The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Ms Jellybean]

It's mud season here ... We locate our nesting boxes as far away from the chicken door as possible so the hens have to take a LONG walk through the coop to get to the boxes, but if they've been outside their damp and dirty feet are really great at tracking stuff regardless.

Also, we've got an egg breaker at the moment, so the eggs in one of the more popular boxes usually need a fair amount of attention.

Major pasture renovation is supposed to be happening soon ... but until then, there is mud.

The ducks ... they insist on coating their eggs in mud. It's what they do if they can. So ... I'm strategizing about how to create a mud-free zone that I'll confine them to over night and during the mornings ... this is a challenge when working with ducks.

Maybe you can find some ideas here.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Maybe you can find some ideas here.

Dirt bike stuff? As in get rid of the birds and open a dirt bike playground on my property?

 

[Shan30]

I think I have been convinced not to get ducks!

DH also had asked me to rehome the Guineas as he can't stand the noise. They don't bother me but I will find them another place as he misses going to see the chickens without the racket. Fair enough!

On the egg washing topic, we do. It's so wet here this time of year nothing survives the mud plague. You can sure tell which girls are favourites right now with their dirty brown backs plus we sell them and everyone seems to prefer it.

 

[Shan30]

Dirt bike stuff? As in get rid of the birds and open a dirt bike playground on my property? 

Lol!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Lol!

That link has me SO confused ...

 

[mlowen]

I don't wash until just before I crack the egg. I sell or give away eggs to friends and co-workers and I put a little note in the carton that says "Rinse well before cracking." I usually refridgerate when I have more than I can eat in a few days. I know they are fine for quite awhile, but just in case.... (I only have 5 hens.)

 

[mlowen]

@ Lalaland re the frozen cracked and then uncracked egg: If resealing probably means the membrane was not broken, does that mean it's OK for me to eat? OK to sell/give away to someone else? Just feed back to the girls?

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Dirt bike stuff? As in get rid of the birds and open a dirt bike playground on my property?

LOL! Oops!!! The 'copy and paste' didn't work. Yep, I am a cyclist. I'm a roadie though. I rode over 6K miles last year. Hi, I am Laurie and I am addicted (make that obsessed) with cycling.

This is what I meant to post.

Guess I earned my blonde for the day.

 

[lalaland]

@ Lalaland re the frozen cracked and then uncracked egg: If resealing probably means the membrane was not broken, does that mean it's OK for me to eat? OK to sell/give away to someone else? Just feed back to the girls?

well , I will eat them if the egg was "clean" and no fluid leaked out. If egg dirty, or crack leaked, then it is for the girls. I dont give those eggs to anyone else, not customers or friends because my tolerance is different than others. I don't worry so much about dirt

 

[RedRidge]

Question for anyone who has ducks. .. I know nothing about ducks but have a friend who is needing help feeding and/our balancing a ration for her ducks. Can someone tell me what the different nutritional needs are for ducks vs chickens? Or do they pretty well eat the same thing?