The incredible, edible EGG.

[jeager]

How to preserve eggs without refrigeration.

http://www.shtfpreparedness.com/storing-fresh-eggs-without-refrigeration-up-9-months/

I've used these techniques and they do just fine.

Recall I lived with grandparents in summers when not in school and recall a lot
about how they lived.
The didn't have electricity way back then.
They did get electric power later on.
Lots on the web about preserving eggs and other food stuffs.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/good-eggs-for-nutrition-theyre-hard-to-beat#1

Much more on the web.

With the internet there are many valuable resources for preppers.

 

[Dani]

If you have fresh yard eggs they already have the protective coating on them so you wouldn't need the mineral oil unless you wash them after gathering. Keep some type of bedding in their nest box and replace every week cause they will scratch it out, that way your eggs stay pretty clean. Down south with the heat & humidity level the length of time is significantly reduce to only about three months, at least that is what I found when experimenting. When the kids were here the other day I was scrambling up eggs & then pouring into IceCube trays for the freezer to use for the off season. DIL didn't even think about doing something like that. I use 2 egg cubes per egg when doing it this way. Just defrost and they are good to go. The other way is to pickle and can up. Use in place of hardboiled in any recipe. Our off season is only about 3 months, but it always happens Nov & Dec which are my busiest baking months.

 

[user 6493]

all of you egg people tell me,if all you need is less than a dozen a week are chickens really worth keeping,or are you spending more money than it would cost to just buy the eggs at the store

 

[WGregMiller]

all of you egg people tell me,if all you need is less than a dozen a week are chickens really worth keeping,or are you spending more money than it would cost to just buy the eggs at the store

Until we retire to the BOL, we're getting eggs from a friend for $2 a dozen. That helps feed them, and she won't take more...

I haven't run the numbers yet, but when the hen quits layin, she's dinner!

 

[Dani]

It was not too long ago that the stores here were charging almost $4 for one dozen eggs. . . nothing special about them either. I'd say we roughly go thru 3500 eggs a year. Even with the cost of feed instead of free ranging, we still come out better cost wise having our own. We get what we need and then have some extra to store and give away to kids. They really are pretty darn cheap to have.

 

[jeager]

I'm speaking of shtf so store bought might be problematic.
Stores having empty shelves, and IF there are any stores left unlooted.
This is doomsdaypreppers forum no?
Are we so acclimated to going to the grocery that we sometimes forget what forum we are on?
If we doubt there will never be a shtf situation why bother with prepper sights.
Just askin'.
Remember the t-v movie "The day After"?
Perhaps not as it was a long time ago.
1983
A peaceful Midwestern city attempts to recover after it is destroyed by a nuclear missile strike. This powerful made-for-TV movie is a deeply disturbing testament to the folly of pro-military hawks who believed that annihilation was a justifiable means of attaining power and control.

No one wins.
A nuclear war sets survivors back to the days before running water, electricity, medicine, government
structure,........................................
People dependent on medications die.
Money is worthless, looters are shot on sight, the local police abandon their posts, locals try to keep
order and fail.
Looters raid drug stores and try to sell medicine for food, young girls, and desperate families
trade virgin daughters just to survive.
Ugly.

 

[Maverick]

The family and currently us have used mineral oil for years, olive oil works good too, What it didn't say or I didn't see it in the link was don't wash the egg, the egg has a natural protective film over it that's water soluble, this film will preserve the egg for up to a month at room temp if not a little longer.

 

[Mountain trapper]

all of you egg people tell me,if all you need is less than a dozen a week are chickens really worth keeping,or are you spending more money than it would cost to just buy the eggs at the store

Before when we had chickens my wife sold the excess eggs and couldn't keep up with the demand. She could have sold twice as many eggs. If I remember right she was getting $2.50 per dozen. We free ranged the hens so they took very little feed during the summer months. The feed bill went up during winter, and egg production went down, but they paid for themselves and made a little profit.

 

[Brent S]

I can't really say that having the birds was cheaper than buying storebought eggs. I can say that the experience of learning to care for them and work through issues was invaluable. If you wait till shtf and then think you will just start raising animals, good luck to you. It takes some practice and trial and error to raise, care for and slaughter them. It also takes some grit to eat an animal you've raised from a hatchling, and probably named. I don't currently have any birds, but will probably get more in the near future. I did post how to clean both chickens and rabbits here in some of the old archives with pictures on this forum. If you're serious about prepping, learning to raise animals is a big part of it.

