Eggs

[sean donato]

Haven't butchered chickens or turkeys in years now. Last time we did turkey it was cheaper to go to the butcher by a long shot. I need to talk with my uncle and see if he thinks it would be cheaper to raise a flock this year or not. I'm already pushing my "pet" limit at my place with our egg chickens . Fortunately his farm is just down the street from my place.

 

[Bill G]

Well we had chickens for years. We had an empty chicken house one spring and I got a wild idea I wanted to put turkeys in it. Well my wife and kids wanted no part of it. I ordered Bronze Breasted and commenced to feeding. Well I underestimated their growth and by the time it was time to harvest to sell for Thanksgiving they were huge. I am not a cook and will never claim to be. I thought folks wanted big birds. Apparently a 22lb bird is not real desirable. I had some at 27lbs dressed. It was an epic failure but I am not one to give up. The next year I bought Eastern Reds (Wild Turkeys). It was the opposite as they grew poorly and man can they fly. The Amish gentleman could not understand why we could not just walk them down the alley of the shop. They dressed out a 8-13Lbs

 

[wampum]

Dad always raised his turkeys on wire. Right or wrong he claimed they would dress out more tender. We raised bronze and usually dressed them out at 15 pounds. I like white turkeys and grow them on pasture. The whites in my opinion are easier to dress out. The bronze always had pin feathers and dark hairs that take a lot of effort to remove.

However We have not raised bronzes since we got our plucker. Our plucker will do up to 4 chickens and one Turkey. We usually only do 2 chickens at a time. We scold them in 145 to 150 degree water until the wing feathers come out easily and throw them in the plucker. The plucker removes about 95 % of the feathers in 20 to 30 seconds. The turkeys take a little longer. I might try a couple of bronze to see if the plucker cleans them as good as the whites.

 

[Bill G]

What type of plucker do you have?

 

[wampum]

It’s called vevor. They sell 2 of them the one I got is the larger one if I remember right the Tub is 24 inches across. The small one is 18 or 20 inches across. I can’t complain it does the job. We put about 300 birds thru it so far the first 5 or 6 we just about skinned. We had the scolding water at about 160 we lowered it to 145 and did not have any more problems.

 

[esshup]

I'm in Northern Indiana. Winters can get cold, currently during the cold snap our night temps are around 0, day in the teens. The neighbors have Araucanas or Ameraucanas. They are getting about 1 egg/day from every 2 birds. I feed/water the birds when they are on vacation. Anyway, they will be moving before summer and I'm tossing around the idea of getting some birds. There is already a coop built on to the side of the barn, I'd have to make an outdoor pen for them.

In this climate, what birds would do the best for layers? Does that breed typically lay that few or is that a low number of eggs? They will be 2 years old this coming Spring.

 

[wampum]

I live right on the Pa/Ohio border about 90 miles south of Lake Erie with probably pretty close temps to you. For my egg layers(brown eggs) we have a brown hybrid that goes by different names from different hatchery’s. red X red bluffs red star and so on. Look at most hatchery’s and the are usually right behind the white leghorn. I also have a pretty newly developed German meat/egg bird called Bielefelder. They are named after the town they were developed in. I have 28 hens with 20 being the red X.

I get around 20 eggs a day so far even in this weather. Most of them from the hybrids. I got all new birds last spring. I bought hens ready to lay last year from a Mennonite hatchery in Shippensburg Pa for $7.50 a bird. I would be surprised if they are that price this year.

If you ask 10 people you will probably get 10 different answers. But if you want lots of eggs go with a leg horn or hybrid developed to lay eggs. So far I am happy with mine.

 

[lone wolf]

I live right on the Pa/Ohio border about 90 miles south of Lake Erie with probably pretty close temps to you. For my egg layers(brown eggs) we have a brown hybrid that goes by different names from different hatchery’s. red X red bluffs and so on. Look at most hatchery’s and the are usually right behind the white leghorn. I also have a pretty newly developed German meat/egg bird called Bielefelder. They are named after the town they were developed in. I have 28 hens with 20 being the red X.

I get around 20 eggs a day so far even in this weather. Most of them from the hybrids. I got all new birds last spring. I bought hens ready to lay last year from a Mennonite hatchery in Shippingsburg Pa for $7.50 a bird. I would be surprised if they are that price this year.

If you ask 10 people you will probably get 10 different answers. But if you want lots of eggs go with a leg horn or hybrid developed to lay eggs. So far I am happy with mine.

Do they ship ? I would buy some ready to lay .

 

[wampum]

Do they ship ? I would buy some ready to lay .

Wolf I called them and they do not ship. They said they are backed up until at least June. I also asked what their current prices are and they quoted me $8.00 so they went up 50 cents over last year. If you want to check them out it is Pinola hatchery in Shippensburg Pa.

they are located near Lancaster so you might be closer to them then me.

