Permaculture - Eggs: storage, quality, breeding and hatching (lesson 42) | club75

I do not know if it can be called permaculture knowledge, or maybe sooner practical knowledge that each of us should have, but since we are discussing egg production at home, we must start from scratch, i.e. how to recognize a good egg from a broken egg, that in the farm can be found more often than in the store) and how the eggs should be stored.

Recognizing the broken eggs is child's play. All you will need is a bowl of water and an egg, which we suspect may not be good. Immerse the egg in the water - if it floats on the surface of the water, you shouldn't eat it. Good eggs sink to the bottom.

To extend the life of your eggs, store them wide end up and narrow end down in a cool place (it can be a refrigerator, but not necessarily - any other cool place will do the job). Eggs are good for about three weeks, but it is advisable to test before eating them as described in the previous paragraph.

Remember that very small eggs are bad and shouldn't be eaten. You can, however, eat eggs with a slight blood spot or with more watery whites. The watery white part is caused by the heat or the age of the hen - older hens lay this type of eggs more often than the young.

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GENETIC DIVERSIFICATION AND BREEDING, IN GENERAL

We choose hens for breeding in the fall, at the latest in April (northern hemisphere). Every year, 30% of all hens left for rearing should be removed (for example, by slaughtering them for meat). We replace the cocks every two, maximum three years.

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From egg breeds, I recommend:

• Polish green legs (obviously, as the Pole, I had to recommend that brand firstly): the hen weighs 1.5-2 kg, the rooster 3 kg.
• white leghorns, hen 1.2-2 kg, rooster 2-2.5 kg. They do not hatch eggs. You can cross with other breeds.
• Rhodaylides hen 2.5-3 kg, rooster 3-4 kg. You can cross with other breeds.
• light Sussex, the best of the above for meat, additionally high egg yield. You can cross with other breeds.

Always choose the best hens and roosters for breeding. The quality of the hen can be recognized by its good egg performance and health. Good laying is eggs all year round, except during the moulting season. Spring brood hens should start laying in the fall. By February (Northern Hemisphere) at the latest, otherwise they are of poor quality.

The eggs from the second year of laying are the most suitable for hatching. That's when the strongest chicks are born. The laying year is from November 1 to October 31 of the following year. The highest egg laying is achieved by chickens hatched in March and April, lower in May, it is difficult to find high egg laying among chickens from June

It looks like this:

1st year of laying - for eggs
2nd year of laying - most for reproduction, the rest for eggs
3rd year of laying - eggs and limited slaughter
4th year of laying - the rest are slaughtered

Breeding cocks should be kept for a maximum of 3 years. After this time, the hens cover much worse. For light breeds, 1 rooster is sufficient for 15-20 hens, for heavy breeds - 1 rooster for 10-12 hens.

Roosters are allocated to hens from February to June, then they are kept separate. How cocks fight each other, you can make curtains of fabric hung on a rope, not reaching the ground, with the space of 15 cm from the bottom. This way, the roosters cannot see each other and can pass freely under the dam. In the event of a conflict, the weaker runs away to the other side of the farm, and the stronger is usually content with it.

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HATCHING EGGS

If the eggs are hard-shelled, large (55g +), place it under the hen when they are up to 10-12 days old (with time the chances of hatching decreases).

Mother hens - it is easier to obtain them among two-year-old and older hens, and easier from heavy breeds than light breeds

Turkey mother hens:
Turkey hens are easy to make to incubate chicken eggs. First, put a lot of hay in the box, cover the box with boards so that it cannot get up. If, after a few hours, the mother hen has compressed the hay so that she is able to stand up, add the hay. At first the turkey tries to get out, but over time it gives up and sits. Every day, the turkey should be released for 15-20 minutes (always at the same time) to stretch the legs, eat and drink. Then it returns to the nest, where you need to prepare a few heated gypsum, porcelain or wooden eggs. At first, the turkey dirt the nest, so it is important to clean the faeces on a regular basis. After a few days, it stops. Then it is also worth checking whether, after removing the upper part / cover, turkey is still sitting. The turkey should not be able to see other birds, it should be in a darkened but not dark room. Weak eggs can be destroyed while incubating (turkey is much heavier than hen).

The hatching nest for a hen is 40cmx40cm. 40 cm high, 20 cm in front, so that the hen does not have to jump into the nest (eggs often burst then). The nest has to be clean, hot scrubbed and dried, with wood ash and straw in it. A small indentation in the center. Away from people and other animals. Mother hen must be checked for all vermin and have a calm character. One hen is placed on 13-15 eggs, not more. Up to 19-20 eggs for turkey hen.

Incubation lasts 21 days (premature babies 20 days, sometimes it even lasts up to 23 days)
Provide wheat or barley (give up soft feed), drinking water, sand bath. Take care of the cleanliness of the litter in the nest (especially if one of the eggs is accidentally crushed by the hen - then additionally wash the remaining eggs with warm water).
On day 5-8, scan the eggs over the flashlight to check if the embryos are developing (a black dot and red veins must be visible). As many eggs are unfertilized, you can place the eggs of two hens under one and give the other a fresh batch.

As the brood stretches, take out the hatched chicks and move them to a warm place, after hatching the last one, change the litter and put them back in the hen.

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PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

• If the hen has problems laying eggs, walks like a penguin, has a lump on the lower abdomen, does not eat or drink, arrange a warm bath for her to relax her muscles
• If a chicken is aggressive and pecks other hens intrusively, separate it from the others for about two weeks. When he returns, he will occupy the lowest social position and his aggression should cease.
• If the eggshells break frequently, this is a sign of a calcium deficiency or an excess of green snacks (ergo grain feed shortage). If correcting these issues does not help, go to the vet, the hen likely has parasites.
• The natural antibiotic for chickens is grapefruit seed extract

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