 

[jeager]

I can't really say that having the birds was cheaper than buying storebought eggs. I can say that the experience of learning to care for them and work through issues was invaluable. If you wait till shtf and then think you will just start raising animals, good luck to you. It takes some practice and trial and error to raise, care for and slaughter them. It also takes some grit to eat an animal you've raised from a hatchling, and probably named. I don't currently have any birds, but will probably get more in the near future. I did post how to clean both chickens and rabbits here in some of the old archives with pictures on this forum. If you're serious about prepping, learning to raise animals is a big part of it.

I never got attached to a chicken....................oh, wait. I did just one and fine, beautiful rooster
that would flog heck out of anyone including me.
I enjoyed beheading that sucka.
Dad had a pig he named Charlie and taught it to shake hands with him.

He just couldn't kill and butcher Charlie so we had to load it up on a pick up and take
Charlie to the butcher shop.

Dad bought a buck and two doe rabbits and it seemed in 6 months were were up to our
elbows in rabbits.
I ate so many tame rabbits I won't even look at another today.
Wild ones are in great danger however.

A caveat about rabbit meat.
Rabbit protein lacks an element that is present in other meats and needed by humans.
I don't recall the details so if interested google it up.

 

[Brent S]

I never got attached to a chicken....................oh, wait. I did just one and fine, beautiful rooster
that would flog heck out of anyone including me.
I enjoyed beheading that sucka.
Dad had a pig he named Charlie and taught it to shake hands with him.

He just couldn't kill and butcher Charlie so we had to load it up on a pick up and take
Charlie to the butcher shop.

Dad bought a buck and two doe rabbits and it seemed in 6 months were were up to our
elbows in rabbits.
I ate so many tame rabbits I won't even look at another today.
Wild ones are in great danger however.

A caveat about rabbit meat.
Rabbit protein lacks an element that is present in other meats and needed by humans.
I don't recall the details so if interested google it up.

I ate a lot of rabbit while I was raising them, but honestly am not a huge fan of it. Now if shtf, and I'm hungry, then that's a different story

 

[jeager]

When I was a kid dad and mom had a place with 4 or 5 acres.
It was "primitive" by modern standards, pitcher pump in the kitchen and an outhouse.
The outhouse was a 2 holer.
Why a two holer I have no clue.
Were you going to discuss politics with a friend while pooping?
ewwwwwwwwwwwwww

Our "garden" was a full 2 acres and I learned to freeze, can, & dry veggies.

I hated it then but really appreciate it now.
I still till and plant a 100 ft. x 50 foot garden and it makes more than I can use and
put up for one.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I can't really say that having the birds was cheaper than buying storebought eggs. I can say that the experience of learning to care for them and work through issues was invaluable. If you wait till shtf and then think you will just start raising animals, good luck to you. It takes some practice and trial and error to raise, care for and slaughter them. It also takes some grit to eat an animal you've raised from a hatchling, and probably named. I don't currently have any birds, but will probably get more in the near future. I did post how to clean both chickens and rabbits here in some of the old archives with pictures on this forum. If you're serious about prepping, learning to raise animals is a big part of it.

Making a profit on any livestock depends much on the price you have to pay for feed. If you have to buy your chicken feed in 50 pound bags at the local feed store, and can't free-range your birds, then it would be tough to do much more than break even. There's a guy about 60 miles south of me who grows his own grain and has a pellet mill. He makes chicken, pig and cattle feed and will sell it for a lot less than the local feed stores. He sells it in small quantities up to multi ton loads. We'll be buying all our chicken and pig feed from him, plus we'll free range our chickens and pigs during summer. If you have someone close by that sells feed in bulk then you should come out good on raising eggs and meat birds.

 

[Brent S]

That was a problem for me, not being able to free range. It would seem that my two outside dogs have a taste for fresh chicken. They are lucky their benefits outweigh their liabilities! (Barely) I would still have birds if I could train the stupid mutts.