 

[farmer steve]

Wolf I called them and they do not ship. They said they are backed up until at least June. I also asked what their current prices are and they quoted me $8.00 so they went up 50 cents over last year. If you want to check them out it is Pinola hatchery in Shippensburg Pa.

they are located near Lancaster so you might be closer to them then me.

That where I always bought mine from. Pinola. Good people. Been a while (years) since I bought from them but pullets were around $3 back then. First time I bought from them I took my van and my 4x8 lamb hauling pen(open top). We put 50 hens in and closed the doors. I went in to pay them and came out to hens roosting on the steering wheel and everywhere else. They gave be a big piece of cardboard to cover the top.

 

[Bill G]

Do they ship ? I would buy some ready to lay .

Most hatchery's will ship but chicks only. If you want ready to lay contact a commercial producer or Amish. They sell off their flocks real cheap, real fast because the money is in the the egg production. The birds are still fine for home use/egg production though.

 

[JRM]

Once hens reach 2-3 years of age you can pretty well expect their production to tank during the winter months in the northern regions, regardless of breed. It's just the nature of the beast.
People ask if Raising chickens is "worth it". The answer really depends on the individual and their expectations. If strictly looking at it from a monetary stand point your doing Good to break even. Of course it would be easier to make money with prices the way they are now but how long will it last. If that is ones only metric for raising chickens I would say hold off and see how things shake out. Making money isn't the best reason to take the leap.

 

[esshup]

I hear ya on what the eggs cost if you raise the birds yourself. Especially if it's one or 2 people, the utility bill in the winter keeping them warm will cost more than the eggs. A friend in OK has LED lights in the coop that come on @ 5am and off at 9am, then on again at 3pm until 6pm. He says that they don't have the seasonal egg production variations that some do that don't keep the lights on like that.

 

[JRM]

I don't have electricity in my coop, mainly due to the distance it is from the house and subsequent cost to run it. The biggest challenge is keeping available water to them during the winter months. The jug has to get brought into the garage most every night to thaw or prevent it from freezing. Then back out in the morning with the water and to set the food out for the day which gets put in a metal can at night to discourage rodents from moving in. There can be 2-3 additional trips throughout the day, depending on temperature, to swap the water out with one that's been in the garage warming up.

 

[Bill G]

I probably have several hundred egg cartons that I am considering putting a CL. I figure with everyone wanting to produce eggs now somebody could use them.

 

[sean donato]

I hear ya on what the eggs cost if you raise the birds yourself. Especially if it's one or 2 people, the utility bill in the winter keeping them warm will cost more than the eggs. A friend in OK has LED lights in the coop that come on @ 5am and off at 9am, then on again at 3pm until 6pm. He says that they don't have the seasonal egg production variations that some do that don't keep the lights on like that.

There's no reason to heat a coop imo. They can't take it just fine, and normally a well designed coop stays a good bit warner then the outdoor temp. Well guess it would depend on the number of birds you have. I have vent panels I close off when it gets to about 50* out, windows get put back in as well. Lowest inside temp was 43* but it was also 15* outside.
The shorter days supposedly have a bigger impact then the temps, but don't tell my chickens that...

 

[sean donato]

I don't have electricity in my coop, mainly due to the distance it is from the house and subsequent cost to run it. The biggest challenge is keeping available water to them during the winter months. The jug has to get brought into the garage most every night to thaw or prevent it from freezing. Then back out in the morning with the water and to set the food out for the day which gets put in a metal can at night to discourage rodents from moving in. There can be 2-3 additional trips throughout the day, depending on temperature, to swap the water out with one that's been in the garage warming up.

Ever try insulating the bucket? It was suggested by one of the girls my wife works with. Sounded like a decent idea for mild winters like this one has been.

 

[JRM]

Ever try insulating the bucket? It was suggested by one of the girls my wife works with. Sounded like a decent idea for mild winters like this one has been.

What kind of waterer does she have? The water always freezes first in the water trough that is exposed to air, the red part in the picture. It would be hard to insulate this part and still have access for the chickens to drink? It has to be really cold for the resevoir to freeze up too.

 

[ErnieG]

What kind of waterer does she have? The water always freezes first in the water trough that is exposed to air, the red part in the picture. It would be hard to insulate this part and still have access for the chickens to drink? It has to be really cold for the resevoir to freeze up too.

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Those waterers are a real PIA to open ..the lid gets so tight with the o-ring inside that I need a bar to open it and I've put Vaseline all over the inside of the lid with no real help .
I'm lucky enough to have electric to my coop with a heated base and heat lamp for the real cold nights for the flock .
Ernie

 

[JRM]

Your just overtightening them. They barely need to make contact with the o ring to make the seal, nothing more.

And as stated above, heat is not needed. You simply need a solid, dry enclosure out of the wind and elements.