Eggs

[Vitamin c]

With the economic crisis well and truly on the way and food prices rising every time you shop.

Could you live of a long-term diet with a high egg content , their's more than a few on here with their own birds , but eggs every day lots of eggs.

If you check youtube you will find as many experts saying eggs are OK or eggs are not .

But could you do it...
Do you think it's safe/healthy...

[pseudonym]

With the economic crisis well and truly on the way and food prices rising every time you shop.

Could you live of a long-term diet with a high egg content , their's more than a few on here with their own birds , but eggs every day lots of eggs.

If you check youtube you will find as many experts saying eggs are OK or eggs are not .

But could you do it...
Do you think it's safe/healthy...

Let the eggs hatch and bingo...... meat if you eat it, trade goods if you don't.

[jansman]

nothing wrong with eggs. I eat an average of three per day. I now only have six birds. That gives us eggs to bake with, pickle ( I love them!) and occasionally to trade. They are good for you, but like everything else, it’s about moderation. I like some vegetables and meat too. And fish.

I suspect the original question may be a guarded one - wondering if keeping fowls was a good idea? Perhaps?

If that is the case, then let me say this: your eggs aren’t cheap. Unless you rear your own birds - which I don’t- then even basic breeds like Isas, Rangers or even Columbian Blacktails, they are £15 each ; around here anyway. If you want the Rare Breed gig, then call them 30 to 50 quid apiece- and FAR less eggs per year. If you want them for meat, then you need to think about heavy breeds and a cockerel to rear your own. Another game altogether.

Then housing. Make your own, properly, £100 minimum, and that’s with some reclaimed stuff. If not, £200. Buy a ready made set up, then you start at £300 and the sky is the limit. Then feeders and drinkers. 30 quid. Straw and sawdust- every muck out time. Then feed. Around here, six birds will cost £17 every 6 weeks. You can give them corn, but too much causes egg - pecking. So does the ‘Wartime’ CRAP idea of feeding them on boiled vegetable peelings. They peck eggs for nutrition. You lose eggs. Don’t forget grit. £3 every couple of months.

You might want to do the happy- clappy- free- range gig? Be aware of constant Bird Flu. Mine are in a run with constant litter- change. The run has plastic cover , which also stops it becoming a quagmire in the rain. When the sun shines, I put insulation over the top to stop the birds from overheating.

Don’t forget them being wormed, and de- loused either.

During lockdown, along with puppies, a lot of folks bought fowls to beat the .’egg shortage’ . Many ended up back at the breeders and RSPCA.

I’ll leave it with you…

[Vitamin c]

nothing wrong with eggs. I eat an average of three per day. I now only have six birds. That gives us eggs to bake with, pickle ( I love them!) and occasionally to trade. They are good for you, but like everything else, it’s about moderation. I like some vegetables and meat too. And fish.

I suspect the original question may be a guarded one - wondering if keeping fowls was a good idea? Perhaps?

If that is the case, then let me say this: your eggs aren’t cheap. Unless you rear your own birds - which I don’t- then even basic breeds like Isas, Rangers or even Columbian Blacktails, they are £15 each ; around here anyway. If you want the Rare Breed gig, then call them 30 to 50 quid apiece- and FAR less eggs per year. If you want them for meat, then you need to think about heavy breeds and a cockerel to rear your own. Another game altogether.

Then housing. Make your own, properly, £100 minimum, and that’s with some reclaimed stuff. If not, £200. Buy a ready made set up, then you start at £300 and the sky is the limit. Then feeders and drinkers. 30 quid. Straw and sawdust- every muck out time. Then feed. Around here, six birds will cost £17 every 6 weeks. You can give them corn, but too much causes egg - pecking. So does the ‘Wartime’ CRAP idea of feeding them on boiled vegetable peelings. They peck eggs for nutrition. You lose eggs. Don’t forget grit. £3 every couple of months.

You might want to do the happy- clappy- free- range gig? Be aware of constant Bird Flu. Mine are in a run with constant litter- change. The run has plastic cover , which also stops it becoming a quagmire in the rain. When the sun shines, I put insulation over the top to stop the birds from overheating.

Don’t forget them being wormed, and de- loused either.

During lockdown, along with puppies, a lot of folks bought fowls to beat the .’egg shortage’ . Many ended up back at the breeders and RSPCA.

I’ll leave it with you…

Well spotted

[diamond lil]

Agree with Jansman that they aren't a cheap quick option. They are nice to keep if you have time on your hands but they seem to be like sheep - you need to always be doing something with them. If you were a really busy person out at work for 14 hours a day and never sees daylight in winter, then forget it because it would be a nightmare.

[jansman]

Agree with Jansman that they aren't a cheap quick option. They are nice to keep if you have time on your hands but they seem to be like sheep - you need to always be doing something with them. If you were a really busy person out at work for 14 hours a day and never sees daylight in winter, then forget it because it would be a nightmare.