 

[Mountain trapper]

That was a problem for me, not being able to free range. It would seem that my two outside dogs have a taste for fresh chicken. They are lucky their benefits outweigh their liabilities! (Barely) I would still have birds if I could train the stupid mutts.

When I first introduced our mutt to the birds I put a training collar on him. When he first took off after them I told him NO, then zapped him one. Two times was all it took. He wouldn't even look at the chickens after that. Later I trained him to keep the chickens off the patio and deck.

 

[DrHenley]

A caveat about rabbit meat.
Rabbit protein lacks an element that is present in other meats and needed by humans.
I don't recall the details so if interested google it up.

It's not the protein in rabbit meat, it's a lack of fat in rabbit meat.

Protein poisoning (also referred to colloquially as rabbit starvation, mal de caribou, or fat starvation) is a rare form of acute malnutrition thought to be caused by a complete absence of fat in the diet.
Protein poisoning was first noted as a consequence of eating rabbit meat exclusively, hence the term, "rabbit starvation". Rabbit meat is very lean, commercial rabbit meat has 50–100 g dissectable fat per 2 kg (live weight).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning

 

[Maverick]

I'm not a fan of rabbits wild or domestic, we have plenty of porcupines and possums along with rabbits, I'll take porcupines over rabbits anytime though prefer chickens, the problems we face here are the many predators that targets our chickens day and night so free range is a chancy, we let them out into the pastures and the dogs keep an eye on them but can't keep the airborne prey away, we don't use commercial feed just locally produced feed when we need it, we pay about $7.99 per 50lbs, cheaper than the commercial stuff and without the poisons keeping about 300lbs on hand, during the winter we try to keep 500lbs on hand.

 

[Brent S]

When I first introduced our mutt to the birds I put a training collar on him. When he first took off after them I told him NO, then zapped him one. Two times was all it took. He wouldn't even look at the chickens after that. Later I trained him to keep the chickens off the patio and deck.

One of my dogs was an escape artist and would always find a way out of the fences to roam the neighborhood. I put a shock collar on him and he is really content to stay put now! They really do work. I didn't get a remote for it, but probably will when I get hens again. Right now I have one rooster, but the poor guy lives in a chicken tractor for his own protection.

 

[Kevin L]

Has anyone here eaten woodchucks?

When I was a kid in upstate New York, we had a siberian huskey that killed them very efficiently and often.

I seem to recall that she iced 175 of them (almost definitely a gross underestimate) in one year.

The alfalfa farmers loved her.

Can woodchucks be eaten? What do they taste like (please don't tell me 'chicken')?

How do you cook them?

 

[Maverick]

Has anyone here eaten woodchucks?

When I was a kid in upstate New York, we had a siberian huskey that killed them very efficiently and often.

I seem to recall that she iced 175 of them (almost definitely a gross underestimate) in one year.

The alfalfa farmers loved her.

Can woodchucks be eaten? What do they taste like (please don't tell me 'chicken')?

How do you cook them?

Yes, the taste are between rabbit and squirrel, groundhogs have been a survival food for centuries.

 

[Brent S]

Yes, the taste are between rabbit and squirrel, groundhogs have been a survival food for centuries.

When it comes down to it, just about everything is survival food.

 

[Maverick]

When it comes down to it, just about everything is survival food.

That it is, though I'll try to stick with things I know taste good or at least tolerable (providing I have a choice) but if one likes squirrel they going to like groundhog (same family) plus more meat and better tasting.

 

[Kevin L]

Thank u 4 answering.

 

[jeager]

Has anyone here eaten woodchucks?

When I was a kid in upstate New York, we had a siberian huskey that killed them very efficiently and often.

I seem to recall that she iced 175 of them (almost definitely a gross underestimate) in one year.

The alfalfa farmers loved her.

Can woodchucks be eaten? What do they taste like (please don't tell me 'chicken')?

How do you cook them?

