This past weekend was supposed to be two days filled with lounging on the couch, being lazy, reading, spinning and general moseying around on the computer. Instead, I spent time shoring up my brooder and transfering some newly hatched chicks out of the incubator. I then sterilized the incubator and set another batch of eggs to hatch. The rest of the weekend was spent in the garden, as we have been having some nice warm weather.
So the eggmageddon is here and you're stuck paying exorbitant prices for your morning breakfast with some diners and restaraunts charging an extra 50 cents per egg or worse, using egg substitute! That dreaded bird flu is here and is wreaking havoc on farmers and backyard chicken keepers alike.
chicken little
The same thing happened back in 2015 and it was just as devastating with over 50 million birds being culled. Biosecurity is a big issue with big poultry facilities as they have fleet vehicles coming and going which can introduce pathogens along with workers who enter and leave the properties. I do know they have measures intact, but the bigger you are, the harder it is to control and implement biosecurity measures.
My own small flock heads out at sunup and I see them only once or twice as they head into the coop to lay their eggs. It is with their return at dusk, that I lock them in the coop. I refuse to cage them up when no evidence of bird flu has been found within a several state area. They will remain on the loose, foraging and eating as nature intended.
I didn't fall in line with the covid plandemic and I won't kneel to this one either. When the need arises, I may comply.
As it stands, my incubator runs constantly, hatching either for neighbors, for sale, or for my own flock replenishment. Over the past few years I have preserved excess eggs by freezing, drying and pickling, to the extent that I have enough in rotation to last a good few years, which allows me to gift the extras out to my neighbors. I also have a couple of sales avenues that will buy if I am flush with surplus.
Welcome to the world, little ones
I set 25 eggs this hatch cycle and came out with 19 chicks. Hopefully I get a decent percentage of hens and the roos....well, they will also be useful. Sorry little fellas
The new scuttlebutt going round is that chicken meat is going to go through the same scarcity and inflated prices as the eggs. Hmm...I wonder why it hasn't already suffered the same fate as the egg trade? Granted, different chicken types, but a bird is a bird is a bird, right? I am so unconvinced. Is it just a further tightening on the food supply? They're culling cheap food, real food, not all food in general. You can still easily find all of their highly processed food-like substances. I wonder how long it will be before we can't get beef steak, ham or bacon to go with our eggs.
Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend,
Tammy
A compulsory housing order for poultry was introduced here last week, but like yourself I take no notice of that nonsense. Strange how this bird flu doesn't cause sickness in wild birds but kills poultry. Hmm.
Adorable little chucks there. I don't hatch my own, I just wouldn't be able to do away with the males. I'm far too soft.
Yes, isn't that odd? I do have separate quarters in case a quarantine is necessary, but not using it if I don't have to. I don't like the dispatching either. Sometimes I can barter live birds for other goods, but I usually end up having to deal with it.
Greetings Tammy,
What a lovely interesting post. I so enjoyed seeing the little chicks. ^__^
Appreciate the information of what is happening where you are. It does seem rather obvious that this is manufactured shenanigans.
What's interesting in the agricultural realm...there is no room for unreality...for fantasy. So Cock Soup it is....Coq au Vin...as the French say.
Kind Regards,
Bleujay
A warm welcome to you Bleujay!
They are so cute when they're so young :)
Yes, you are so correct - no room for fantasy foods. But Coq au Vin?? there is always room for that and I would love some right now!
I hope you have a delightful week!
Tammy
Cock soup huh?
Does it have penis in it?
I mean peas in it! (Damned auto-text)
lol With all the 'ingredients' they shove into prepackaged foods, I wouldn't doubt if it did
I hope you manage to get through this latest madness unbothered. Your baby chicks are adorable! Though to be fair, going through a post thinking aw how cute then you throw in something like cock soup. There should be a trigger warning xD Have a good week!
lol I knew I should have modified the shock value of that pic!
I get eggs from a guy at work, his dad has many chickens (none of which have covid 19 or whatever the fuck germs are causing the egg issue). Anyway, this useless eggformation is just an eggscuse to egg you on to make another comment I can upvote...but you have to answer a question to gain it. Ready?
How many eggs in a carton of a dozen eggs?
It'll be eggcellent if you answer correctly as it'll gain you a 100% upvote from me.
It better be twelve, but I know chicken math, so the number goes up by the day 😂! Just got back from the market and a dozen large eggs were $7.69...I feel rich 🤣
Eggzactly 12!
Squee! I'm so eggcited....no yolk!
Fuck, this comment deserves another 100%er. (For the word squee,)
I just set my incubators back up yesterday, more because we've lost too many hens to predators than because of the current bird flu catastrophe. However, with prices of $15 per chick on the horizon, I don't think they'll be getting turned back off any time soon!
Agreed! Mine will run as long as I can offload them. I run a batch through at least once a year to replenish my own flock as they, too, get taken by predators sometimes. Hatch on!
Wow! You hatched your own chicks! That’s very nice skill to have during this time.
The bird flu thing was a scam to make food very expensive! It’s a way to control people, make them weak and desperate.
Hope you’ll have many chickens to give you lots of fresh eggs.
Hello Kaminchan! I do believe those in charge the world over would love to have us dependent on them for our very existence. It brings me joy to be able to give chicks and eggs to those in my neighborhood!
Wow! You’re very kind to share your chicks and eggs with your neighbours. I wish I could have three chickens one day. But my cats would think otherwise!😂
Hopefully DOGE fires some of those bent on finding disease where there is none... I don't know anything about raising animals of any kind, but I last year we've had farmers here protesting their healthy sheep being culled on a simple suspicion...
I sure hope so, it's gotten out of hand. I know farmers the world over are getting so angry at the intrusion into their lives and livlihoods. 'Out of an abundance of caution' they say. Losing a sheep is more devastating than losing the chickens. I would be irate if anyone came to cull anything on my property...probably irate and in jail.
Hope you are having a great week!