The incredible, edible EGG.

[jeager]

Chippys dig planted seeds out of my garden, chew holes in tomatoes, and other nasty damage.
Worse than mice.
I have an air gun ready to shoot the little critters!

 

[Hell Proof]

It's interesting reading about everyone's various rodent problems in their yards and seeing what area(s) they're from on the left.
Not to derail the conversation further, the soil is terrible where I am, at least in my yard.

- We have a German Shepard and I don't know how she'll react to a chicken, and it at all possible I would want to keep is free range as much as possible. We have some high 11 foot walls surrounding the yard so I'm sure it would help, and there is a chicken specialty feed store not all that far from here so it piqued my interest.

Does anyone here happen to raise any other birds for their eggs? I know many are edible and chickens are notoriously fast layers. Some breeds an egg a day after maturity for much of their lives if what I read was true.

 

[Proud Prepper]

It's interesting reading about everyone's various rodent problems in their yards and seeing what area(s) they're from on the left.
Not to derail the conversation further, the soil is terrible where I am, at least in my yard.

- We have a German Shepard and I don't know how she'll react to a chicken, and it at all possible I would want to keep is free range as much as possible. We have some high 11 foot walls surrounding the yard so I'm sure it would help, and there is a chicken specialty feed store not all that far from here so it piqued my interest.

Does anyone here happen to raise any other birds for their eggs? I know many are edible and chickens are notoriously fast layers. Some breeds an egg a day after maturity for much of their lives if what I read was true.

Duck eggs are good to eat. I've eaten them on many occasions.

 

[jeager]

https://www.thereadystore.com/food-storage/11672/8-kinds-of-bird-eggs-you-can-eat/

I've eaten duck eggs and found them too strong to my liking.
They are supposed to be good for baking.
Farm raised free roaming chicken eggs are far better than store bought.

 

[Kevin L]

It's interesting reading about everyone's various rodent problems in their yards and seeing what area(s) they're from on the left.
Not to derail the conversation further, the soil is terrible where I am, at least in my yard.

- We have a German Shepard and I don't know how she'll react to a chicken, and it at all possible I would want to keep is free range as much as possible. We have some high 11 foot walls surrounding the yard so I'm sure it would help, and there is a chicken specialty feed store not all that far from here so it piqued my interest.

Does anyone here happen to raise any other birds for their eggs? I know many are edible and chickens are notoriously fast layers. Some breeds an egg a day after maturity for much of their lives if what I read was true.

I second the opinion about duck eggs.

I like duck eggs, and the shells are a lot stronger and less prone to accidental breakage.

Chickens are stupid and catch many different diseases.

Ducks don't lay quite as many eggs as chickens, but ducks are better at taking care of themselves, they are healthier, and better at fending off predators like cats and foxes.

They are a delight if you have adequate water...and they are even somewhat intelligent.

 

[Dani]

We have both chickens and geese. I love goose eggs! Their yolk is thicker than a chicken eggs. 1 goose egg = 1 chicken egg. The shell is also thicker which means less accidental breaking when hens go into the nesting boxes to lay. Only draw back is you get 1 every other day & geese are more aggressive so need to be careful if you have small kids.

 

[Dani]

We have both chickens and geese. I love goose eggs! Their yolk is thicker than a chicken eggs. 1 goose egg = 1 chicken egg. The shell is also thicker which means less accidental breaking when hens go into the nesting boxes to lay. Only draw back is you get 1 every other day & geese are more aggressive so need to be careful if you have small kids.

1 goose egg equals 3 chicken eggs . . . .sorry

 

[jeager]

geese are more aggressive so need to be careful if you have small kids.

I would be careful especially with kids but I don't have any little ones
now.
All grown.
A goose beat me stupid once.
They use what I liken to the human elbow on their wings to great
effect!
THAT HURTS.
I ate that sucker with an evil smile! :>)
Same with a mean old rooster that flogged me.
Only the bird got the last revenge.
It was so tough I couldn't drive a fork in it without a hammer.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I shot 3 Canada geese on a free guided hunt I got to go on.
Aweful!
Tough.
If one could make boots from a goose they'd last forever.
Unless vermin I don't harvest anything I won't eat.
The little wood duck is might tasty.
Also arguably the prettiest waterfowl.

