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nosinglesource · 08-07-2010, 06:36

Aaza Dana, if you are truly looking into chickens, the Backyard Chickens forum is an extremely helpful resource, and that goes for other types of fowl folks keep too.

We only have female ducks since our remaining two hens were killed by a weasel a couple of months ago and, incidentally, had the first of our clutch of ducklings hatch sometime between last night and this morning!

Having roosters/drakes near the chickens/ducks makes no difference as to the quality of the eggs, nor does it mean that you will crack an egg to find an embryo in it. Both chickens and ducks will delay brooding (fulltime sitting on the eggs, which commences growth of the embryos) until they are finished laying all the eggs they are going to lay for that clutch. This ensures roughly the same hatch date for all the eggs, so that the female needn't be sitting on unhatched eggs while there are babies to care for. Even if an egg is fertilized, keeping it unrefrigerated does not ensure that a baby will form inside the egg....they require a very specific window as far as temperature and humidity are concerned, and this can only be accomplished a) under the mother, or b) in an incubator.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that I would far and away rather eat fresh 3rd world eggs directly from free-range chickens than eat any eggs, refrigerated or not, that came from North American or European agribusiness batteries. Chickens that are raised as they are MEANT TO LIVE produce healthy, and vastly superior nutritiously, eggs.

ps. Duck eggs will give you more bang for your buck on a nutrition basis....I wonder if those preservation methods would work as well on them? I can't see why not...

Astrid · 08-07-2010, 08:37

An alternative to refrigeration, although somewhat limiting in how you can use the eggs, is to pickle them in vinegar. The following recipe is popular in Britain:

Ingredients

12 hard-boiled eggs
4 cups of malt vinegar
1 finely chopped chilli pepper
10 black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp of allspice

Method

Peel the hard-boiled eggs, allow them to cool and then place them in a large clean jar.
Heat the vinegar and the spices in a saucepan until the liquid begins to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool to about room temperature.
Strain the liquid and pour over the eggs covering them completely.
Seal the jar tightly with the lid and store in a cool and dark place for a minimum of two weeks before consuming.

**sarafina** · 08-07-2010, 08:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaza Dana

Oh, and what about when we cruise? Can we take them? Is it the same regulations as traveling with cats and dogs?

This topic has been covered MOST thoroughly... and I still say ducks make more sense than chickens!

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ard-37083.html

nosinglesource · 08-07-2010, 08:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarafina

This topic has been covered MOST thoroughly... and I still say ducks make more sense than chickens!

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ard-37083.html

Keeping in mind that duck poop is both more liquid and smellier than chooks'.

Easy to hose off any deck surfaces though!

**sarafina** · 08-07-2010, 09:01

that would be why they call it the poop deck?

sww914 · 08-07-2010, 11:00

This is a really interesting discussion.
Since they have chickens almost everywhere on the planet, I don't see any reason to carry around a year's supply of eggs, but this goes in the GTK file.
I like chickens. I like them alive and I like them cooked just about any way you can cook them but I don't think I'll be taking any aboard with me. If I really feel that I need chickens that bad I'll buy a whole fryer, some eggs, and feed the seagulls for a few days. Then I''ll have everything a live chicken could give me, meat, eggs, and bird crap all over the decks.

hellosailor · 08-07-2010, 13:16

Aaza-
"Is it the same regulations as traveling with cats and dogs? " In the Western world, cats and dogs are considered to be pets and chickens are considered to be livestock. Different regulations almost always apply.
In Korea, China, and some Eastern countries, dogs would also be considered livestock. Even a delicacy. If you're sailing to Korea or China, perhaps you could let us know. <G>

JanetGroene · 15-07-2010, 05:20

Egg shells are porous, so seal them with something that tastes good such as butter-flavored Crisco. Things like petroleum jelly or varnish impart their taste to the egg. It's best to find fresh eggs that have never been refrigerated, coat them and rotate weekly. Janet Groene, Janet Groene's BoatCook

MarkJ · 15-07-2010, 09:51

Its been 10 months since I have posted on this thread (forgive me Father I have sinned).

We have stopped turning the eggs and have no problems with any of them since... maybe one. Those lil buggers last and last. We dont varnish, oil or nuffin'. We jus leave em to stay ok in the larder....

