Beginners Chicken Keeping
- Thread starter British Red
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Added an auto opener and closer to the main coop (the grey box holding the pop hole open)
Chicken guard coop opener during day by British Red, on Flickr
Chickens should be ready for collection in eight days
THats the one I got first Cheap n cheerful nice n big but a bit of a PITA to clean out I would recommend you get a coating of Weatherproof on it and redo every 12-18mths
also Even if your clipping their wings they will get on the roof and would be able to jump fly over the Netting if that is its final place and you dont want em free rangeing
Thanks Dunc! Its had a good old soaking in Cuprinol, definitely needed it. I,ll have to toy with " jump proof" positions....appreciate advice..especially the sort that helps prevent escapes!
.....and we have chickens! Better photos after we let them out of the internal enclosure, but for now
Chickens arrive by British Red, on Flickr
Two speckeldy, two light Sussex, one Rhodes rock, one gold star and one bluebell. Interesting to see how they vary by breed.
Chickens arrive by British Red, on Flickr
Two speckeldy, two light Sussex, one Rhodes rock, one gold star and one bluebell. Interesting to see how they vary by breed.
I'm delighted to report that the last hen decided to go into the coop ten minutes before the automatic system closed the pop hole. We thought that might be a problem, but so far, so good 
I can easily (all too easily!) sit and stare at a flock of hens and become as lost and as mesmerised by them as by any fire at night; apart from anything else their social structure is every bit as complex as any other I've observed...................
I have begun to understand that Macaroon!
Our Rhode Rock is probably the toughest, but is not a "team chicken". Takes no nonsense but happy to be off alone, always the first to come to me for scratch corn.
Rhode Rock by British Red, on Flickr
The Speckeldys are big birds, not bullied but dim
Speckledy by British Red, on Flickr
The Light Sussex are aggressive, but easily spooked, early out of the coop, but first to run at a noise
Light Sussex by British Red, on Flickr
The Bluebell is slighter...towards the bottom of the pecking order
Bluebell by British Red, on Flickr
The Gold Star is definitely at the bottom of the pile. A pretty thing but last to the feeder
Gold Star by British Red, on Flickr
Interesting to see that the Rhode Rock and one Light Sussex are maturing earliest with wattles and comb growing and showing red. Be fun to note if behaviour changes as they mature....
Our Rhode Rock is probably the toughest, but is not a "team chicken". Takes no nonsense but happy to be off alone, always the first to come to me for scratch corn.
Rhode Rock by British Red, on FlickrThe Speckeldys are big birds, not bullied but dim
Speckledy by British Red, on FlickrThe Light Sussex are aggressive, but easily spooked, early out of the coop, but first to run at a noise
Light Sussex by British Red, on FlickrThe Bluebell is slighter...towards the bottom of the pecking order
Bluebell by British Red, on FlickrThe Gold Star is definitely at the bottom of the pile. A pretty thing but last to the feeder
Gold Star by British Red, on FlickrInteresting to see that the Rhode Rock and one Light Sussex are maturing earliest with wattles and comb growing and showing red. Be fun to note if behaviour changes as they mature....
Thanks mate, I confess I was drawn to "attractive" birds when selecting them as well as hardy, utility egg layer types. Lets face it, if you are going to be surrounded by birds, get pretty ones
Well another small milestone today, two eggs
The one on the right is a normal one so as you can see ours are a little small (which I believe is normal to start with)
First eggs by British Red, on Flickr
Very happy!
The one on the right is a normal one so as you can see ours are a little small (which I believe is normal to start with)
First eggs by British Red, on FlickrVery happy!
Happy Egg indeed that's a result
Nowt wrong with small, they're still good eating, and supposedly they're gentler on the birds.
It's been a lovely few days here great time of year for the hens I reckon too. Nice that your's have started laying at the right time.
Do you have ? or do you want ? the old recipes for preserving eggs for Winter ? I was really surprised at how well the water glass worked on them.
cheers,
Toddy
that's a result Nowt wrong with small, they're still good eating, and supposedly they're gentler on the birds.
It's been a lovely few days here
great time of year for the hens I reckon too. Nice that your's have started laying at the right time.Do you have ? or do you want ? the old recipes for preserving eggs for Winter ? I was really surprised at how well the water glass worked on them.
cheers,
Toddy
Love to hear them Mary- particularly the waterglass - I intend to try that this Autumn. I may well try dehydrating my own eggs too
I know of four ways of preserving fresh eggs in their shells that will keep them useable as 'fresh' eggs for months on end…up to a year anyway.
Limewater
Water glass
Brine
Lard, Oil
There are others, but they all rather change the egg into something not 'a fresh egg', iimmc. Dried, or seperated and frozen or cooked and pickled. All have their place and uses, but for fresh ones, the waterglass is really the easiest.
First try the egg in water. It ought not to 'float', but to sit 'in' the water, iimmc. Floaters are not good.
Water glass….one part sodium silicate to three parts water, and heat togther until it makes a syrup….good word for the consistency that you need. Simply immerse the eggs, make sure they are well coated, and completely coated, and lift out and sit on a cake rack to dry. (I'd re-dip the side that sat on the rack, just to be sure it was all coated) Store someplace cool and clean.
They can be packed dry in jars if there's a problem with mice, rats or other pests.
Lime isn't quite so simple, the eggs have to stay in the lime rich water, so folks used to use barrels. There's supposed to always be at least a handspan of lime water above the top layer of eggs, and the ones in the bottom can end up a bit of a mess as hte lime and gunk settles around them. Not my preferred method, but very popular in the past especially in countries with very warm weather. The lime does sometimes leave a taste on the eggs. I'm not fond of eggs anyway, but I do mind lime eggs that were a little, not off, just odd somehow. Still very useable though, and folks had lime available, while water glass cost them money.
I'll burrow out the instructions if you want them though.
Brine solutions….the eggs will float if you get the brine strong enough, so they need a wooden board put on top to keep them down in the liquid. Again, it's find a suitable container, and don't use thin shelled eggs. Some are more porous than others, more so if they've been cleaned, and the albumen can end up a bit watery for some reason. (I really need to do a chemistry degree, and my tech ref is away up a hill today so I can't ask)
Lard used to be used to seal an egg….just brush on melted lard (mind you don't want to cook the fresh egg, just seal the shell to stop anything nasty getting in or the egg drying out too much) let it set a bit, then polish the egg. Honestly, the polishing just removes the excess but the fat seals the egg. Store in a single layer someplace cold.
The Auntie who did that type of preserving lived to be 93 though, so presumably it worked well she ate dripping, lard, butter, full cream milk and was as fit as a fiddle to her last three months.
Oil, or last I heard folks were using vaseline, works too. Basically it seals the shell and stops any bacterial growth. The eggs need turned monthly if coated in vaseline or oil though, but it works, not sure how long it works, but can't see any reason it shouldn't last very well indeed.
With time the white become runny, don't beat up well, and the yoke skins get very fragile so eggs don't seperate well.
Good practice is to crack every preserved egg separately into a cup before use just to be certain that it's fine.
You like pickles….A two pint Kilner jar will hold a dozen eggs if they're pickled. Pickled eggs go well with salads, sliced on sandwiches, in packed lunches, and they can be used to make Scotch eggs if folks like chutney tasting ones. Not to everyone's taste, but very good food.
atb,
M
Limewater
Water glass
Brine
Lard, Oil
There are others, but they all rather change the egg into something not 'a fresh egg', iimmc. Dried, or seperated and frozen or cooked and pickled. All have their place and uses, but for fresh ones, the waterglass is really the easiest.
First try the egg in water. It ought not to 'float', but to sit 'in' the water, iimmc. Floaters are not good.
Water glass….one part sodium silicate to three parts water, and heat togther until it makes a syrup….good word for the consistency that you need. Simply immerse the eggs, make sure they are well coated, and completely coated, and lift out and sit on a cake rack to dry. (I'd re-dip the side that sat on the rack, just to be sure it was all coated) Store someplace cool and clean.
They can be packed dry in jars if there's a problem with mice, rats or other pests.
Lime isn't quite so simple, the eggs have to stay in the lime rich water, so folks used to use barrels. There's supposed to always be at least a handspan of lime water above the top layer of eggs, and the ones in the bottom can end up a bit of a mess as hte lime and gunk settles around them. Not my preferred method, but very popular in the past especially in countries with very warm weather. The lime does sometimes leave a taste on the eggs. I'm not fond of eggs anyway, but I do mind lime eggs that were a little, not off, just odd somehow. Still very useable though, and folks had lime available, while water glass cost them money.
I'll burrow out the instructions if you want them though.
Brine solutions….the eggs will float if you get the brine strong enough, so they need a wooden board put on top to keep them down in the liquid. Again, it's find a suitable container, and don't use thin shelled eggs. Some are more porous than others, more so if they've been cleaned, and the albumen can end up a bit watery for some reason. (I really need to do a chemistry degree, and my tech ref is away up a hill today
so I can't ask)Lard used to be used to seal an egg….just brush on melted lard (mind you don't want to cook the fresh egg, just seal the shell to stop anything nasty getting in or the egg drying out too much) let it set a bit, then polish the egg. Honestly, the polishing just removes the excess but the fat seals the egg. Store in a single layer someplace cold.
The Auntie who did that type of preserving lived to be 93 though, so presumably it worked well
she ate dripping, lard, butter, full cream milk and was as fit as a fiddle to her last three months.Oil, or last I heard folks were using vaseline, works too. Basically it seals the shell and stops any bacterial growth. The eggs need turned monthly if coated in vaseline or oil though, but it works, not sure how long it works, but can't see any reason it shouldn't last very well indeed.
With time the white become runny, don't beat up well, and the yoke skins get very fragile so eggs don't seperate well.
Good practice is to crack every preserved egg separately into a cup before use just to be certain that it's fine.
You like pickles….A two pint Kilner jar will hold a dozen eggs if they're pickled. Pickled eggs go well with salads, sliced on sandwiches, in packed lunches, and they can be used to make Scotch eggs if folks like chutney tasting ones. Not to everyone's taste, but very good food.
atb,
M
Well another small milestone today, two eggs
The one on the right is a normal one so as you can see ours are a little small (which I believe is normal to start with)
Very happy!
yep normally small to start and probably a lot of double yolks as well
Need to find a cheap source of sodium silicate now....I really want to try this...stacking the dried ones in sawdust perhaps?
Hear, while I mind; you can store eggs in sand, just as they are and they'll keep very well too and I'm sure someone told me that you could do the same thing with sawdust, just not 'any' old sawdust….like avoid very piney or resinous stuff, or some of the maranti/mahogany type ones, and I'd totally avoid yew or laburnum.
No idea how long they'd last like that though
sorry, not much help here.
Sodium silicate can be bought from the chemical suppliers near Ayr…..I'll find links.
Usually folks try to sell you the liquid stuff, but that's like buying it pre-diluted, while the powder is a bit like icing sugar. It just needs dissolved in heating water and you can make it up to whatever strength you like that way.
M
No idea how long they'd last like that though
sorry, not much help here.Sodium silicate can be bought from the chemical suppliers near Ayr…..I'll find links.
Usually folks try to sell you the liquid stuff, but that's like buying it pre-diluted, while the powder is a bit like icing sugar. It just needs dissolved in heating water and you can make it up to whatever strength you like that way.
M
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