Pretty what?

 

[jeager]

I don't hunt waterfowl any longer.
Expensive.
State general hunting license required.
State waterfowl stamp required.
Federal water fowl stamp required.
Cost with steel shot (required) comes to
over a hundred bucks just take maybe two or three ducks.
If using decoys add cost of decoys and a permit to have a duck blind............................

 

[Dani]

I got flogged by an old rooster once. . and only once. Didn't see him coming up behind me when I gathered eggs. Tore a hole in my favorite jeans. Best bird I ever ate! When they are old they can get very tough so I always boil to make him tender.

 

[jeager]

It really tics me off when anti people knock hunting as a "blood sport".
PETA people SUCK!
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Snowflakes everyone.
Years ago there was a mink farm not far from where I once lived.
PETA idiots got in one night and released over 200 live mink.
Well they were ranch mink, all hand fed, and not wild mink able
to fend for themselves very well.
There wasn't a house cat or puppy safe for miles.
Mink love to eat house cats.
Rabbits were wiped out for several years.
It was an environmental disaster!
All caused by snowflakes.
The F.B.I. eventually came in to investigate it as a possible act of
domestic terrorism.
It was of course.
The mink farmer went belly up over this.
Bankrupt.

 

[jeager]

I got flogged by an old rooster once. . and only once. Didn't see him coming up behind me when I gathered eggs. Tore a hole in my favorite jeans. Best bird I ever ate! When they are old they can get very tough so I always boil to make him tender.

I love you! People of like minds ya know......................................

 

[jeager]

We raised these when I was young.

 

[jeager]

I was friends with a fellow that owned a farm AND a sporting good store.
He had permission to hunt hundreds of acres of other farm land.
Sadly I had to take his adult son with me.
He was at least boarder line retarded and unsafe so we kept him out
in front of us.
He lived with mom and dad who tried to teach him farming and raising
live stock.
Chickens especially.
Well being non too bright he forgot to open the chicken coop doors
and windows.
It got hot and all the chickens died. Probably a bit cooked too.
The knuckle head took the dead birds to the processing house to be
butchered and packaged then he'd sell them.
The guys at the slaughterhouse booted his butt out chickens and all.
I did buy a couple of roasting hens from him.
Not those dead ones however.
I cooked and cooked those things and couldn't get them close to
tender.
Turns out they were laying hens past prime and no longer good for much.
I never dealt with that bozo again.

The same guy TRIPLE loaded his muzzle loader to make it shoot further.
300 grains of 3 fg black powder.
He touched it off and it threw him backwards the rifle pieces flew 50 feet!
It was a Thompson Center rifle and don't you know they replaced that gun!

Best age for chicken meat is 8 to 12 weeks depending upon the breed.

We raised these when I was a kid.
Many were much prettier but they were rather little.
Some kind we raised laid eggs with a greenish or blueish shell.
We also did the rabbit thing. Flemish giants.
The Flemish Giant rabbit is a very large breed of domestic rabbit (O. cuniculus domesticus), and is normally considered to be the largest breed of the species. Flemish giants are a utility breed, and are most commonly bred for fur and meat, although the breed is also known for its docile nature and patience in being handled, meaning examples are commonly kept as pets as well.

8 or more pounds is not unusual.

I really miss doing all of that.
My g-friend of 3 years is a ..............ah.......................ewwwwwwwwwwwww
city girl and couldn't stand for raising critters.
She barely can stand her puppy.

 

[jeager]

An amusing (to me) story about PETA people and bass tournaments.
It seems peta people disrupted a bass tournament.
Now understand ALL bass are to be weighed then RELEASED ALIVE.
Dedicated bass fisher people don't kill the fish.
Well peta people would motor close to fisherman and throw rocks in
the water to scare away any fish.
Rumor has it some of the peta people got an attitude adjustment.wned:
The peta crybabies called authorities but there were no witnesses that
came forward.

