Farm Fresh Eggs- weirded out!!

[sandramaac]

OK, dumb question at what point if you don't take the eggs from the nest do the eggs turn into baby chicks, and how does that whole process work I'm a city girl, what can I say

 

[ckay87]

OK, dumb question at what point if you don't take the eggs from the nest do the eggs turn into baby chicks, and how does that whole process work I'm a city girl, what can I say

Just so you don't feel stupid, I had the same question into adulthood! But if you think about it, it pretty much works like us. The eggs have to be fertilized by a rooster. So I think they just have to keep the ladies away from the rooster (just like us!)

ETA - I may be wrong about this. Even if the rooster gets to the hens, you may just have to take the eggs from them daily so they don't have a chance to sit on them and incubate them into chickies.

Ok - I need professional help too!

 

[HM]

My sister's neighbor is raising chickens. Her family gets to go get eggs whenever they want. They had so many last week, that they gave us a bowlful. I used them to cook a nice German Farmers Breakfast and it was really yummy. I have a couple left that I'll have to try fried, so I can see what the actual taste is like (without all the other foods mixed in). We've been growing a lot of our own veggies and some fruits this summer, which has been great, so having fresh eggs was a real treat. We wish we lived in a place where we could do more of the living off the land stuff (we live in a restricted covenants neighborhood...).

 

[tzolkin]

Just so you don't feel stupid, I had the same question into adulthood! But if you think about it, it pretty much works like us. The eggs have to be fertilized by a rooster. So I think they just have to keep the ladies away from the rooster (just like us!)

ETA - I may be wrong about this. Even if the rooster gets to the hens, you may just have to take the eggs from them daily so they don't have a chance to sit on them and incubate them into chickies.

Ok - I need professional help too!

Yes, there has to be a male involved for there to be a baby. The eggs are fertilized internally before they develop a shell. You can eat fertilized eggs. There really is no difference. (And, no, a "blood spot" in an egg is not the baby.) They must be incubated for about 21 days to grow a chick.

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

I have wanted to do this for a few years now. My main worry was something like "the bird flu" is that something you need to be concerned about when raising chickens?

 

[OK!]

I have wanted to do this for a few years now. My main worry was something like "the bird flu" is that something you need to be concerned about when raising chickens?

Unfortunately, predators are something you have to be way more concerned about. I swear to God, if I could eradicate every coyote, raccoon, and opossum in the greater St. Louis area, I would. They have DECIMATED my parents' flock this spring & summer, including my pet rooster, Buster, whom I'd had for 5 years. He was more like a pet than many dogs I've known, running up to greet me when I pulled up in the driveway, following me around the yard, coming when he was called, etc. My mom's and my voices sound almost identical, and my mom said that there were several occasions when she'd be in the barn, talking on the phone or something, and would see Buster come racing excitedly around the corner because he thought he heard me. She said he always looked kind of disappointed and shuffled sadly back out of the barn when he realized it was only her.

And @ minnieandmickeymouse-- if this picture doesn't convince you to go ahead and go for it, you have a heart of stone.

(They're eating little hunks of white bread, which they adore. They also like sweet things, like sweetened cereal, cookies, etc., though mostly they eat their chick starter and then corn as they get older. The other things are treats.)

 

[minnieandmickeymouse]

I have no heart of stone that's for sure!! I've been a dog breeder for 6 years now, and my kids love animals. I'm sure they would love it if we had some chickens. I just don't know how to have them in the winter, we live in vt, and have long cold winters. I also wouldn't want to have allot of chickens either. What would you say is the average cost per year to feed and maintain chickens? My family does go through allot of eggs, we are a family of 6.

I'm sorry to hear about your rooster. He is beautiful, and those chicks are sooo cute!!!

 

[tonilea]

What I want to know is how we all STARTED eating eggs... I mean think about it.
One day a man is watching a bird and its struggling... I mean really pouring its heart out and he just can't take his eyes off of it. Then all of a sudden this strange round thing comes out. It is white with some goo on it and such and he starts to think? This came out of where? Maybe I should eat it? I mean what was he thinking eating that!

