Free range eggs

[BarbC]

Let us look into this carefully,
Fence in the back of a full sized pickup.
Approx 5X8 ft right?
That = 40 SqFt,
1 chicken per 1.5 Sq Ft = 26 chickens living in the back of your pickup.
Here is a pic of FREE RANGE birds,,,, They look so darn happy

And to boot, They are fed corn from the GOVT grants,, Not healthy chickens.
Egg color if breed, Not health or food.
There are covered foot ball sized barns near me that are screened in and have unknown thousands of "free range" birds in them.

And also they're stepping in and eating each other's chicken poop. So they have to be fed antibiotics as well.

I raised chickens. They had a 6x10 house with a door that opened to a fenced-in pen. They were good producers. We fed them ground oyster shells as well as their chicken feed and scratch to increase their calcium levels and harden their shells. You can tell a healthy chicken (Rhode Islands Reds, Leghorns, Golden Comets) by the color of its eyes - the yellower the better.

 

[tyusclan]

We also have our own chickens for eggs. No, I'm sure I don't save much (any?) money over store bought eggs, but I know how my chickens live and how my eggs have been handled. I sometimes have extra eggs to sell and sometimes not, but I've bought very few eggs in my life, as my dad had chickens when I was growing up.

At the risk of sounding rude, anyone who can't tell the difference between a farm fresh egg and a regular store egg ain't payin' attention. I can crack one of mine in a bowl and a store egg in another, and I can see, smell, and taste the difference. My mother-in-law insists that she can't tell the difference, but my father-in-law tells her she's nuts.

I buy a new batch of pullets every spring. In the fall when the older hens are starting to moult and stop laying the pullets are just starting to lay. We then butcher the old hens for roasters, or canned chicken. The pullets will usually lay at least some through out the winter, but I do sometimes put a light on them to jumpstart them a little. If I were keeping my hens through the winter I would not put a light on them as I believe they need that rest period.

We also grow all of our meat. We raise broilers for meat as well as rabbits. These we butcher ourselves. The pork and beef we have butchered at times, and could if we had to, but usually take it to the slaughterhouse. Everyone who has ever bought a beef from me or eaten a hamburger or steak at my house has raved about it. I assure you, there is a difference.

Commercial egg farms and feed lots continue to produce the bulk of the food that is sold in this country because most people are more interested in a cheap price than a quality product. Everyone makes their own money and has every right to spend it just like they want.

 

[roarindan]

the reason free range eggs are more expensive is because we have to hire on several transient monkeys to do the round-ups!!

 

[stiab]

These two are obviously happier, because they are cooling their heels in their wading pools on a hot day...

They range over about one quarter of an acre, inside a fence. I'm not surprised that some doubt there are differences between "free range" (which can mean many things) eggs and those from regular production facilities, but there are. One of the most significant is in the yoke. If you like to eat eggs over easy, etc., you cannot accidently break a yoke on one of these girl's eggs. It is sometimes difficult to break them on purpose for scrambled. I have several friends who prefer these over storebought, and not just because they are free.

Here's another back yard critter, no eggs from this one though...

 

[BarbC]

Beautiful peacock! Our neighbors had peacocks - they were loud! We could hear them at our house a mile away.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Originally posted by BarbC:
Beautiful peacock! Our neighbors had peacocks - they were loud! We could hear them at our house a mile away.

They ain't that bad in a gumbo either!

And don't ask me about THAT story-I ain't putting it up on the internet

 

[Horace Smith]

Stiab: Those are two really nice pictures. I love the peacock one as it almost doesn't look real. Any idea why birds like to stand in water and poop? I leave water out for the critters at my house and the doves always do this contaminating the water.

 

[stiab]

Stiab: Those are two really nice pictures. I love the peacock one as it almost doesn't look real. Any idea why birds like to stand in water and poop?

Thanks, more peacock pics below. I think they just poop alot, and wherever they happen to be. These ladies do appear to like the water on hot days. When I had only one "wading pool" in this area, I noticed that one would stand in it on hot days, and the other would stand next to it. When the one got out, the other would step in. So, they got a wading pool each.

Beautiful peacock! Our neighbors had peacocks - they were loud!

Thanks Barb, that's true, but mainly during mating season.

More Pete pictures...

 

[dovekiller]

Originally posted by Horace Smith:
Stiab: Those are two really nice pictures. I love the peacock one as it almost doesn't look real. Any idea why birds like to stand in water and poop? I leave water out for the critters at my house and the doves always do this contaminating the water.

Pheasants are the same way. If there is a water puddle anywhere in the area, pheasants will find it and potch around in it.

 

[red14]

I caught a baby duck when I was camping on the St. Johns River in North Florida. Named him Herman. Changed it to Sally when she started laying eggs. The eggs were a little bigger than chicken eggs. The yolks were twice as big and really rich tasting.