We don't have woodchucks but we do have groundhogs and whistle pigs.
(they are the same thing)

Yes I've eaten them when young, about half grown.
They taste exactly like groundhog.
Kinda like asking what beef tastes like.
Or what does pork taste like.
I've been told by those that tried it that said it tastes "gamey", whatever that means.
Whitetail deer tastes like venison, squirrel tastes like squirrel, etc.
Older groundhogs that hybernated (sp?) over winter taste lousy to me.
I've read they suck fat from glands near the butt and that taints the meat.
When I kid I spent summers with my Uncle who was the ultimate rifle shot and hunter.
I learned to shoot long distances under his guidance and got quite good at it.
My best with a .222 Remington Magnum, now obsolete, was a bit over 400 yards.
That's stretching that round.
Later I graduated to a .22-250, .220 Swift, now settle on the 5.56/223 Ruger heavy
barrel SR 5.56.
My favorite caliber is the .22 magnum rim fire and I've taken hundreds of groundhogs
with that round.
I've even taken them with handguns. My best with the Ruger single action revolver was
125 paces with the .22 r.f. magnum round.
Bear in mind I once shot p.p.c. (practical police competition) and fired
more than 1,000 rounds a month. (.38 spl revolver)
With a Smith 45-06 I could put a magazine full of rounds in a man silhouette
at 100 yards from prone.
But I digress.
Shoot one, skin, clean, par boil with an onion, then flour, brown in skillet and try
it.

 

[jeager]

That it is, though I'll try to stick with things I know taste good or at least tolerable (providing I have a choice) but if one likes squirrel they going to like groundhog (same family) plus more meat and better tasting.

I like and eat both.

Same family for sure but totally different habitat.
What do squirrels eat before the nuts are ready in the fall?
Almost anything including raiding bird nests for eggs and young.
They eat flower bulbs and will ruin a flower garden.
I quite feeding birds as squirrel ate the seeds.
1/2" metal pole a deterrent?
Nope. I watched a fox squirrel HUG the pole and shimmy up and eat the sees.
I shot it.
Ate it too.

 

[Maverick]

I fight with both, the groundhog goes after my alfalfa and I know the bee farmers here have issue with em eating the clovers. Haven't had much of a problem with squirrels (douglas squirrel) other than getting in the grain and digging holes in the lawn and flower beds hiding the winter cache, we also have the ground squirrels (aka grave digger) they are far more destructive with all the holes in the pastures for the horses, they live in the same environment as the groundhogs.

 

[Brent S]

At least with the squirrels you can shoot it when it's a nuisance and get a snack out of it. I planted two cherry trees about three years ago that just finally started producing this year. Covered in these beautiful cherries! Some tiny little blue colored bird wiped them out just before they got ripe. Little *******s..... I saw one finishing up cleaning off a seed left on the stem. He was so small a 22cal wouldn't leave enough to put on a cracker. Next year I will drape a net over the trees.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I fight with both, the groundhog goes after my alfalfa and I know the bee farmers here have issue with em eating the clovers. Haven't had much of a problem with squirrels (douglas squirrel) other than getting in the grain and digging holes in the lawn and flower beds hiding the winter cache, we also have the ground squirrels (aka grave digger) they are far more destructive with all the holes in the pastures for the horses, they live in the same environment as the groundhogs.

The critter that I have the most problems with are chipmunks. We have little tiny ones here not much bigger than a field mouse. They get in the barn and the stacked lumber and attract rattlesnakes. I keep out several of my weasel traps baited with peanut butter to get rid of the little *******s. Haven't had any problems with squirrels (douglas?) yet. When a badger digs out a squirrel they leave a heck of a hole though.

 

[Mountain trapper]

.

 

[Brent S]

The critter that I have the most problems with are chipmunks. We have little tiny ones here not much bigger than a field mouse. They get in the barn and the stacked lumber and attract rattlesnakes. I keep out several of my weasel traps baited with peanut butter to get rid of the little *******s. Haven't had any problems with squirrels (douglas?) yet. When a badger digs out a squirrel they leave a heck of a hole though.

Normally, I think chipmunks are really cute little buggars. In all honestly, there destructive little buggars though. I had one pilfering dog food and storing it in the muffler of the generator. I posted this somewhere else here, but when I fired the generator it started sort of backfiring and was spitting out dog food nuggets. After a couple minutes it was shooting smoking dog food nuggets. After a couple more minutes I had a full fledged dog food nugget flame thrower! It finally cleared out all the dog food, at least a couple cups worth. Now, the chipmunks aren't nearly as cute.