Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

Venison is one of the best... I really like all the game meats, like Ven. and Elk, and Buffalo, and wild turkey and all kinds of fish. One 2.5 year old deer, buck or doe, I don't care, is enough meat to last me for an entire year, and that includes plenty of dinners with company. It's so much healthier, and so tasty if harvested at the right time of year, and butchered quickly... aging meat by hanging is tricky, narrow temperature margin... it truly needs to be between 34*-37* consistently to get the perfect result. I have a neighbor who takes deer on off times because he needs to feed his family, and it just doesn't taste so good when harvested in the dead of winter, when the deer are mostly scrounging and eating a lot of pine bark.

I've gotten 3 eggs so far, one RIR and both EE's AND! I think Peach might lay her first egg today! interesting behavior: I was out with the whole gang, everyone happily foraging and dust bathing, when Peach and Si headed back to the enclosure together. I should have taken a picture of the first odd thing, I did have the camera... but I was more concerned about what was happening... Si was way in the corner on the inside of the dome, Peach was in the same corner, but OUTside the dome. She was trying to get to him, so rather than snapping pics, I picked her up and went in to see what was wrong with Si. nothing was wrong, he was making small popping sounds, like a cat's purr slowed way down. he was building a nest in the corner of the dome. it is quite perfect. he dug down to the ground, and made a perfect ring of bedding. When I brought Peach in, she roosted for a moment and watched him, then jumped down and made herself comfy. he's been standing guard over her ever since, all the while making the popping sound. when the rest of the gang returned, he took up a very defensive stance, and blocked Peach from sight.


it's a hard angle to capture the depth of the nest, looks flat, but it really isn't... it's so cool! I put a length of fence in to corner them off and afford them a bit of privacy, but i'll have to go back out soon to make sure all is well, and see if I get a tiny egg!

That just made my day. This is what its about, Si is for sure your roo,
 
I've never been able to hang one either, temps fluctuate too quickly up here... so when the deer comes in, it's gutted immediately. the cats go nuts... sure the chickens would too! I have a pulley in the garage, so it's quick in there and up in the air! skinned and allowed to cool for butchering within a few hours. BH always thought I was weird, bc I wouldn't hunt for one, but once it's dead, would fully participate in the work to get it in the freezer. I am good at skinning, and good at butchering. I have a BS in Biology and Human Anatomy... so muscle is muscle, it's easy for me to see, and I get all the bones and how it fits together... did loads of comparative anatomy (dissection) starting in 6th grade (a squid), and was hooked... in college, I was the #1 person to seek out if you wanted to keep the rabbit hide from dissection and weren't practiced yet. I could get their toes... all the details (hope that doesn't gross anyone out, but they were never going to be someones pet...) I could be a good taxidermist.
I think that is great. I work with a guy who won't buy a whole chicken at the store because he can't quarter it out. His reply "I'm just a city boy". Thinks it's gross or whatever. So now I call him "sissy boy". Needless to say I never offered him eggs from my chickens butts. Wonder what he does at Thanksgiving dinner. I'll have to ask sissy boy. You are special cheeka. I find that very cool that you do that stuff. Both hind quarters are boned out and last night I boned out both front legs. Have all of the meat in one gallon zip lock bags in the refrigerator. Tonight I will trim and freeze the neck and loins. Then I will get out the grinder tomorrow and get the rest in the freezer. Lot of work but a one year supply of meat for the effort. Not to mention a set of antlers to hang above my woodstove
 
I have to look a little sideways at someone who wouldn't prepare their food, you should ask sissy boy if mama cuts up his meat onthe plate for him. Haha. Most of the time I buy a whole loin at the street and cut it into pieces....for several dollars a pound.....what the deal? I've never had buffalo or elk, just venison. Love venisn chili - the best chili in the world. Now, seafood is great, had gator (hit one with my car and me and a buddy tossed it in the trunk and took it home) kind of like grouper and frogs legs in different areas. I guess it goes for over 30$ lb now. Si sounds like a great rooster. I see chicklets in the future!
 
If you see a person sneeze in your food, do you eat it? That is the mentality of some of us city folk. I would not eat food I saw you sneeze in, but I will not die if you sneeze in my food, and feed it to me without me knowing.
I swore I would never eat brown or fresh eggs. I finally said I would TRY a fresh egg if I was offered again. A few months later I was eating my own fresh brown eggs. I was terrified. When people keep telling you it tastes different, you think different like PB&J is from steak. Now I am annoyed with a local diner that is surrounded by farms (including their own) but they don't have fresh eggs. My still citified sister will try a brown egg, but I cannot let her see green or blue yet. She has never had a fresh egg either.
I am trying to "get over it". Not being a big meat eater, I may never succeed, but I am trying.
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And, no. I did not take what you guys said harshly. I know I am a woos.
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I got another 3 eggs today, and a phone call from the lawn mower guy to say if I ever have surplus eggs to please sell them to him and his mom... they both were raving about how fabulous they are!
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ACW, Elk and Buffalo are fabulous! I prefer both over Cow any day. my folks live in Colorado, so it's a fairly common fare, and there is an Elk farm in Gilboa and another a little further west. I think it's $16/lb for elk, buffalo is a little less expensive, at least at the market, we have Hanafords Market, and they carry some unusual meat. I've gotten ground Ostrich from "hanny's" it's a lot like low fat hamburger. and they sell buffalo medallions, I think they are 6 oz in the 2 pack for $8.

OK, I think you should make Sissy Boy lunch. Venison and eggs... but don't tell him what it is til he's finished eating... and then when he says "wow! best steak and eggs I ever ate", you can tell him all about it, and hold the sack while he pukes... Then his new nickname can be Sissy Boy Ralph. (I puked coffee up in a PO that I was substituting in... like 5 years ago, and they still call me "Ralph") on second thought, don't ~ that venison and those eggs are too valuable to waste like that!

MC,
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you are so funny!

I'll bbl hopefully with new chicky pics!!!
 
this is how they all feel about me and my dang camera... poor little things... tortured...

so Peaches little egg highlighted a little better... to show the shape and size.



I have to do some cropping of group shots... the individual shots also need re-naming so I can find them among the thousands and thousands of pictures... I can't deal with searching for them by the P file #... but i'll get it done soon!
 

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