Shame ain't it?

 

[jeager]

PETA is a domestic terrorist organization.
( my opinion )
Peta has approached businesses for "donations" to the cause.
OR ELSE THEY WILL PICKET!
Extortion?
I believe so.
So this has what to do with prepping and survival.
Not a lot but they are good stories.
On the other hand I doubt peta types have much chance of surviving
and shtf situation.
They just ain't got the spine to get hard when need be.
Anyone that would sneak under cover of darkness to release ranch
mink has no spine nor any brains.

 

[Kevin L]

It really tics me off when anti people knock hunting as a "blood sport".
PETA people SUCK!
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Snowflakes everyone.
Years ago there was a mink farm not far from where I once lived.
PETA idiots got in one night and released over 200 live mink.
Well they were ranch mink, all hand fed, and not wild mink able
to fend for themselves very well.
There wasn't a house cat or puppy safe for miles.
Mink love to eat house cats.
Rabbits were wiped out for several years.
It was an environmental disaster!
All caused by snowflakes.
The F.B.I. eventually came in to investigate it as a possible act of
domestic terrorism.
It was of course.
The mink farmer went belly up over this.
Bankrupt.

I understand your feelings about PETA.

I am, for now, actually a vegetarian...but only for health reasons as I'm trying to lose weight.

If you get into any conversations with anti-hunters, you might bring up that hunting is actually good for the animals.

Overpopulation of deer is a serious problem, and overpopulation leads to starvation and disease. Deer cause quite a few deaths each year because of auto accidents, and hunting cuts down on the number of people that die each year from hitting them.

A PETA person doesn't understand that wolves, cougars, bobcats, and the like were eradicated in many areas as humans expanded...which is why deer overpopulate.

I'm all for reintroducing apex predators to restore nature back into a semblance of balance...but they would probably attack that too.

 

[Dani]

Eating lean meat like chicken and fish are actually a good thing when dieting. It does the mind good to have a couple times a week if you have started trying to lose being a strict vegetarian.

 

[jeager]

Whitetail deer were extinct in Ohio around the turn of the last century.
Around 1910.
In the early 1950's sportsman's groups got permission to pay for
live trapping whitetail where they were plentiful like WVa. and Pa.
Restocking began and NO hunting allowed for quite a while.
I recall in the early 1960's seeing a deer track was cause for bragging
and telling all about it.
Now they are everywhere.
Fact is I watched 7 yesterday out back and 3 this morning.
This morning 2 does and a fawn.
The guy that owns the woods is sooooooooooooo anti gun and hunting.
I'll slip in there with my bow!
Ohio deer are well fed on corn, soy, clover, and natural feed like acorns.
I have all that on my 15 acres of woods surrounded by farms.
Got my 8 point this past season 1/2 hour into the 1st day.
45-70.
Bang flop!

 

[jeager]

"Overpopulation of deer is a serious problem, and overpopulation leads to starvation and disease. Deer cause quite a few deaths each year because of auto accidents, and hunting cuts down on the number of people that die each year from hitting them."

Yes this.
Gettysburg National Park won't allow hunting as it's "hallowed ground".
Deer are running all over the place so the gov't hired gunners to cull the
herd.
Hundreds of deer shot and hauled to the dump!
What a waste.
I'm sure there are places that would love to have had the protein.
Retirement homes, the poor, etc.

 

[Dalisa]

Whitetail deer were extinct in Ohio around the turn of the last century.
Around 1910.
In the early 1950's sportsman's groups got permission to pay for
live trapping whitetail where they were plentiful like WVa. and Pa.
Restocking began and NO hunting allowed for quite a while.
I recall in the early 1960's seeing a deer track was cause for bragging
and telling all about it.
Now they are everywhere.
Fact is I watched 7 yesterday out back and 3 this morning.
This morning 2 does and a fawn.
The guy that owns the woods is sooooooooooooo anti gun and hunting.
I'll slip in there with my bow!
Ohio deer are well fed on corn, soy, clover, and natural feed like acorns.
I have all that on my 15 acres of woods surrounded by farms.
Got my 8 point this past season 1/2 hour into the 1st day.


