Glassing. You place them unwashed in water and add pickling lime. Room temp storage for up to a year.
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Chickens 2023/2024
- Thread starter Knob Creek
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Glassing. You place them unwashed in water and add pickling lime. Room temp storage for up to a year.
lancecolonel
NES Member
can you give the lime-water ratio? does it change the taste or texture at all? thanks.
The taste seems to not permeate in the first 3 months and then slowly does. I've eaten 12 month old eggs. They eggs lose their "gooeyness" as they age and get more watery. But the eggs are fine.
In a good year I store about 400 eggs in (7) of the 2 gallon glass jars. Each jar can hold 65-75 eggs depending on size. Starting in July I stash the extra eggs, not wating any intil all the jars are full. I can usually get the 400 away by October and then we start eating the first jar from July (3 month old) and putting any new eggs aside in same method. In this manner you can leapfrog storing the fresh eggs and eating the old ones through winter but keep any of them from getting watery.
Target is by far the best place to get the glass jars. They are the big cookie style jars with glass lids. I add thin layer of Vaseline to the lid when the jar is full to reduce oxygen transfer. You could probably also use melted wax and recycle it.
In a good year I store about 400 eggs in (7) of the 2 gallon glass jars. Each jar can hold 65-75 eggs depending on size. Starting in July I stash the extra eggs, not wating any intil all the jars are full. I can usually get the 400 away by October and then we start eating the first jar from July (3 month old) and putting any new eggs aside in same method. In this manner you can leapfrog storing the fresh eggs and eating the old ones through winter but keep any of them from getting watery.
Target is by far the best place to get the glass jars. They are the big cookie style jars with glass lids. I add thin layer of Vaseline to the lid when the jar is full to reduce oxygen transfer. You could probably also use melted wax and recycle it.
Notes:
1) You don't have to store all the eggs at once. They just have to be submerged fully and have the lime in. I add them in layers as I collect them daily. Usually I can fill a jar in 7-10 days depending how many eggs we get and eat.
2) DO NOT wash the eggs or use this method with store bought eggs. The eggs from the store are washed and what allows this process to work is the natural enzyme layer from the hen that dries on the outside of the eggs.
1) You don't have to store all the eggs at once. They just have to be submerged fully and have the lime in. I add them in layers as I collect them daily. Usually I can fill a jar in 7-10 days depending how many eggs we get and eat.
2) DO NOT wash the eggs or use this method with store bought eggs. The eggs from the store are washed and what allows this process to work is the natural enzyme layer from the hen that dries on the outside of the eggs.
Note #3 - You can use a DRY towel to scuff off debris, poo, etc. Small amounts of debris will not harm the process. The lime will kill anything alive on the egg shell. You will sometimes also get an egg that cracks in the jar due to handling, or it was cracked before you put it in and just missed it. This also will NOT spoil the other eggs, though it might make the water cloudy.
lancecolonel
NES Member
@xtry51, thanks for that info. I currently keep unwashed eggs in cartons in the cupboard and I always seem to have 3 or 4 dozen “stored” that way, plus 2 dozen washed eggs in my fridge. Once I get above that threshold I start sharing with neighbors and friends. I will definitely start using your method later this year to get us through next winter.
ETA: this seems like it would be an ideal way to make sure one has eggs when it’s time for flock turnover. I’m down to 5 girls and that seems like the ideal size for both the setup I have and needs of my family. Will be cool to have a jar of eggs put aside while I’m waiting for my next group of pullets to mature.
ETA: this seems like it would be an ideal way to make sure one has eggs when it’s time for flock turnover. I’m down to 5 girls and that seems like the ideal size for both the setup I have and needs of my family. Will be cool to have a jar of eggs put aside while I’m waiting for my next group of pullets to mature.
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38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Eat him.
ChevyGuy91
NES Member
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I love my rooster. He is not aggressive but he keeps the hens safe and let's me know when he doesn't like something in the yard. I have killed lots of predators because he crowed.
kiver
NES Member
I ended up culling a couple I had once they started to crow. We have a no rooster and 6 hen, town ordinance. Normally, I could give a crap about what the town says I can have, but I do not want to draw any attention and you know, chicken math.
lancecolonel
NES Member
For the 1oz lime, do you weigh it on a scale or use a measuring cup? If I fill a mini measure cup to 1oz it only weighs .5 oz.
I grabbed a gallon jar from target yesterday and want to try this storage method right away. Thanks.
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Can confirm they will sacrifice to keep the hens safe.
I keep rooster(s) to allow us to hatch some eggs in the spring. The silkies are naturally broody so no problem with the process. Last batch 5/6 were hens so I was happy.
Just ordered my early summer meat birds (5/8 delivery). Most places are sold out until July or August so I will be trying Hoovers Hatchery. If anyone wants meat birds this year I guess you have to get the order in quick.
I have a kitchen scale I use to weigh it. You want to mix it with the water and add it to the eggs. Most of it will settle out later, that's OK. You just need it cloudy at the start to ensure the eggs get fully exposed, so don't add water and eggs, then dump in the lime.
