Chicken Keeping Secrets

“After collecting eggs, how long will they last?” ~ Mark Beard

Hi Mark thanks for the question.

Forgive me if you know this already but let’s start with the basics; as the last step before being laid, the egg is coated with a protective membrane called the “bloom”.”

The bloom seals the pores and slows down the evaporation that takes place through the porous egg shell. It also helps to protect the contents of the egg from bacteria that could enter through the shell.

All eggs should be washed before consumption; this is done by rinsing them with water. The great debate is when to wash.

One side of the argument would say that if the bloom can protect a chick for 21 days during incubation, surely the eggs can sit on the kitchen counter for awhile and still be just fine. Simply wash the eggs before use to remove the bloom.

The other side of the argument goes something like this; all eggs should be washed and refrigerated as soon as they are collected.

I tend to fall somewhere between these two schools of thought. (more…)

“I have 3 layers which my husband and I enjoy tremendously. The one question is how to keep them from wasting so much feed. They throw it out of the feeder, which is hanging on the side of their pen. Otherwise they are doing wonderful and love being out.” ~ Sue Cripe

Sue thanks for the question.

There are a couple of thing you can do to help prevent, or at least cut down on wasted feed; you’ve already taken care of the first one. Whenever you have feed in a container on the ground, your chickens will likely scratch in it and kick quite a bit out onto the ground.

At one point we temporarily separated a number of our chickens from the rest of the flock.

We didn’t have an extra feeder available so we chose to use a plastic dish pan for this temporary situation. As soon as feed was placed in the pan, the chickens hopped in and started scratching in it. Needless to say, we lost a lot of feed that way.

Feeders are made to be suspended off the ground in some way. This keeps the chickens from scratching the feed out onto the ground. If you make your own feeder, it is helpful to make it in such a way that you can suspend it. At the very least, may I suggest that you raise the feeder on bricks or some such thing so that it is not too high for the chickens to reach the food, but high enough that they can’t scratch at it. (more…)

“My husband had a large flock (about 100 chickens) when he was a kid. Because of this he thinks chickens are, in his words, “gross, smelly and dirty”. I really think 3 or 4 would benefit our suburban homestead any suggestions?” ~ Kristin Palazzoli

Kristin, I’m sorry that you and your husband don’t agree on this subject and I’m not sure who’s mind I’ll be changing but here are my thoughts;

You husband is right.

Chickens don’t shower, they don’t flush, they don’t wash dishes and they don’t take out the garbage.

Left to themselves they are “gross, smelly and dirty”.

Whether you have 3 or 300, without proper sanitation your chickens will not be a pleasant addition to your family. They will draw endless amounts of flies and if you sit down wind from the chicken coop on a hot summer day it will not be pleasant.

However, chickens themselves are not smelly or dirty. (more…)

“Is it more economical to raise chickens and eat their eggs than to purchase them at the market?” ~ Mira Vosberg

Mira, I’m glad you wrote but I’m not sure you’ll like my answer.

If you have to feed your flock only on commercial feed, you may find that it costs more to keep your chickens than it would if you were to buy fresh eggs locally.

You will certainly pay more to house and care for your chickens than you would spend to purchase regular eggs at the grocery store that come from a battery operation.

Not even taking into consideration the conditions in which the eggs are laid in a battery operation, you may remember that eggs are allowed to be on the shelves of the store up to 45 days after they are processed. So no matter how cheap they are, store bought, regular eggs are my LAST choice. (more…)

“My son is a 17 year old boy who loves animals. As his father I would like to support him. He wants to start his egg laying business in our back yard. We have no clue where to start. I would like to do this professionally. Will you help us please?” ~ Ferrel Paulse

Ferrel, I first want to applaud you for supporting your son and his ambitions.

Starting an egg business can be very exciting and once you are up and running, it is very rewarding.

There are various ordinances and laws you must research. I obviously can’t give you information pertaining to your specific area but I will give you guidelines to follow.

You must first find out if it is legal to keep chickens at your home. In some areas it is legal to keep both hens and roosters, in others you may keep only hens and there are areas where it is not legal to keep any poultry in a residential area. Some areas will only allow a limited number of birds.

It is very important that you start here.

We have people write in regularly to tell us that they’ve built their coop, purchased all the equipment and obtained a flock only to have a knock at the door letting them know that they have 1 week to get rid of all of it because the law does not allow chicken keeping in their area. (more…)