There have been a lot of questions over the years, and now it's time to try and answer a few of them. If you have any queries for me to answer, reply to this email.

May 15 2022

what to do with all my eggs and how to use the waste in my garden - I have done pickling lime and oiled and made breakfast biscuits, muffins, bagels and so on, even offered the eggs for free and nothing. We check our eggs 1a week to see if they are good before we sell them.

So, here are a few thoughts. Having hens producing well is a double edged sword. It's great in some ways, not so good in others. They are always on a 'feast-or-famine' mode; either not enough, during the winter months, and too many for a single household to eat during the spring and summer.

One way to combat this issue is to downsize the flock. Many breeds of chickens are what is called 'dual purpose' which means they are good layers, but can also be used for meat. That's what our grandmothers would do; knock one or two off for the pot. Not into butchering? Then sell a few of the birds to another household for their egg production.

Or, sell the eggs (organic eggs are worth over $5 a dozen around where I live). You can also barter with them. What self respecting bulldozer operator or tree pruner would turn down fresh laid eggs?

If you have a rooster and can say for sure that he's getting around to all your birds, sell the eggs as fertilized for people to hatch out in an incubator or under a broody hen.

The chickens will love eating hard boiled eggs, don't give them raw or whole eggs as this can trigger the unwanted egg eating of the fresh eggs.

Put the egg shells you collect in the kitchen onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven for twenty minutes on a low temperature to kill any pathogens, then use a rolling pin to crush them. Give the crushed eggshells to the hens in lieu of oyster shell to make the shells of their eggs stronger. I hope that's given you a few ideas on what to do with eggs. There are more ideas here: make-money-homesteading.html