And as sww914 chooks is everywhere in this world so you dont have to stock up a years supply.

zeehag · 23-07-2010, 10:12

i a,m with markj on this one--we dont any longer live in midaevil times--lol--life is easie than then-we did things once we find arent necessary anymore--just because we were taught we HAD ro do it that way.guess what!! WE DONT!!!!! LOL--WE CAN DO IT ANY WAY WE WANNA DO IT!!!!!
fact--eggies last 5 weeks with / without/' whatever--they last weeks. in bilge, fridge, air--5 weeks. coated=5weeks.
uncoated=5weeks. lol...just stow em and make sure they dont break and have a really good trip. eggs are eggs everywhere in the world now--just because we are stupid enough to allow the government to grow totally out of proportion to the land in which we live, doesnt mean we have the best policies towards foodstuffs. or anything else for that matter. look at how we choose to treat those different from us--LOL
so i put my eggies into a bilge that is cooler than the rest of the boat--mebbe--and i cook them into foods--disliking poached eggs and not liking to have eggies and toast in eggie cups and toast points and all the stirling castle finery--i dont worry about the yolk standing up tight--it is going to get cooked into something anyway so no one will see the white is a bit runny--big deal as long as it doesnt stink, is on--oh yes--no blackness in it either--yukkk--those stink!!!! (rotten fertilized egg--eeeewewwww)

i would much rather support the efforts of the local farmer than of wally world when going to new places--wally world is a plague we brought on ourselves--LOL----and isnt worthy of my time when i am out and about in new places--i want local color --i want local flavor--doesnt happen in wally's--is kinda like ex patriating to a nice quiet place and then bringing all the junk and stuff from the former home so one doesnt feel alone as much--lol--doesnt work, does it!!?? sail to lapaz and instead of going back to states for stuff , bringing wallys to la paz--eeeewewww......
yes we know how to prevent diseases we knew nothing about decades ago--but we have an arrogance that we are the only way...LOL....

eeewww--butter flavored anything is yukkkky--i just use real butter instead for the real flavor, but io donot rub anything on my eggs. they last 5 weeks. not one day longer..LOL...besides, the substitute for the real thing is worse for ye than is the real thing--but i wont talk on trendy stuff now--is for another debate of 100 pages to be discussed at a later time...LOL....

btw--pickling of eggs great--but how do you make hollandaise sauce out of them after they are pickled? how do you make an omelette out of a pickled egg? cake? cornbread? yipes--too lumpy and the vinegar flavor isnt conducive to having great chocolate cakes or brownies....whereas a slightly runny egg makes them just like grammaws..LOL....

uhoh--another long one--best kill me now..LOL...

Astrid · 23-07-2010, 11:36

Quote:

btw--pickling of eggs great--but how do you make hollandaise sauce out of them after they are pickled? how do you make an omelette out of a pickled egg? cake? cornbread? yipes--too lumpy and the vinegar flavor isnt conducive to having great chocolate cakes or brownies....whereas a slightly runny egg makes them just like grammaws..LOL....

pickled for snacks out of the shell, or sliced up in salads; use powdered eggs for cooking.

seashine · 25-07-2010, 00:48

Crossing the equator at the same time as the sun can be H-O-T and our eggs never failed us. Like everyone else on this forum recommends, they came from farm to market to boat with no intervening refrigeration. We then boiled water and put our eggs in (we could fit 3-4 in a sieve) for eggsactly 10s each to cook the outer membrane. Less messy than vaseline or wax. Turned the cartons every couple of weeks (not sure why as the eggs always looked fine when opened) and floated the eggs in seawater to check them before opening. Never did a randomised control trial on eggs floating in fresh vs salt. If they float, discard; if not, then crack and cook!
Tomatoes lasted for up to 2 months if we bought them green direct from the markets and stored them away down low and checked them every couple of days for ripe ones. Cabbage lasted well too, with the stem freshly cut and waxed with a dripping candle to keep out the air. We then used the leaves from the outside in. Lemons or limes were again sourced from the local market where they had never been unfortunate enough to be chilled, then wrapped in wax paper and stored in a locker. If one went off the wax paper prevented the rot from spreading to the others. Butter was packed into boiled glass jars with cooled boiled seawater to keep the air off the surface - not sure how effective the top seawater seal was when in the higher latitudes and seriously bumpy going but the butter lasted for months anyway even at lat 0 with the sun dirrectly overhead... We simply boiled a ladle in seawater, let it cool, then ladled out what we needed for the next few days into a butter dish. Occasionally had to replace the seawater seal if it looked too grotty. Trick was to pack it down well to get rid of air bubbles.
What's all this got to do with eggs? An omelette cooked in butter with salad made from tomato and cabbage (and boatgrown sprouts, of course) dressed with lemon juice makes a delicious meal for when the fish ain't biting, that's what! Even after 6 weeks at sea in a non-refrigerated boat we could feast like royalty.