Egg prices Soar

[Ninurta]

In the last couple of years I’ve switched to organic feed. Before that all I ever fed was scratch feed. My chickens were never healthy and they didn’t live long. I got to reading and found out a lot of the stuff in there wasn’t good for them. Now they eat organic layer pellets and all flock crumbles and some of the vegetables I grow in my garden. I can’t free range here as much as I’d like. I had them out a few years ago and a bobcat came and snatched one before I could do anything. We decided after that to make runs in the garden for them. It helps with insect control and they get extra stuff to eat.

I give eggs away too. There are way to many for us especially since I don’t really eat them and just use a few here and there for baking. My husband has trying to get me to sell some and he brings up a good argument that it would help with the feed bill.

Good feed is not cheap. You may be able to write it off in your taxes. Neighbors and friends really look forward to the eggs. In fact some say they are so spoiled with my Brother's eggs, that they cannot tolerate the store bought ones any more.

There is a difference.

That there is. I recall our free range eggs to have had richer yolks than the store bought variety.

Part of that is due to the free range chickens doing more foraging for themselves. We raised game chickens, and for the most part they got their own grub except in the deepest parts of winter. We occasionally threw them some cracked corn, but for the most part they found their own tucker, and I personally think that is what contributed to the richer eggs.

Additionally, those game chickens didn't mind defending themselves. I've seen a mother game hen whip the piss out of a wayward hawk, and then whip it some more for pissing, all because it made the mistake of thinking her young-'uns were menu items.

On the down side, we could never keep them in the coop. they preferred roosting wild in the woods. Hunting nests for teh eggs was usually an adventure.

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