Keeping hens and ducks chat.

ali-t

Suki, I tend to find that when I feed lots of treats, fruit and veg the number of eggs goes down but when they are only getting layers pellets and whatever they scavenge in their bit of the garden we get more eggs. We have been sitting at 8 daily this week which is a record!

suki1964

Eight eggs a day??? Wow.

We only have the four hens as I really didn't want to have too many eggs for us, most people around us have hens and eggs are given away as so many people trying to sell them

I'm going to be happy with two or three a day when they all decide to lay

I do limit the treats They have their layers all the time. Then when I clean them out I give one handful of corn so they get out from under my feet and they get some fruit or veg in the afternoon. Usually I chop a plum up into eight pieces and they all get a couple of bits but today she deserved to be spoiled

I'm seriously over the moon lol

edwink

Yay!!!! That's great news Suki, I can tell how happy you are.

We kept our very first duck egg and our very first hens egg in an egg cup in the kitchen. almost 2 years later one of them exploded whilst we were sitting in the living room. We heard this really loud noise, can't really describe it to be honest. We looked all around the ground floor of our house and could not find anything anywhere. Before going to be I went to the kitchen sink to wash my mug out and I found the top of the egg with it's shell sitting in the sink. Then when I looked around the kitchen further I kept finding bits of stinky egg and bits of egg shell. I did notice a funny smell in the kitchen during the evening so I shut the kitchen window because I thought it was coming from our soak-a-way for some reason. Anyway it was the egg that had exploded. Needless to say we threw the remaining egg away in case the same happened to that one.

If I were you I would eat it or if you had thought of keeping it make sure you preserve it in some way before putting it on display like we did.

Love the idea of giving your hen a plum as a reward. We feed ours fruit or veg at lunchtime and pellets morning and evening. We get plenty of eggs from them. We have 14 hens and a very good looking Cockerel so maybe that's why we get enough eggs. We sell some to our neighbours/friends and family to pay for the girls feed/worming and straw. My girls are self sufficient as we have never had to pay any money towards their keep. Clever little things they are.

Edwink x

ali-t

Suki, ours go through periods where they get loads of broccoli, cauli, carrot batons, tomatoes, watermelon, peaches and plums. After they have gorged on all that we dont get as many eggs. Its pellets only for a few more days!

suki1964

Omg I could have exploded with excitement and pride lol



Unfortunately whilst showing the egg off it tumbled and took a crack so it was straight in the pan and we shared

Pure bliss


I don't usually like the white of an egg but it tasted like egg instead of pure rubber and slime


I do get eggs given to me from other hen lovers and perhaps I'm bias but that was some lovely egg .)

edwink

Not sure myself with my hens if I get a drop in eggs because of giving them fruit and veg. All I know is that the yolk of our eggs are really orange and the white is tasty. Like Suki I am not keen on the white of the egg but with our eggs I do actually like it.


So it is definitely a thumbs up from me on HEALTHY treats for all hens.


Edwink x

ali-t

I am now always bitterly disappinted if i go out for breakfast and have a fry up. The yolks on eggs are insipid and tasteless and the white has a horrible texture. Home grown eggs rock!

edwink

ali-t wrote: »

I am now always bitterly disappinted if i go out for breakfast and have a fry up. The yolks on eggs are insipid and tasteless and the white has a horrible texture. Home grown eggs rock!

Great post Ali-t

Could not agree with you more about that. We used to love going out from time to time for a nice fry up. But, since having our own hens eggs and realising how nice an egg can taste we don't go anymore. We have the odd fry up at home now and we love it. Saves us money not going for one too.

Everyone should make an omelette with their eggs. They are so rich in colour and fluffy. And of course scrambled eggs.

Glad the weather has cheered up here. My girls can start dust bathing again. Best thing in the world to watch.

Edwink x

Dizzy_Ditzy

:hello:

I'm back from my hols and my girls are too

They seem to be none the worse for their travels. Within 10 mins of them being back in their run they were all on top of each other dust bathing

Not entirely happy with the conditions they were kept in but I think that's more that my standards are evidently higher than other people's I've seen. Other people seem just to provide the most basic care whereas my girls are quite spoilt I think

Dizzy_Ditzy

The more green stuff a hen has, the yellower the yolk. The nasty tasteless eggs you get with fry ups in some places generally come from caged ladies who get nowt but layers pellets and a bit of corn if they're lucky.

Eggs you buy in the shop can be anything up to A MONTH old :eek: :eek: