How Do You Know if Chuvken-laid Eggs Are Ojay to Eat
Q: When I went to collect eggs the other mean solar day, I noticed one of my chickens hiding in the corner of the coop. Every bit she got up, I saw a huge pile of eggs—24 in all—in the straw. I accept no thought how I didn't meet this before, as I collect eggs daily. So my question is: Do you think these eggs are condom to eat? I have no idea how long they take been there.
A: There's an easy way to tell how onetime an egg is. All y'all have to do is gently drop it into a glass of h2o. Eggs that sit on the bottom are very fresh—they're perfectly prophylactic to consume. As an egg ages, air seeps into information technology through the pores in the eggshell, causing the egg to become buoyant. Eggs that are slightly older will start to rise upwardly off the bottom of the glass at one end—the end where the air sac is—until, somewhen, a very former egg will float.
A floating egg isn't necessarily an indication that the eggs are not safe to eat, but I would toss out whatever floaters only in case. Equally for the other eggs, it's likely they're fine, only I would err on the side of circumspection there, too, and crack the eggs into a split bowl, i by one, instead of dropping them directly into the frying pan or cake concoction simply in case. A rotten egg will look and smell bad.
Marco? Polo!
Q: I have been sitting in my craven coop for hours to detect out who is laying. I have noticed that when the chicken stands up to lay, some other chicken that has been watching or waiting her plow volition start singing. I've also noticed that afterward a hen lays an egg, she also starting time singing. Do you have any idea why they do this?
A: Outset of all, I can completely relate to sitting in the coop watching the chickens' behaviors! I admit to beingness guilty of that likewise and applaud you for your astute ascertainment in this case. I telephone call that squawking and carrying on that hens do after they lay their egg the "egg song."
Simply why practice chickens feel the need to make such a fuss after they have laid an egg? Wouldn't it brand more sense for them to go along it quiet and then predators—and humans who have a habit of stealing freshly laid eggs for their breakfast!—won't know anything is going on down there in the coop? Interestingly enough, what you observed seems to exist the accepted reasoning for this behavior. The hen moves abroad from the nest and makes a dissonance, thereby protecting her egg by moving away from it and distracting predators by instead focusing their attention on her.
Another idea is that the hen, having gone off to lay her egg in private somewhere and assuming in that 30 minutes or and then that the rest of the chickens accept wandered away, is calling to the balance of the flock to rejoin them. It's sort of like the chicken version of Marco Polo.
Diet Dilemmas
Q: I only take a few chickens, but I see large feeders in the feed stores and wonder if it'south OK to fill such a big feeder. Volition my chickens overeat?
A: No, your chickens won't overeat their feed. They self-regulate, meaning that they will stop eating equally soon every bit they have gotten all the energy and nutrients they need. Then y'all tin can fill the large-sized feeder and go out feed out for them on a continual basis. That'southward helpful if you will be away for a few days or fifty-fifty a week or longer to exist able to make full a feeder and waterer and not worry that your caretaker might forget.
As long every bit rodents and moisture don't get into it, feed will last until your flock eats information technology. A craven will consume near one⁄2 cup of feed a day, so if yous wanted to continue to mensurate out daily feed for them, that is a good rule of thumb, but it will need to be adjusted based on the time of year and the corporeality of free-ranging your flock does (i.e., what else in that location is for your chickens to consume).
Ane caution: While chickens won't overeat their feed, they can get overweight—which can pb to reduced laying and other wellness problems—if you requite them too many treats. Limit treats to only about ane tablespoon per chicken per twenty-four hours, and try to stick with good for you options such equally whole grains, vegetables, etc. Offering treats simply in the afternoon once chickens take filled up on their regular feed is another way to be sure that their treat intake is express. Y
Email poultry-related questions to Lisa Steele at chickens@chickensmagazine.com, subject: "Flock Talk."
This story originally appeared in the September/October 2018 event of Chickens magazine.
Source: https://www.hobbyfarms.com/eggs-safe-eat-chickens-feed-lay/
0 Response to "How Do You Know if Chuvken-laid Eggs Are Ojay to Eat"
Postar um comentário