Sunday and Wednesday mine have to be mucked out - religiously. Food and water check everyday,water especially. Once a week I check for lice and red mite. Once mites get in,it’s a nightmare. What I forgot to mention too; Vermin control. I have covered bait points along the edge of the run ,as mice and rats come in quickly, like flies around s###. I breed rabbits too,and the same applies there. Then the big one - foxes. I am a country boy,and livestock keeper,and the only good fox is a dead one. They are there and you don’t know! I have had some wicked fox / hen attacks,and you have to be aware of that. My current housing is wired and buried 16” underground to stop foxes digging,and the wire is double - skin weld mesh,as a fox can easily remove traditional’chicken wire with it’s teeth.

[grenfell]

I can always remember my parents using the term "eggbound" which seemed to be a reference to consipation. My parents didn't have a medical background any more than I do so I can't say one way or other if there's any basis in truth in the statement but it would seem logical to assume that living wholly or to a very large degree on any one food might cause problems. We're not classed as omnivores for nothing , we can and should eat a variety of foods. Classic example is fur traders who ate nothing but rabbit and suffered from malnutrition. Could one replace pretty much other forms of protein , and I think to a degree fats , just with eggs ? I would think that would be doable , baked eggs instead of beef or a fried egg sandwich without the bacon. That assumes that one likes eggs obviously. I do but don't eat that many in all honesty but could see "boredom" being an issue for some.
As Diamond lil says animals are a bit neady whether they are birds , rabbits or anything else. You can't just leave them several piles of food and tell them to just eat one a day while you go on holiday. Birds especially need locking away from predators each night and so on. But to go back to VitC's original question , nutritionally I would say yes ( although I'm not sure what's meant by "lots of eggs") , economically perhaps a bit more of a grey area it could work out that there are some savings although they won't be free and could even cost more.
More a question for jansman but do you "build in " a sort of over capacity for when they don't lay?

[jansman]

I can always remember my parents using the term "eggbound" which seemed to be a reference to consipation. My parents didn't have a medical background any more than I do so I can't say one way or other if there's any basis in truth in the statement but it would seem logical to assume that living wholly or to a very large degree on any one food might cause problems. We're not classed as omnivores for nothing , we can and should eat a variety of foods. Classic example is fur traders who ate nothing but rabbit and suffered from malnutrition. Could one replace pretty much other forms of protein , and I think to a degree fats , just with eggs ? I would think that would be doable , baked eggs instead of beef or a fried egg sandwich without the bacon. That assumes that one likes eggs obviously. I do but don't eat that many in all honesty but could see "boredom" being an issue for some.
As Diamond lil says animals are a bit neady whether they are birds , rabbits or anything else. You can't just leave them several piles of food and tell them to just eat one a day while you go on holiday. Birds especially need locking away from predators each night and so on. But to go back to VitC's original question , nutritionally I would say yes ( although I'm not sure what's meant by "lots of eggs") , economically perhaps a bit more of a grey area it could work out that there are some savings although they won't be free and could even cost more.
More a question for jansman but do you "build in " a sort of over capacity for when they don't lay?

No Grenfell, I don’t build in an over capacity. My birds are starting to moult a little earlier than normal,and there’s a ‘glitch’ in laying. Still enough though. The current flock is a year old,so this Winter,eggs should be 75% ,going back to 100% next Spring. Winter 23/24 ,they will drop,so the Spring of 24 is when - sorry - stock has to be replaced ! I can’t feed holiday makers.

Speaking of which,you mentioned holidays. We get a day or two away,and eldest daughter attends,but it’s a job you need to really understand. Anyone who likes time away would not make a good choice having hens in my humble opinion.

Egg binding:It does happen occasionally,in my own stock ,usually when they are older,which cannot be helped. General care is easy ,by feeding ad lib layers pellets,which are commercially produced,and give more than adequate nutrients. Grit is also available,although not absolutely necessary with commercial pellets,but I do anyway. I do give them greens regularly ( I have perennial Taunton Deane kale in the beds next to both hens and rabbits) and a couple of times a week just a dog bowl of potatoes and veg that we have over produced in the kitchen. They enjoy a little cooked rice too. But absolutely not too much.

[Vitamin c]

Well Vince gironda 60/70s bodybuilder and personal trainer to the stars famously ate 36 eggs a day( pre contest)
Eggs are known to naturally increase testosterone in men.

6 eggs = 30ish grams of protein depending on size.

Men average activity need 100g of protein a day a more active man needs more.

[jansman]

Well Vince gironda 60/70s bodybuilder and personal trainer to the stars famously ate 36 eggs a day( pre contest)
Eggs are known to naturally increase testosterone in men.

6 eggs = 30ish grams of protein depending on size.

Men average activity need 100g of protein a day a more active man needs more.

Oh eggs are a winner for sure. So are you considering keeping poultry then?