence and under a roof, they adjusted the rules for organic eggs.
Organic eggs are from hens that get organic food and have more space then the regular ‘inside free range’ chickens (only meaning not caged) in a stable. Supermarkets here don’t sell eggs from caged/battery hens.
The organic chickens are kept in a coop/stable with max 9 on a sqm (m2) + a covered run during the day. It’s not clear how much run space they have nowadays.

 

[Cat Ballou]

I started raising EE for eggs and meat (I realize that EE are not the best choice for meat production but I will utilize the ones that I cull.) I voted “very important” before seeing the posted descriptions. After reading the intended term descriptions I don’t want to change my vote because essentially eggs are very important to me. I want to set up supplemental lighting but this is all new to me and over the summer I had to deal with numerous setbacks while I was incubating my first batch, so I’m behind the ball and dealing with things the best I can without throwing in the towel.

 

[Cat Ballou]

Honestly I can’t stand that my hens lay so many eggs because I never have anything to do with them. That prevents me from getting more.

Can you sell them?

 

[JanetG]

I want good fresh healthy eggs from happy healthy chickens. So my husband will stop picking on me for paying more attention to the chickens then him. And for the neighbors in case the chickens are bothering them