# Do you raise chickens? I have questions.



## ItsJustMe (Dec 12, 2020)

In the last few weeks, I have been gifted several dozens of eggs from a person who gets them from the chicken farmer. With the price of eggs this week ($4.00+/-), I am very thankful!

Now, here are my questions because I have always just eaten store bought eggs:

1. They are dirty. I have read many times that you don't wash eggs until you are ready to use them; they will keep longer. So they go into the fridge dirty, in a container by themselves. Is that okay? Am I contaminating other foods in the fridge with some weird something?
2. The shell breaks VERY easily, it is much thinner.
3. The yolk is a darker color orange and it also breaks easily (scrambled works for me).
4. They taste different. Not bad, just slightly different. They don't smell bad.

Are any of these differences indicative of something of which I should be aware? I have been eating them without ill effects but am curious about this.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

ItsJustMe said:


> In the last few weeks, I have been gifted several dozens of eggs from a person who gets them from the chicken farmer. With the price of eggs this week ($4.00+/-), I am very thankful!
> 
> Now, here are my questions because I have always just eaten store bought eggs:
> 
> ...


We have chickens and they are one of the best things we have done over the past few years. Not only a learning experience but a fun venture!

Yes, eggs from "backyard" chickens can be dirty. Wash them or don't it makes no difference unless you want to store them for months. Otherwise, put them in the refrigerator in an Egg Carton and eat them when you're ready. 

The shell may or may not break easier. We feed our chickens LOTS of oyster shell grit and also free range them. We've been told that our eggs are much harder to break than store bought. I really can't tell much of a difference, YMMV.

The yolk may or may not be darker, depends on the chicken, the feed and probably a host of other factors. 

We believe and others who we give eggs to regularly, have told us that free range backyard chicken eggs taste better. I believe they do, but again, you may or may not be able to tell the difference. 

Bottom line, people all over the world been eating free range chicken eggs a helluva lot longer than "production eggs".

Good luck


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Please remember: free range chickens aren't vegans. They help keep bugs out of their range, so they're great if you have a garden. Some people feed their chickens the shells of eggs they used for the calcium. An observation from my mother's experience, this "seems" to cause them to eat the eggs laid by them. Take that for what it's worth.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

I know a few people that raise chickens and have done so for a long time. Fresh, unwashed eggs can last up to 8 months. We've only had refrigeration for a century, and people have been raising chickens much longer.

Paraquack is correct, chickens are not vegans. Chickens are a great help for bug control. 

The Bible says all were vegans in the beginning, look what happened to them. None could tread water for 40 days. Noah and his family made it because they listened.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

We have kept chickens for 25 years now.
We do not feed the hens eggshells. We don't want them to become accustomed and eat their own eggs. Give them some crushed oyster shells, they need grit in their gullets to help digest food.
We give then 18% layer feed. Crumbles when they are young, pellets when they are grown.

And no, they are not vegans - they absolutely love fried chicken scraps, and will pick the bones clean in just a matter of minutes.

I don't know about those particular eggs you mention. Ours have shells as thick as store bought, and yes the yolks are darker. BUT the yolks don't break as easy as store bought. When you crack ours in the fry pan those yolks stand up straight and proud!! If the shells are thin, the hens probably are not getting proper nutrition.
And ours "taste different" as well. there's nothing artificial in them. No antibiotics that are given to production hens, for one thing.

My wife collects eggs every evening. She rinses them off in the kitchen sink. Not wash - just rinse with clear water.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Slippy said:


> We have chickens and they are one of the best things we have done over the past few years. Not only a learning experience but a fun venture!
> 
> Yes, eggs from "backyard" chickens can be dirty. Wash them or don't it makes no difference unless you want to store them for months. Otherwise, put them in the refrigerator in an Egg Carton and eat them when you're ready.
> 
> ...


Eating bugs gives the yolks a nice dark color. Our chickens laid thin shell eggs when they first started laying eggs. Shells toughened up on later layings or seemed so. Its been a while. I like ducks better. They are much more fun. If a duck farmer wants chicken eggs..all a person got to do is trade two duck eggs for six chicken eggs to a chicken farmer and that would be fair. Those duck eggs are mighty rich and healthy ya know?








Backyard Chickens vs Ducks: Comparing the Pros and Cons


Knowing the difference between raising chickens and ducks is essential to help you decide which species is the best fit for you.




grubblyfarms.com


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## ItsJustMe (Dec 12, 2020)

Thank you, all! I am hesitant to call these "free range"; my neighbor does work for the person who raises the chickens and they give him lots of eggs. He is passing some on to me, which I greatly appreciate. I don't know the chickens' living conditions. As for eating bugs, well, good on the chickens! WHO knows, we may be eating bugs someday, too. He leaves them on the front porch; once, they were in a large bag that said "Mealy Worms"; when I drove into the driveway, I thought, "Someone left me a bag of worms??? Huh??" No, it was eggs. I assume the chickens had the mealy worms and it was the only container he could get his hands on at the time. This morning, there was a dozen in a yogurt container. They probably were there all night.

Anyway, just wondering why these eggs are so different. I will be more careful cracking them so as not to break the yolks if that matters at the time. Sounds like they are pretty "normal" for home-grown eggs. Live and learn.

We had geese many years ago. If there were eggs around and you got anywhere close, you would be attacked by the whole flock! They would give chase in a very serious manner. Good watch animals, too.

Not related to chickens, but there was a pasture next door to me that, in summer, cattle were kept there. They would go to the pond for water and stand there, doing their business plop-plop in that water. And then drink it. After seeing that, I actually considered avoiding beef. And are the veggies you buy at the store fertilized with human excrement? Well, it got to the point where I just became like Scarlet. Not gonna think about it. Not even tomorrow.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

ItsJustMe said:


> Thank you, all! I am hesitant to call these "free range"; my neighbor does work for the person who raises the chickens and they give him lots of eggs. He is passing some on to me, which I greatly appreciate. I don't know the chickens' living conditions. As for eating bugs, well, good on the chickens! WHO knows, we may be eating bugs someday, too. He leaves them on the front porch; once, they were in a large bag that said "Mealy Worms"; when I drove into the driveway, I thought, "Someone left me a bag of worms??? Huh??" No, it was eggs. I assume the chickens had the mealy worms and it was the only container he could get his hands on at the time. This morning, there was a dozen in a yogurt container. They probably were there all night.
> 
> Anyway, just wondering why these eggs are so different. I will be more careful cracking them so as not to break the yolks if that matters at the time. Sounds like they are pretty "normal" for home-grown eggs. Live and learn.
> 
> ...


Thats pretty deep. Thanks.


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