Crack a .50 cents a Doz egg open next to a farm egg you will pay the difference!

Amen brother!

Chris

coon hides

We buy mini bulks of wheat,peas & corn from grain farming neighbors. Wife uses cement mixer to make 50 lbs bag concoctions with those ingredients and mineral and oyster shells. she sells it to folks and she feeds her own chickens for free. She also free ranges them and they find alot on there own.

I can buy regular eggs for about a dollar a dozen, I now buy Egglands best for 3$ dozen, they are supposed to be much healthier egg

I feed mine a mix of 60% whole corn and 30% barley with 10% layer feed and they lay great in winter. I get 55 pounds of corn for about $9 and the barley is about the same. 20 pounds of the layer pellets go a long way only adding a bit. They free range 3-4 days a week. Outside of winter they get no layer feed.

All winter I've been getting 5 eggs a day from 6 hens. I always used to keep 10 or 11 hens but we get enough now so I might just add one or two this spring.

I remember the eggs we used to buy in Montana in the 70's. You could hardly tell the yolk from the white.

Pete

Chickens will eat anything it seems. Feed them table scraps. Easy on processed grain though supposedly difficult for animals to digest. Also supposedly soy beans are hard to digest for birds. MY brother keeps in contact with the local farmers during harvest and we go get any spilled grain. Also carry buckets with us and pick up any spilled grain on roads. Grit comes with it. We have also asked to go get grain left in corn fields. And we have also cleaned out a few grain bins for farmers for the feed. Good Farmer relations never hurt. MY brother and I do this to feed the deer. I haven't got my chickens yet. But my buddy does all the same for his flock.

My buddy has 40-60 layers and has no trouble selling them for $2.50 dozen. Usually all i get from him is the oddball eggs (small extra large ridges etc.) that he doesnt like to sell his customers. Iwont even eat a store bought egg anymore. He also feeds his chickens his dead fishing minnows and some of the fish guts and carcasses. He has said though that feeding chickens a heavy prolonged fish diet will give the eggs a fishy taste. He also feeds his chickens fatty scraps from his hunting successes. Supposedly feeding raw meats can cause cannibalism in chickens. Also don't let chickens have raw eggs or cooked eggs still in shell or in egg shape. Bad results. But used egg shells can be broken up very fine an Fed back to them in other food source. Good calcium and other minerals. Same as oyster shells.
Not sure about these but have heard that raw potatoes aren't good for Chickens? If you have a garden and/or orchard and freezer space or cold storage save bad or unsavory produced to Fed as much or often as you want. Neighbors and friends can help save for you. Reward or pay them with eggs if need be. Also your local grocery may save expired produce and baked goods if asked. Unfortunately mine has a waiting list.
When we were kids we had to go and pick up any corn cobs left in our fields to feed the chickens throughout the winter. We had a dairy farm so we also Fed chickens ground feed soaked in milk. We Fed our chickens everything including bad and spoiled food. Except what I listed up above. We Fed any raw meats and guts to cats and dogs.
First 23 years on the farm, next 20 years in bad place(town) now back on the farm (or heaven) chickens are very high on my bucket list. I plan on doing or not doing everything I listed.

Sell “local organic free-range eggs” to the yuppies for $4/dz and buy the 50 cent ones for yourself if you don’t care. Personally though $2/dz for quality eggs would be fine with me.

Raising layers to save money on eggs is like raising broilers to save money on chicken. Its not going to happen.

We had a 140 layers at one time. If you got a couple freezing nights ahead of you and heat em up, try this. at some cut rate store get cans of cream corn. dump it in to pan and step back.form my ol' timer friends say it gets em all warm inside fast, we can get cream corn around here for 39.cents a can. you cant feed it all the time ,only extreme weather.
we had all varieties including the Aaricanas with colored eggs.At our best was doing 1900 eggs a month. profit, about 20 Bucks a week after cost of laying the feed and upkeep.The middle man buying our eggs was taking them to Cleveland farm markets made the profit.Now were just buying walmart 18large packs for 67 cent a dozen.
Sad to say.loved them chickens.

Chickens are multiuse they do more then just lay eggs they lay quality eggs, they eat those chirping crickets and ticks, pick carcasses clean and weed my tree belts. Makes some good coon bait with the broken ones also.

My extra eggs go to my landowners and that makes them happy and I will always have a place to trap.

Check around at your local feed mills, and see if they have any millings. Most around here will give it away. We get 90% of our feed from the scalpers out our feed yard. A few rocks, cobs, and bits of other trash, but the chickens sort that all out just fine. If not cut it with corn, milo, oats, etc... like the guys said above.

I’m always amazed how cheap eggs are!! It blows my mind that they can produce eggs that cheap and still make money. My best friend is a USDA egg grader an inspector. He has committed on many occasions that with all the regs from epa,usda,local & state they should all be broke. The egg guys have it down to a science for sure.

Chickens are not that hard when you think about it feed, water and some wood shavings I just enjoy having them around!

We have 14 chickens this year and very much enjoy the eggs! Even during the dead of winter we had numerous days of 14 eggs. We do have feeders with egg layer feed but supplement that with leftovers and discarded produce!

Chris

Carcasses. Coyote, coon, doesn't matter, they will eat them all, or pick bugs off of them. I raise chickens cheaper than I can buy chicken in the store. Having the right kind of chickens helps. Get some games. They are like rats, they just keep coming out of cracks and crevices. They don't do much for eggs in the winter, but you can keep a few leghorns and throw some eggs under a game hen every once in a while for replacements. If you are lucky enough to be able to find the game hen's nest anyway. Trappers have a civic duty in unified opposition to AR groups to make sure that the many wonderful breeds of American game chickens do not become extinct.

andyva, I'm right there with you on raising Game Chickens. As for now I only have 3 hens & a cockbird running around the farm with the peacocks & guineas. I keep a little cracked corn out for them, but mostly they forage around eating grass, bugs, & whatever happens to be found.

we have many in the philippines..43 plus 3 hens sitting on eggs now. They originated from junglefowl.they take care of themselves and are awesome mothers...downside is they arent quick to raise for meat.

Just putting this out there. You don’t have to refrigerate eggs until you wash them.

SO True

native chickens originating from junglefowl