The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[tjo804]

I love the festive wreath!

 

[sunflower4you]

Just use a dehydrator with the solid insert in it.

Like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-SLD-2-R...8-3&keywords=nesco+fd-1040&pebp=1416931274738



Scramble the eggs first and then pour them in. After they are dry, they will break up into a powder. Look for a chart for how much powder equals and egg in baking. You can also make scrambled eggs from the powder.

DEHYDRATED EGGS
I just crack the eggs into my mixer like I would for making a cake and beat them until they are about to overflow the bowl.

I line my dehydrator trays with syran wrap and scoop the foam onto the tray. Beat it up again if needed and set the dehydrator at 135 to 140 degrees and let it go for about 4 hours when it looks crusty and there is no moisture I dump it off the syran into the blender and make powder pour in zip lock and it is ready to go

To re-hydrate I add 1 TBSP egg powder to 2 TBSP water quick stir let sit 3 to 5 minutes and cook it.

I do not worry about the dehydrate temp killing any germs because I cook / bake with the egg powder and that kills the germs if you are worried about that dehydrate between 165 and 170 degrees.

the mixer before hand really makes a difference in the quality of re-hydrated powder. even my scrambled eggs have cooked up fluffy.

in a zip lock or storage container it should last about 1 year. If you have a vacuum sealer they say it can last up to 10 years.

best tip is to keep them fluffy into the dehydrator it makes ALOT of difference in the end quality.


Nice orange look just like my yolks!

I do have the tray liners for my dehydrators like ronott1 posted above. Did you use saran wrap because you don't have these tray liners? Or did you use saran wrap on top of the tray liners? Silly question, but I am a details person. Thanks for the great info!

 

[tjo804]

here are pics i had of the beating and the tray I did not take of pic of the finished product on the tray sorry.


I found if you do not beat them you get a flat unfluffy egg once you re-hydrate.

 

[Sally8]

Could be a need for extra B vitamins or vitamin E.  Those can be very common causes.

For the "Bs", you might try giving her some liver chopped into tiny pieces and/or some brewers yeast. 

Or if you want to go the synthetic route, try some children's poly vi sol (no added iron) or some of the vitamins from TSC (I think it's Nutridrench for poultry) added to the waterer.  If that's what the problem is, it would be worth trying! 

Wondering if vitamins are the problem then maybe the whole flock would benefit. Worth a try. Thanks. She is quite pretty.

Armorfirelady, isn't it amazing how difficult it is to give away chickens? Next year, try hatching something of value or chickens/ducks/turkeys that you could sell as day or two old. I love watching "moms" raising their babies but I also have hatching in the bathroom issues as well. Think I might try raising turkeys again to sell in November. Just need to get my knowledge together. I had no troubles selling my turkeys.

 

[PetRock]

DEHYDRATED EGGS
I just crack the eggs into my mixer like I would for making a cake and beat them until they are about to overflow the bowl.

I line my dehydrator trays with syran wrap and scoop the foam onto the tray. Beat it up again if needed and set the dehydrator at 135 to 140 degrees and let it go for about 4 hours when it looks crusty and there is no moisture I dump it off the syran into the blender and make powder pour in zip lock and it is ready to go

To re-hydrate I add 1 TBSP egg powder to 2 TBSP water quick stir let sit 3 to 5 minutes and cook it.

I do not worry about the dehydrate temp killing any germs because I cook / bake with the egg powder and that kills the germs if you are worried about that dehydrate between 165 and 170 degrees.

the mixer before hand really makes a difference in the quality of re-hydrated powder. even my scrambled eggs have cooked up fluffy.

in a zip lock or storage container it should last about 1 year. If you have a vacuum sealer they say it can last up to 10 years.

best tip is to keep them fluffy into the dehydrator it makes ALOT of difference in the end quality.

Thank you for all this information! I just started dehydrating eggs this past week in our Excalibur dehydrator. I currently have We have lots of newly laying pullets so more eggs than we can eat. The directions that I found online said to blend the eggs and then dehydrate for 17 hours at 145 degrees. I'm going to try your method of making them foamy to see if it cuts down the time. My

 

[armorfirelady]

Wondering if vitamins are the problem then maybe the whole flock would benefit. Worth a try. Thanks. She is quite pretty.

Armorfirelady, isn't it amazing how difficult it is to give away chickens? Next year, try hatching something of value or chickens/ducks/turkeys that you could sell as day or two old. I love watching "moms" raising their babies but I also have hatching in the bathroom issues as well. Think I might try raising turkeys again to sell in November. Just need to get my knowledge together. I had no troubles selling my turkeys.

I am going to try the nutridrench as well. Maybe it will help with the molting/ratty looking of the flock.


I wish I could raise chicks but no roo. I tried to keep him but the neighbors were not impressed. I have new neighbors who love the chickens and were hoping they could get chicks from me.

 

[RedRidge]

Entertainment
What a really mad cockerel looks like:

In his opinion, cages and baths are for girls. The ONLY good thing about this show stuff is getting to sleep "next to" girls. ;-)

 

[Leahs Mom]

Entertainment
What a really mad cockerel looks like:



In his opinion, cages and baths are for girls. The ONLY good thing about this show stuff is getting to sleep "next to" girls. ;-)

Must be frustrating being next to them but not being able to .... well .... you know

 

[MargaretYakoda]

@Leahs Mom

The POL pullets not starting until the day light hours go up is very frustrating. I have eight pullets that should be laying now but aren't. I am trying to be patient but it is so hard.

It will be better for them though.

I agree, it's SUPER hard to wait!

We have some Jersey Giant pullets who are 6 and a half months and not laying yet. There was ONE egg, nearly a month ago, but since then, nothing. They are bright red in comb and wattles, which stands out nicely against their glistening black feathers. And I know that waiting to lay is better for them, since they're not done growing yet. But even so... I sure wish they'd lay soon.

 

[mlowen]

Entertainment
What a really mad cockerel looks like:

In his opinion, cages and baths are for girls. The ONLY good thing about this show stuff is getting to sleep "next to" girls. ;-)

Wow! If I were a hen, I'd want him for a husband. He's as beautiful (and hunky) for his species as Joe Manganiello is for ours.