Egg Eating

Ridgerunner

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Not quite the same but I just ordered 20 Buff Rock male chicks from Ideal. They don't have a date yet but I'm hoping for early February. I've never had chicks shipped that early so we'll see how they handle the weather. The reason I'm so early is that I figure I'll run out of chicken meat in the freezer sometime in June. I'll want some to be ready. My last hatch was only four when I was hoping for ten.

My 2016 Flock Master will be a Buff Rock. I should get some interesting looking chicks from him. In 2015 I'm concentrating on black mottled and red mottled green egg layers to have some ladies ready for him.
 

ninnymary

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Ridge, thanks for giving me peace of mind. Steve had me worried there. As long as I have peace among the hens, I'm not going to worry to much. Maybe when it gets colder or when she matures more she will decide to sleep on the roost.

Today, I managed to pick my warm egg before my sussex got it! Yay!

Another question, will the eggs crack when they bump into each other rolling down the roll out nest box? Been wondering about that. There shells are nice and strong. I plan to pad the wall but then wondered about eggs rolling into each other.

Mary
 

Ridgerunner

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This video shows an egg being laid. You'll notice the hen is standing up a bit and the egg hits the nest fairly hard from being dropped that far. She has to stand up to keep from getting trash in her egg laying equipment.


I've never build a roll-out nest box so I have no experience with that. The one egg eater I've had wound up in the freezer pretty quickly but I know you're much nicer than I am. Whether or not the eggs crack will depend on how steep it is, the material they are rolling on to control how fast they roll, and how hard the egg shell is. You can put cushions up to protect the first egg but what if the second egg hits the first? Depends on how fast it is moving.
 

ninnymary

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Oh Wow ridgerunner. That was some education I got. I'm a little squeemish but I made it through the entire video. That egg dropped much more than what I expected.

Yeah, I'm not worried about the first egg breaking, it's the second one hitting the first that I'm worried about. Anyone have any experience on this?

Mary
 

thistlebloom

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You could always simulate it by putting a bread board on a slight incline, just enough to get gravity to move the egg and see if the test egg cracks when it bumps into another. I'm guessing it's a non issue. They aren't going to be rolling far enough to accumulate a lot of force.

By the way the eggs survive being hauled around in my jacket pocket when I do the afternoon chores I'd say they can take quite a bit of bumping.
 

Smart Red

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Oh Wow ridgerunner. That was some education I got. I'm a little squeemish but I made it through the entire video. That egg dropped much more than what I expected.

Yeah, I'm not worried about the first egg breaking, it's the second one hitting the first that I'm worried about. Anyone have any experience on this?

Mary
My first experience with chickens, I had a metal nesting unit that had the eggs rolling down to the front where I would lift a metal cover to reach the eggs. This unit was like what I thought egg farms would have.

I thought it looked rather unsafe for delicate eggs, but I never had an egg break. Don't remember where I got it. Don't remember where it went. Do rather wish I had it now.
 

baymule

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Well, I may have just created a bunch of trouble for myself, but when I went to the feed store this morning, they had pullets for sale in there. so I bought 3. I put them in the chicken house after running the older ones out of the house and pen. They are big enough to defend themselves, I think. We will see. I got two barred rocks and a red sex link, which is more gold than red.
Anyway, in a perfect world, they will roost on the lower roost with the lonely Sussex. :fl
In an imperfect world, I'll have bloody chickens camping in my basement.:ep
Chicken math. BWAHAHAHAHA!!
 

so lucky

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Mary, I would have gotten 10 but my little coop is only 4 x 8 feet, with a 12 x 16 ft yard. This brings me to 9 chickens.
This afternoon was....interesting. One of the barred rocks is pretty feisty; she got into it with a couple of the older girls. She also has a bare bottom, I guess from molting---or being picked at previously. I have some blue-kote, which I will use on her tomorrow if it looks like I need to.
And to everyone who is tisk-tisking at me for not quarantining the new girls-----I know, I know! But generally if I don't do something on the spur of the moment, it won't get done.
 

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