Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[itsren]

Quote:
We had enough hail to turn the grass white. The girls just stood in the run and stared at it. I thought for sure they'd go into the coop. Nope. Little hail balls pinging off their run roof must've been noisy!

 

[itsren]

It's killing me that my girls don't get to free-range right now. Cleaning up free-range poop is so much nicer than feed poop.

A chore that never bothered me before is beginning to gross me out.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Renee what's the difference? All I see a difference in is color; whenever they free range their poops are more green than brown.

 

[FirewifeJess]

We're having one of the laziest Saturdays in a long long time. Went to John's football game, came home for lunch and naps, and we've been watching PBS library videos for hours, LOL!

 

[itsren]

Renee what's the difference? All I see a difference in is color; whenever they free range their poops are more green than brown.

My girls poops are usually very thick with lots of undigested grass mixed in. Super easy to scoop and didn't smell much.

My girls didn't just free-range a little bit - they free ranged nearly all day, from about 9:00 a.m. until about 8:00 p.m. and ate lots of grass. I'm guessing they ate more grass than their bodies could break down. I think that is why I went through so little feed, too, even though they had all-day access to feed. Now they are consuming feed in huge quantities.

They are not happy with their new arrangement.

 

[Chickadoodoo]

I have only had two eggs today! All my chickens are just chilling under the house like eh i'll lay my eggs tomorrow. Whats up with my girls!

 

[itsren]

So I just packed another little box of eggs to give away. I almost washed them because of the conversation that happened last time I posted about it. I don't sell eggs, so I am not bound by any regulation to wash eggs.

I did a little research before washing them, and I'm glad I did. I'm copying and pasting part of an article from food safety news. Here is the link to the page: www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/06/salmonella-risk-in-backyard-chicken-eggs/

Quote:
I think I'm going to stick with my current practice of putting eggs in their ceramic egg holder that is inside a closed egg bin in my refrigerator. We wash all our eggs just before we crack them.

My girls don't poop in their nest boxes, their coop is scooped every day and the bedding is nearly always fresh looking inside the coop before they lay each day, so I'm hoping we won't have a problem because I don't wash them right after they are laid. I get eggs that look perfectly clean from my nest boxes. Yes, I understand that microscopic stuff may exist, and that is why we wash them prior to use.

Eggs I give away are being given away in clean plastic containers and I tell the recipient these are not washed, so please wash them before cracking them. My little tag also explains they are not washed, the bloom is still on and they should be washed before using.

 

[itsren]

I have only had two eggs today! All my chickens are just chilling under the house like eh i'll lay my eggs tomorrow. Whats up with my girls!

I'm down to two a day, now, too. It is making the whole idea of giving eggs away as gifts a little more difficult. Yesterday I had 3, but I think it was at least 3-4 days prior that we had a 3-egg day. Rhodie still lays daily. Drama lays every other day, or sometimes skips 2 days, and Caunnie lays every other day now.

I caught the girls last night... they found a way to sneak away from the light in the coop. They hide out in the side edge of the coop where there is a little half wall that blocks the light. Little stink butts!

 

[Chickadoodoo]

So I just packed another little box of eggs to give away. I almost washed them because of the conversation that happened last time I posted about it. I don't sell eggs, so I am not bound by any regulation to wash eggs.

I did a little research before washing them, and I'm glad I did. I'm copying and pasting part of an article from food safety news. Here is the link to the page: www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/06/salmonella-risk-in-backyard-chicken-eggs/


I think I'm going to stick with my current practice of putting eggs in their ceramic egg holder that is inside a closed egg bin in my refrigerator. We wash all our eggs just before we crack them.

My girls don't poop in their nest boxes, their coop is scooped every day and the bedding is nearly always fresh looking inside the coop before they lay each day, so I'm hoping we won't have a problem because I don't wash them right after they are laid. I get eggs that look perfectly clean from my nest boxes. Yes, I understand that microscopic stuff may exist, and that is why we wash them prior to use.

Eggs I give away are being given away in clean plastic containers and I tell the recipient these are not washed, so please wash them before cracking them. My little tag also explains they are not washed, the bloom is still on and they should be washed before using.

We generally dont wash them either but if you do, put it in the fridge it will perserve them but you HAVE to put them in the fridge RIGHT AWAY after you wash them otherwise bacteria could be exposed to it.

 

[FirewifeJess]

I'm down a bunch too. 2 girls haven't yet started laying. 2 girls completely stopped laying. 8 girls are laying 5-7 eggs a day. I hate feeding 12 girls and only getting 5 eggs some days though, really makes me mad. I don't know why Willow and Princess stopped laying completely. Princess had been laying consistently for 2 months and then quit. She's not molting that I can tell. Willow waited a month after coming to live here before laying precisely 4 eggs in 6 days then stopped laying completely; nothing from both those girls in over 2 weeks The babies are 19.5 weeks old though, I'm hopeful we'll have at least *some* eggs from them this winter sometime. It would be a bummer to wait until spring for those girls. Just to feed our family we need to average 7 eggs a day all year long. I figured a dozen hens would do the job with supplemental lighting; guess I was wrong.