Good theory, but more likely man saw an animal eat another animal's egg. It didn't die, so they must be good to eat.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

Geez, lay off already. OP - I'd be the exact same way. The other day we went to a goat roast of all things - refused to eat a bite, not because I thought I wouldn't like goat, but because they showed me the goat they were roasting a few days prior.

That reminds me when my dad was at a place where they killed chickens. He was standing there watching someone do it [because my grandpa forced him to see it] and he snapped the neck and it was STILL MOVING and then it ran around and blood got all over my dad. He will never be the same

But I have a bad fear of birds but I will still eat eggs from a chicken I know. My science teacher raised chickens and ducks from an egg in a special heat-protected thing and when they hatched, they were adorable

 

[phamton]

My in-laws have some chickens also. I also refuse to eat the eggs - they don't always refrigerate them right away and they aren't pasturized, etc.....

Most eggs sold at the grocery store are not pasteurized. The only brand that I am familiar with that does pasteurize their eggs is Davidson's Eggs and they are often hard to find. (Of course, the eggs found in those milk carton containers, like Egg Beaters are pasteurized but not eggs in shells.)

And fresh eggs do not need refrigeration. If you have ever been to Europe or South America and gone into the grocery stores you will know that the eggs are not refrigerated. In Australia eggs are sold off the supermarket shelves not from refrigerated shelves. In the UK, eggs are sold straight from a non-refrigerated shelf also. Eggs kept in a cool pantry will last just fine a month or more. The eggs bought in the US grocery stores are already refrigerated so you need to put them in the refrigerator when you get them home though.

 

[OK!]

I have no heart of stone that's for sure!! I've been a dog breeder for 6 years now, and my kids love animals. I'm sure they would love it if we had some chickens. I just don't know how to have them in the winter, we live in vt, and have long cold winters. I also wouldn't want to have allot of chickens either. What would you say is the average cost per year to feed and maintain chickens? My family does go through allot of eggs, we are a family of 6.

I'm sorry to hear about your rooster. He is beautiful, and those chicks are sooo cute!!!

Good question....they're actually my parents' chickens, but I'll be sure to ask them what their costs are! They handle the winters pretty well down here, though we're obviously a ways south of you all. Some of the first chickens we had actually used to keep themselves warm at night by roosting on the backs of the horses, if you can believe that! The horses didn't particularly care (other than when the chickens pooped on them, obviously ), but the ones they have now haven't tried that trick yet. Some of them have figured out to roost right above the lightbulbs in the barn, which I guess helps a little. But they do OK.

 

[pperfectmom]

What a strange thread. It saddens me that most people are so far removed from where their food comes from. Personally, I'd rather have a farm fresh egg any day over a supermarket one with no taste. The same goes for meat. I'd much rather kill and process our own than eat something that came from a feedlot in Iowa. I'd rather eat something that had a happy face at some point than an animal that spent it's whole miserable life getting fat in a pen with thousands of other sick/abused animals.

 

[MichelleVW]

What a strange thread. It saddens me that most people are so far removed from where their food comes from. Personally, I'd rather have a farm fresh egg any day over a supermarket one with no taste. The same goes for meat. I'd much rather kill and process our own than eat something that came from a feedlot in Iowa. I'd rather eat something that had a happy face at some point than an animal that spent it's whole miserable life getting fat in a pen with thousands of other sick/abused animals.

more power to you....I can only eat meat because in my mind it comes from the store...not that cute calf that lives down the street from me.

Like I said before, If I had to eat animals that I personally knew then I would be a vegetarian for sure....I just really don't like vegetables that much or I would have made the switch a long time ago...

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

Good question....they're actually my parents' chickens, but I'll be sure to ask them what their costs are! They handle the winters pretty well down here, though we're obviously a ways south of you all. Some of the first chickens we had actually used to keep themselves warm at night by roosting on the backs of the horses, if you can believe that! The horses didn't particularly care (other than when the chickens pooped on them, obviously ), but the ones they have now haven't tried that trick yet. Some of them have figured out to roost right above the lightbulbs in the barn, which I guess helps a little. But they do OK.

