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My wife bought our chickens mainly on how pretty the basket of eggs would be on the counter. This is this weeks haul that we didn't eat - https://imgur.com/a/T
by Jgrubb 10y ago
My wife bought our chickens mainly on how pretty the basket of eggs would be on the counter. This is this weeks haul that we didn't eat - https://imgur.com/a/T9x4K https://imgur.com/a/T9x4K.
If you have the room, I highly recommend them as pets. They're quite cool and very low maintenance, and they make the best eggs you've ever had.
- Cyph0n 10y agoYep, agreed. My uncle has >10 chickens back home. They live in the countryside, and chickens are excellent at "taking care of" dangerous insects. The eggs are amazing too, so it's a win-win.
- pavel_lishin 10y agoMy parents considered it, but heard that they attract snakes. Also, what do you do with the eggs you don't eat?
- Jgrubb 10y agoWe've been mostly at a balance of production/demand and only occasionally given them away to friends. Now that the days are getting longer and the "new flock" that we got last spring is hitting maturity we're going to have to start putting more effort into giving them away or start selling them. It's common to see a cooler at the end of the driveway with fresh eggs for sale in the area I live. re: snakes - not so far, and the other comment about them keeping potentially dangerous insects (ticks) in check is right on. Hawks and foxes are more the concern as predators around here, we've lost a few to foxes in the last two years.
- daurnimator 10y agoif anything they attract foxes. I've never heard of having a non-transient issue with snakes.
- mod 10y agoI keep chickens and can confirm that we have repeat blacksnake visitations. Not that I mind black snakes, but I don't like them stealing eggs. Relocating them off on a distant part of my 40 acres doesn't keep them from coming back.
- msisk6 10y agoWe have about 25 chickens right now and we just picked up another 18 chicks today. Our's free range on our land and they're fantastic at keeping bugs down. We've had some problems with snakes, but we're in the country outside Austin, TX and snakes are just a way of life out here. We even had to remove a rattlesnake from inside the house a few weeks back. Skunks are a big problem this year -- lots of them out and about. We give and sell fresh eggs to everyone we know. I routinely take them into work and sell them for $5 a dozen. We've had to explain the whole not washing or refrigerating them to most people but after they've had fresh eggs they always want more.
- dfc 10y agoYou can buy free range organic eggs at Whole Foods for less than $5 a dozen.
- erikpukinskis 10y agoYou can't buy pastured eggs for less than $7 a dozen generally. The eggs you are referring to are still from chickens who are stuck more or less indoors at all times, and don't get to engage in "chicken-y" behaviors. "Free range" in this case often means there is access to an outdoor patch, but there's no real reason for the chickens to go there, and the are so depressed that they hardly want to move anyway. As such their yolks will tend to be yellow instead of orange or nearly red, as true pastured chicken eggs yolks will be.
- dfc 10y agoNo the eggs I am referring to are from "pastured" chickens. I have seen them go for $5 at a Whole Foods in Northern Virginia as well as the local coop around the corner from me in Syracuse, NY.
- erikpukinskis 10y agoRight. I'm just saying "free range" doesn't mean much. You can get pastured eggs for $5 if you buy direct yes.
- mirimir 10y agoEmbryos in fertilized eggs start developing at ~27 C ;)
- Jgrubb 10y agoOnly if you have a rooster..
- mirimir 10y agoWell, right :) But some people prefer fertilized eggs. Some people prefer embryos in their eggs, too.
- empressplay 10y agoThat's more than just a little gross.
- lostlogin 10y agoI agree, but that's a little weird too given that both eggs and chicken are eaten regularly.
- mercer 10y agoI find our weird attitudes to food endlessly fascinating. For example, I feel uncomfortable with what is considered food (or even a delicacy) in many countries outside of (Western) Europe and yet I'll have salted herring without any hesitation, which many expats here are uncomfortable doing. I still need to try this 'lutefisk' thing though. Edit: I meant 'surströmming'.
- mirimir 10y agoYes, not in my eggs, please :)
- pvaldes 10y agoYup, even taking this to the extreme. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28food%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28food%29
- mod 10y agoI also keep chickens (easter-eggers, too!), but I've got to be honest, I can't taste the difference in a store-bought egg vs my own. Can definitely see it in the yolk color, no doubt about that. What is the difference you taste? Now, if you ever butcher your own, THAT is a huge difference in taste. Night and day, similar to garden-grown sweet corn vs what you get at the market.