"Well the eggs are dirty..."

[sparkles2307]

Yeah so these people I know got chickens so they could get eggs, which the birds have just recently started to lay. They are now feeding the eggs to the dogs because the eggs are dirty and they will start using them for personal consumption when the chickens start to lay clean eggs... um, I know that not all chickens lay eggs that are covered in filth but that it is pretty commong to get some, yucky stuff on the egg that just needs a little scurb to get off...I tried to tell them they are wasting eggs and that there will always be a little dirt on them no matter what (the hens wont lay in the boxes always on the dirt) so they better get used to it but they insist in their way....

 

[deb1]

Maybe they could put down a little hay, or grass clippings where the hens like to lay. This might make their eggs a bit less dirty.

My eggs are mainly clean but occasionally one hen just decides to lay in some dirt. I have no idea why. The eggs are good, just need a wipe down.

 

[SproutGirl]

You'd better not tell them where potatoes come from . . .

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:

And carrots.

 

[koifarm]

Hey Sparkles,
Can you post a picture of your friends coop and nesting boxes? There must be some reason their hens are laying on the ground..it may be that the nesting boxes are placed in a bad spot, or too small, or something else that is causing the hens to lay on the floor. Sometimes the hens just don't get it too, you have to create a place for them to feel comfy when laying, boxes too small, too close to the ground, too open, may all keep them from wanting to lay eggs in them....
You can try making a cloth curtain over the fronts of the boxes, not a full one but a bit of cloth to hide behind.
If they can't turn around in the box that may be a factor. If they can't get to the boxes easily another factor....
Let us see what the setup is and maybe someone can figure out a plan.....
Are these the first chickens they have had?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I feed my dirty ones to the dogs, but only because I'm lazy and already get more than I can eat. Plus the dogs LOVE eggs.

I do have a couple of banties that are low on the pecking order that sometimes can't get into the favored nest box. They will sometimes lay out in the run. I always figured they just couldn't hold it any longer.

Nevermind that there are three identical nest boxes in the coop. We all have to lay in the same one. It's never the same one either. The favorite changes day by day. Silly chickens.

 

[sparkles2307]

Quote:
I cant, its a friend from work and her father is the one with the chickens. She doesnt live at home so I have no reason to be out there often.

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:

And carrots.

Yeah! Think of all that wasted food. And there are people starving everywhere! VERY disappointing!

 

[shaggy]

sounds like they are training their dogs to eat their eggs

this could come back to bite them in the butt

 

[kagedgoddess]

ok kinda like this, my chickens started laying 5 days ago, we amde a huge deal about the first eggs and all. i told dh i ll cook them for dinner, he says NO! said i dont make good tasting eggs. well they were still ALL there last night, so i was bugging (aka nagging) why arent you eating the eggs??????? well guess why?





hes scared!

he thinks they ll taste funny, AND he thought they had to "settle" a few days first!

So after i pick myself off the floor, i inform him that no theyre fine, i honestly dont even have to put them in the fridge, just figured theyre safer there.... SO, he made scrambled eggs last night, 3 white store eggs, ONE poor little fresh brown farm egg! (just in case its tastes funny, he said)
some people! lol