Aww!

 

[manning]

I fully agree!
We had talked about wanting to be able to live off the land. Well, you know, in case of emergency, not on a regular basis. We have berries, fruit trees, garden, we have horses (not to eat!) and I thought eggs would round that out nicely. But something about the eggs is not setting well.

I agree with the fact that we have lost touch with our past. And while that is sad, my mom tells of a time when her granny went outside, grabbed a rooster by the neck, twirled it around until it was broken, chopped it off and then let him run around the yard a while before dressing him for dinner. Umm..... I can not be THAT in touch with my history. Not when there are perfectly good rotissourie chickens at Costco that I never met.

I remembet that. My grandfather used to raise chickens for eggs and eating. One time we were killing a hen for supper and a cousin from the city was visiting. Gramps wacked the head off and and that chicken took of running, right past the cousin who was standing in the garden. She took off running and screaming. Took us a couple of hours to find her 50 plus years later she still won't eat chicken.

 

[laurie31]

My in-laws have some chickens also. I also refuse to eat the eggs - they don't always refrigerate them right away and they aren't pasturized, etc.....
It totally grosses me out. My husband and son will eat them and they have never been sick, but --- yuck!

But the eggs you buy aren't pasteurized. This is why you can't eat them raw; the commercial prep requires that the protective coating that's on them when they are laid, that protects them from bacteria, be removed with detergent. Then because of mass-production, they can get cross-contaminated with salmonella.

I would love to have access to fresh eggs for the sole purpose of being able to eat them raw! LOL! Eggs from your own chickens are SO much safer than the ones in the stores (provided they are clean and healthy, which I'm sure the OP's chickens are). I would also like the taste and other benefits of fresh eggs, but I love to eat cookie dough, and I would not DARE eat raw eggs from the store. For now, I make my dough with Egg Beaters, because they ARE pasteurized and therefore are safe to eat raw.

OP, if you had a cow, would you be able to drink the milk? Eggs are the same thing - something your pet (since you think of the chickens as pets) produces, that you can use without harming it.

Please don't throw them out, though! If you can't bear to eat them, sell or give them to your friends and neighbors!

 

[luvsJack]

My grandfather had chickens and my in-laws do now.

My grandfather had roosters, my in-laws do not. Grandpa's eggs had a darker yolk and a stronger taste. I didn't like them at all. (wasn't grossed out just didn't like the taste) After eating his eggs, I always said I would never eat fresh eggs again (well the taste and the fact that he wasn't real good about knowing how fresh the eggs were! )

Without knowing it, I ate fresh eggs at my in-law's house. The eggs were really good. I can't really compare it to store bought eggs because its so different, but the eggs were good.

Try them Teacups! Just scramble one and try it. You may be pleasently surprised.

 

[mjkacmom]

My friend wanted us to get hens for fresh eggs, but what do you do with the chickens when they're not laying anymore? I don't think I could eat a pet.

 

[joyjoy]

I'm a vegetarian (not vegan) and I love fresh eggs. It disgusts me what commercial chicken farms do and how mistreated the chickens are.

My grandparents had chickens when we were growing up, and they also had a goose. I never ate a goose egg before but they are HUGE and make amazing easter eggs. I have eaten a quail egg before. It tasted like chicken. Eggs.

 

[OK!]

My friend wanted us to get hens for fresh eggs, but what do you do with the chickens when they're not laying anymore? I don't think I could eat a pet.

We (well, my parents) never ate a pet, either. There's just no way. They just kept the hens around as long as they lived as non-laying pets. Unfortunately, during the massacres of this past spring and summer, they lost a bunch of their older hens, including one who'd actually lived to the age of 10. That's INSANELY old for a hen, especially a free-range one. One of the $#&*@#*%$ raccoons got her, out of the rafters while she was sleeping, about a month ago.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate raccoons? Grrrrrrrrrr.