45-70.
Bang flop!

so you admit to being a game thief and criminal trespasser? Thats quite interesting.

 

[jeager]

so you admit to being a game thief and criminal trespasser? Thats quite interesting.

Quite the judgmental poster aren't you?

I'll trade the guy permission to hunt my woods for permission to hunt his woods.
He, his boys and nephews hunt my woods and have never asked permission.
Now behave yourself and quit being so openly nasty.
"game thief" bsflag

I FEED the deer in the off season.
When snows are deep and deer have a hard time finding food we country people buy
feed from the local mill and set it out for all the critters.
No different than feeding a beef steer set for harvest.

If you can't respond to posts with a bit of dignity then please don't respond at
all.
Perhaps many people in the world don't know where grocery store meat comes from?
Steers are sledged in the head and knocked silly and throats slit.
Hogs are hung by the back legs and throats slit to bleed out.
They squeal horribly while bleeding to death.
It isn't pretty.
By comparison shooting a wild deer is quite humane.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I was friends with a fellow that owned a farm AND a sporting good store.
He had permission to hunt hundreds of acres of other farm land.
Sadly I had to take his adult son with me.
He was at least boarder line retarded and unsafe so we kept him out
in front of us.
He lived with mom and dad who tried to teach him farming and raising
live stock.
Chickens especially.
Well being non too bright he forgot to open the chicken coop doors
and windows.
It got hot and all the chickens died. Probably a bit cooked too.
The knuckle head took the dead birds to the processing house to be
butchered and packaged then he'd sell them.
The guys at the slaughterhouse booted his butt out chickens and all.
I did buy a couple of roasting hens from him.
Not those dead ones however.
I cooked and cooked those things and couldn't get them close to
tender.
Turns out they were laying hens past prime and no longer good for much.
I never dealt with that bozo again.

The same guy TRIPLE loaded his muzzle loader to make it shoot further.
300 grains of 3 fg black powder.
He touched it off and it threw him backwards the rifle pieces flew 50 feet!
It was a Thompson Center rifle and don't you know they replaced that gun!

Best age for chicken meat is 8 to 12 weeks depending upon the breed.
View attachment 7107

We raised these when I was a kid.
Many were much prettier but they were rather little.
Some kind we raised laid eggs with a greenish or blueish shell.
We also did the rabbit thing. Flemish giants.
The Flemish Giant rabbit is a very large breed of domestic rabbit (O. cuniculus domesticus), and is normally considered to be the largest breed of the species. Flemish giants are a utility breed, and are most commonly bred for fur and meat, although the breed is also known for its docile nature and patience in being handled, meaning examples are commonly kept as pets as well.

8 or more pounds is not unusual.

I really miss doing all of that.
My g-friend of 3 years is a ..............ah.......................ewwwwwwwwwwwww
city girl and couldn't stand for raising critters.
She barely can stand her puppy.

Come on jeager, pull up your big boy pants and show that girl who's the boss. And start raising some critters again.

 

[jeager]

Come on jeager, pull up your big boy pants and show that girl who's the boss. And start raising some critters again.

bawwwwwwwwwwww hawwwwwwwwwww

NO! Me is skeert of her.

Actually I intend to do just that.

My 49 year old son now lives at my place and we are going to build a
chicken coop.
Raise some rabbits too. The little Dutch variety. They don't get very big at
all but are quite good eating.
(If I can bring myself to eat one!)

AFTER we cull the foxes and coyotes a bit.

 

[jeager]

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

Read ^^ on the Dutch rabbit.

They breed like..............................rabbits!

Tasty too but oh so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.
Don't get attached to them.

There is one BIG glaring problem with raising rabbits beside fox, coyote and dogs
that are either strays or permitted to run at large. (asking for a bullet!)

RATS.
The droppings are targets for rats.
Rabbit poop is only half digested thus the wild rabbit feeds pretty much all day long.

