Meet the new Chicken George!!!!!!!

[Snadger]

My names not George btw, but it looks like thats what my allotment cronies are going to start calling me now!

Well, you know how I was going to get a few ex bats to keep my Minorcas company after my LS died.................hmmmmmmmmmm!

Someone at the allotment found out and offered me TWELVE!!!! yearlings POL. Nooooooooo says I, I only want a few. "Its all or nowt says he"...............Go on then says I! He is giving up with chooks so he didn't want anything for them.

I now have thirty chooks, inclusive of three certain cockerels and one possible.

I'm getting between 6 and 10 eggs a day from 15 hens!

*Wonders..........what the heck am I going to do with 27 eggs a day if they all start laying*

[Jeanied]

If you get 27 eggs a day how about adopting a wartime trick of laying them down in water glass?

[Seahorse]

You're such a soft touch, Uncle Snadge

I forsee a furture of going to work on an egg... and coming home to an egg... and so on

[Eco-Chic]

*Wonders..........what the heck am I going to do with 27 eggs a day if they all start laying*

What are you going to do when the boys and girls go romancing and you have dozens of chicklets?

If you get 27 eggs a day how about adopting a wartime trick of laying them down in water glass?

What does that involve Jeanied?

[dexterdoglancashire]

Nice one Snadger! Any photos?

[frias]

Good for you George, er sorry Snadger.

[Snadger]

Nice one Snadger! Any photos?

I'd need a wide angle lens!

Here's a question for you though Bernie? I just wondered if like me, you'd noticed the condensation on the greenhouse glass since moving the chooks in? They ain't very big little critters but they sure steam the glass up!

I'll see what I can do on the photo front at a later date once 'the flock' are in their final quarters.

Its 'Grey Fergie' restoration day tomorrow (Sunday) so I will only be at the allotment briefly!

[MaureenHall]

Well I for one am glad you got some more It makes me feel not quite so bad!!! My total's up to 40 now, but that does include 15 chicks. Just don't forget to update the "how many chooks" thread ................................... after all, you started it

[Hilary B]

If you are getting a LOT of condensation, you need more ventilation. Better a bit of cold than mould caused by condensation.......
It may apply a bit less in a greenhouse full of chickens, but it still applies to some extent.

[its hilly]

Glad to hear this Snadger, rags to riches eh?

[Snadger]

If you are getting a LOT of condensation, you need more ventilation. Better a bit of cold than mould caused by condensation.......
It may apply a bit less in a greenhouse full of chickens, but it still applies to some extent.

I've got quite a bit of ventilation ie cracked and broken panes, two roof panes of glass slid down four inches etc etc. So much so that I don't want to open either of the roof lights.
The rain comes in through these ventilation flaws in my rickety old wood framed greenhouse, which makes the atmosphere even damper.
The chook coop is on the end of the greenhouse and it's nice and warm and dry though!

[di]

You've made me feel so much better about our 24!
Hope,as I'm more than sure they will be,they're all happy gals with you!

[Hans Mum]

well done Snadger, that'll b e a lot of eggs when they're all laying, your honesty box might need making bigger

[Bramble-Poultry]

Preserving with waterglass is a chemical method of preventing bacteria from entering the eggs, and moisture from leaving the eggs. Personally, i would rather just use the eggs, pickle what i can, and whisk up those that need using up and freeze in batches of 4 eggs worth, so that i can use them in cakes.

But for the sake of answering questions, here is an article from a 1920's domestic book, kindly lifted from the following website:

Home Preseration Of Eggs: a selection from a 1920's cooking school course

PRESERVATION WITH WATER GLASS.--Putting eggs down in a solution of water glass is without doubt the most satisfactory method of storing them in the home. So effective does this method prove that the housewife who has a convenient and proper storage room should not fail to take advantage of this way of laying up a supply of eggs.

The commercial form of water glass is usually a mixture of potassium and sodium silicate, which, besides being cheaper than that which is chemically pure, is the kind that is preferred for the purpose of preserving eggs. A good quality of it either in a sirup-like solution or in the form of a powder retails in drug or grocery stores for about 10 cents a pound. To make a solution of the desired strength to preserve eggs satisfactorily, dissolve 1 part of water glass in 7 parts of warm water that has first been boiled to drive off bacteria, mold, spores, etc. One quart of water glass will make sufficient solution to cover about 12 dozen eggs. With the solution thoroughly mixed, it is ready to pour over the eggs.

In selecting eggs for the purpose of storing, be careful to choose only those which are clean, fresh, and perfectly sound, and, if possible, infertile. It is advisable not to wash them before they are put into the preservative, for they will keep better if their bloom is not removed. Place the eggs in receptacles in the manner explained for preserving eggs in limewater, and over them pour the water-glass solution until they are all covered. If the eggs so prepared are stored in a cool place, they will keep as long as those preserved in limewater; besides, there will be no danger of their acquiring any foreign flavor.

[Snadger]

Interesting article Bramble!

Wonder if eggs soaked in paraffin would be any good as fire lighters?..............somehow, I wouldn't fancy eating them!