Yeah - these will be processed the first week of July. I have done that before and it definitely isn’t ideal. Hot, smells, and flies all over. I ended up stripping down to my skivvies, got blood all over me, and looked like some kind of psycho pervert. But I’m limited to how many I can raise and process at once so I break it into two batches. The fall is much better. And better for the birds because they aren’t at their obese stage in the heat.
lancecolonel
NES Member
You might end up with more roosters?
lancecolonel
NES Member
24 hours later….
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NHCraigT
NES Member
Our highest flock count was 20 hens and 3 roosters, that was like 3 or 4 years ago.
We've lost a number of hens over the past few years. Some to common chicken ailments, and some to old age. Fortunately, none were lost due to predators, thanks to a large number of perimeter alarms, cctv cams with audio, ready firearms, and constant alertness.
At the start of this year, we were down to 12, but In the past 2 months, we lost 4 (due to the same common ailments and old age, one we had almost 9 years), so we were left with 7 hens and 1 rooster, (with 5 hens currently laying).
Today, the wife (Cowgirlup), picked-up 6 more baby chicks and 2 baby guinea hens.
Operation Flock Rebuild - PHASE 1
We've lost a number of hens over the past few years. Some to common chicken ailments, and some to old age. Fortunately, none were lost due to predators, thanks to a large number of perimeter alarms, cctv cams with audio, ready firearms, and constant alertness.
At the start of this year, we were down to 12, but In the past 2 months, we lost 4 (due to the same common ailments and old age, one we had almost 9 years), so we were left with 7 hens and 1 rooster, (with 5 hens currently laying).
Today, the wife (Cowgirlup), picked-up 6 more baby chicks and 2 baby guinea hens.
Operation Flock Rebuild - PHASE 1
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lancecolonel
NES Member
If anyone is looking for chicks near the eliot, me area there is a place called sturgeon creek farm that got a double delivery. They are doing buy 5 get 1 free til the chicks are gone.
Millennial’s love affair with pet chickens is big business for a $30 billion retail chain—‘In America, the new companion animal is the chicken’ | Fortune
Tractor Supply is hoping to capitalize on how much people have come to treasure their chickens.
fortune.com
namedpipes
NES Member
The last time I kept chickens I was maybe 10 years old and that was half a century ago.
We go through half dozen eggs a day on average. Most of that is probably our pooch, but I can easily go through 2 - 4 a day, if they're sitting there hard boiled in the fridge.
Is there a rule of thumb of the number of eggs one uses when it becomes cost effective to raise chickens for eggs? It would be so easy to up our consumption if we're close to the break even point.
I think our spread can support a small flock, but I need to weigh the added work against the benefits which would include consuming ticks from the grass.
We go through half dozen eggs a day on average. Most of that is probably our pooch, but I can easily go through 2 - 4 a day, if they're sitting there hard boiled in the fridge.
Is there a rule of thumb of the number of eggs one uses when it becomes cost effective to raise chickens for eggs? It would be so easy to up our consumption if we're close to the break even point.
I think our spread can support a small flock, but I need to weigh the added work against the benefits which would include consuming ticks from the grass.
lancecolonel
NES Member
i don't know of a specific rule of thumb but can tell you that "start up" costs will definitely set you back and it might be a year or more before you "break even" depending on how you go about housing your flock plus the size of the flock.
one time costs will consist of a coop and maybe an enclosed run for the birds. this is a cost only you can estimate as you could buy a chicken taj mahal or build something with scraps of lumber you have laying around......you will also need feeder(s) and waterer(s). i guess you could say it's a rule of thumb that birds need 2-3 square feet of space per bird in the coop and perhaps double that in an enclosed run.
recurring costs will consist of feed, bedding, nesting material and possibly new birds when it's time to turn the flock over.
i currently have 5 girls, i spend $23/month for a 50lb bag of feed. i use pine shavings for the coop floor and one $7 bag of shavings lasts most of the year. when i get birds i get 8-10 week old pullets as they can go outside straight away. pullets are ~$20 each and you will be feeding them for a couple months before they start laying eggs.
there's also the added cost of chicken treats and supplements, first aid supplies, possibly a heater to keep water from freezing in cold weather.....
i completely empty and clean the coop every couple months, putting a diatomaceous earth dusting down to control mites and a new layer of shavings on the floor. the old shavings and droppings get tossed in with lawn clippings to compost. my neighbor chooses to put a thin layer of straw/hay on her coop floor and cleans it every other day. i think the only wrong way to do it would be to never clean it.
overall, i would say that in the year + that we have had chickens that we have not saved money but that wasn't why we did it......ymmv.
a ton of people in my area sell eggs and i could easily cover feed costs if i chose to do that.
good luck.
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We raise meat birds and egg birds. The meat birds (Freedom Rangers, twenty at a time) are kept in a stall in the barn. We don't want them flying. Raise until about 8-10 weeks old and processed. We do two cycles of meat birds. The egg birds, we buy a new batch of chicks every year, (16 at a time) and when they are ready, we cull out the two-year birds.