Dad had almost 200 rabbits one winter when big stray dogs got into them.
The dogs ripped up the wire cages and killed all of them.
My b.i.l. and I tracked them in the snow, found them, and shot them.
The County paid dad a pittance for the lose.
One dog had a collar and the license had expired 5 years prior.
The thing turned feral. Evidently someone dumped the unwanted critter.
I HATE that.
Samo with cats.
People dump fluffy and it too quickly turns feral.
I've shot several of them also.
I DO NOT ENJOY THAT ONE BIT.

 

[Mountain trapper]

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

Read ^^ on the Dutch rabbit.

They breed like..............................rabbits!

Tasty too but oh so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.
Don't get attached to them.

There is one BIG glaring problem with raising rabbits beside fox, coyote and dogs
that are either strays or permitted to run at large. (asking for a bullet!)

RATS.
The droppings are targets for rats.
Rabbit poop is only half digested thus the wild rabbit feeds pretty much all day long.

Dad had almost 200 rabbits one winter when big stray dogs got into them.
The dogs ripped up the wire cages and killed all of them.
My b.i.l. and I tracked them in the snow, found them, and shot them.
The County paid dad a pittance for the lose.
One dog had a collar and the license had expired 5 years prior.
The thing turned feral. Evidently someone dumped the unwanted critter.
I HATE that.
Samo with cats.
People dump fluffy and it too quickly turns feral.
I've shot several of them also.
I DO NOT ENJOY THAT ONE BIT.

My wife raised some of the Dutch rabbits one time. She made pets out of them so I never got to eat one. One of my projects for next spring is to build a rabbit barn. Preditors are always a concern with any kind of livestock operation. Along with coyotes and fox we also have bears, mountain lions, badgers and wolves all trying to take a bite out of your critters. Fortunately we're too far out to have feral dogs and cats to contend with. The facilities just need to be built strong enough to keep preditors out. It also pays to keep some traps around.

 

[jeager]

bears, mountain lions, badgers and wolves

Oh my!
I'm sure you keep various firearms handy.
Don'cha' just love the 2nd Amendment!
The U.S. is the ONLY nation that has such a right.
Unlike our British cousins where sharp knives are regulated.
Those Brit laws didn't stop Islamic terrorism.

Churchill's famous "we shall fight" speech.
"we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, "

Fight with what?
Beer bottles?
The Brits had no guns in the hands of civilians.
At Dunkirk the Brits lost 20% men and 80% material (weapons).
It's a fortunate blessing the U.S. was an ally to the Brits.Shoot:tank:
Were it not for the U.S. the Swastika would be flying over England today.
And France which was already completely beaten and occupied.
WWII Brits on American G.I.'s.
"Over paid, over sexed and over here."
Dad was stationed in England prior to D-day.
Brits hated the Americans. At least the Brits pops encountered.

 

[Mountain trapper]

bears, mountain lions, badgers and wolves

Oh my!
I'm sure you keep various firearms handy.
Don'cha' just love the 2nd Amendment!
The U.S. is the ONLY nation that has such a right.
Unlike our British cousins where sharp knives are regulated.
Those Brit laws didn't stop Islamic terrorism.

Churchill's famous "we shall fight" speech.
"we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, "

Fight with what?
Beer bottles?
The Brits had no guns in the hands of civilians.
At Dunkirk the Brits lost 20% men and 80% material (weapons).
It's a fortunate blessing the U.S. was an ally to the Brits.Shoot:tank:
Were it not for the U.S. the Swastika would be flying over England today.
And France which was already completely beaten and occupied.
WWII Brits on American G.I.'s.
"Over paid, over sexed and over here."
Dad was stationed in England prior to D-day.
Brits hated the Americans. At least the Brits pops encountered.

I'm never more than arms reach from a gun. Not because of "bad" guys but because of preditors. This time of year my biggest problems are with rattlesnakes. Just a couple of days ago I was walking up to the coop and a 3-1/2 footer was coiled up in the path. One of my neighboring ranchers had one of his range bulls get bit on the side of his face. The bull survived but he'll never look the same. The cows don't seem to mind though.