Silkie thread!

[Urchin]

How do you get this


Back to this?

I got dried-on poop off one of my white silkie's wings with Dawn. It's back to being white.

 

[ChickNmamma]

and how do I sanitize the eggs for eating? just with egg wash?

Hi there.

Why are you sanitizing eggs? Did they poop on them? Did they lay them in the mud?

I don't wash my eggs until I am ready to cook them and I only wash if they are really dirty. I take any gobs off with my fingernail. You aren't eating the egg shell, right?

When the hen lays the eggs she coats them with a natural germ barrier, called the bloom. If you wash it off you can get the germs inside the egg - and that can make for some rotten stinky eggs later on. You can wash them with warm water to keep the germs from going into the egg, but you just washed off the protective barrier which means germs can now get in if you don't use them immediately. I think the egg wash is used to replace that barrier, but I don't think it does as good of a job.

Store bought eggs are washed in chemicals to kill just about everything, to go along with the medication they feed the birds (also inside the eggs). This allows the egg not to rot for the two month shelf life on the egg carton

Eggs from your own birds will be much better for you, without any washing necessary.

I personally think the egg wash is a good marketing ploy but basically useless when compared to good animal husbandry practices. Just keep their nests clean, lice and mite free and dry and nothing needs to be washed.

 

[sacramento]

Thank you!!!

 

[CookFarms]

and how do I sanitize the eggs for eating? just with egg wash?

They could just be wiped off,or if they are really dirty put them in the sink with a little hydrogen peroxyde and that should kill the bacteria. Let them sit in the sink for a few minutes. The rotten eggs will float. Hope this helps

 

[CookFarms]

I am currently using fine hay as bedding in my coop, I read somewhere that this will give my chickens respritory problems. Is that true? And what does everyone else use for bedding. I have a big coop so it needs to be cheap. Please help

 

[MumsyII]

I am currently using fine hay as bedding in my coop, I read somewhere that this will give my chickens respritory problems. Is that true? And what does everyone else use for bedding. I have a big coop so it needs to be cheap. Please help

I use the DL (Deep Litter)system in all pens except show and conditioning pens. Those cages are either wire bottomed or have pine shavings. I start out the pens with shavings on dirt base. Add dried leaves or grass clippings from the yard in season, local grass hay, peatmoss in the wet winters, and let the flock scratch and dig it up. If they are out free ranging all day, I go in with a pitch fork and fluff it up.

I clean the pens out partially twice a year. Microbial action helps break it down and it doesn't smell.
I've never had a bird get a respiratory problem in my barn. Currently twenty Silkies live out there with forty other chickens.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I am currently using fine hay as bedding in my coop, I read somewhere that this will give my chickens respritory problems. Is that true? And what does everyone else use for bedding. I have a big coop so it needs to be cheap. Please help

I use wood pellets that have been wet down so they break up into small wood pieces. I use the deep litter method so it's about 4" deep. My coop floor is 6' x 6' and it takes three bags, (@ $3 per bag) to fill it up. I only need to change it once or twice a year so that is pretty cheap. When I do change it, it all goes into my compost bins. I don't have any smell no matter how much the chickens poop in there. I turn it maybe evert week if needed (mainly just under roosts) and the chickens do most of the turning themselves scratching around in there. I am setting up my brooders the same way, covered in paper towels the first few days till the chicks understand what is food and what isn't, then just the deep litter afterwards. This will keep their smells under control since they will be in my house until they are old enough to go outside.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

This morning I set 18 Catdance silkie eggs! Very excited to see what I get out of the awesome mix that Karen sent me

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Hi there.

Why are you sanitizing eggs?  Did they poop on them?  Did they lay them in the mud?

I don't wash my eggs until I am ready to cook them and I only wash if they are really dirty.  I take any gobs off with my fingernail.  You aren't eating the egg shell, right?

When the hen lays the eggs she coats them with a natural germ barrier, called the bloom.  If you wash it off you can get the germs inside the egg - and that can make for some rotten stinky eggs later on.  You can wash them with warm water to keep the germs from going into the egg, but you just washed off the protective barrier which means germs can now get in if you don't use them immediately.  I think the egg wash is used to replace that barrier, but I don't think it does as good of a job.

Store bought eggs are washed in chemicals to kill just about everything, to go along with the medication they feed the birds (also inside the eggs).  This allows the egg not to rot for the two month shelf life on the egg carton

Eggs from your own birds will be much better for you, without any washing necessary. 

I personally think the egg wash is a good marketing ploy but basically useless when compared to good animal husbandry practices.   Just keep their nests clean, lice and mite free and dry and nothing needs to be washed.

I don't wash mine before eating them either. I keep my nest boxes clean so unless the hen poops on one (which has bot happened yet) there is no need to clean it.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

I got dried-on poop off one of my white silkie's wings with Dawn.  It's back to being white.

Dawn is amazing for cleaning critters, lol. I had to use it on my long haired kittens we found because they were so greasy! I saw they used Dawn on oil covered gulls after the oil spill in the ocean so I figured it would work on the kittens. It did!

I am hatching my first silkies, so it's good to know how I can clean them if need be.