i have used this site (you'all) for sometime now, and it is a great resourse. thank you. i will introduce myself more and my project in a future post.
but for now, i have a question, is it ok to feed pigs failed (spoiled) eggs from an incubator? it would be 30 or so eggs/month (we only have 4 hogs). does anyone see a problem with this?
Spoiled is spoiled. Toss them in the compost pile. In the unlikely event that they eat them, you run the risk of them getting ill...but that mineral content will be great for your soil.
Generally its not a problem. If you are candling them once a week and tossing the quitters to the pigs. Give any that make it the full 3 weeks without hatching the sniff test first (you can smell a rotten egg) or a very, very, gentle shake to feel if they are liquidy inside. Those that are, should be carefully placed in a bucket and taken out to the back forty to be thrown against a tree/rock. The reason for this is that they make a satisfying explosion when they hit. (kid entertainment) They also make one heck of a stink which is why you do this at the back forty. You can give rotters to the pigs who will pop and leave them, but than the whole area will stink something awful. Thirty stinkers would make a skunk blush. Than, there is the compost heap as mentioned.
The Chinese used to candle at 3-4 days and then SELL the quitters as fresh! No problem feeding them after a week. Waiting until hatching, that is a bit more risky. The pigs probably will still eat them, they usually LOVE eggs.
"You must be the change you want to see in the world." "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." --Mahatma Gandhi
"Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words." --Francis of Assisi.
"Family farms work when the whole family works the farm." -- Adam Klaus
As gross as it may sound any eggs that don't hatch after 23 days go to the pigs after a quick sniff test to make sure none have really spoiled. The pigs go crazy over them.
"Instead of Pay It Forward I prefer Plant It Forward" ~Howard Story / "God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools." ~John Muir
this might be asking for for trouble, but would anyone boil the failed eggs before feeding them? i could see alot going wrong with this plan, and would be a reason to use the outside kitchen.......but i thought it would be worth asking.
When feeding a lot of raw eggs to a pig, they should be boiled. The protein Avidin binds with biotin and causes dermitogical problems in pigs fed too many raw eggs. Boiling the eggs before feeding solves the problem. I wouldn't think a developed quitter to be a problem, but if there is doubt as to just how many are unfertilized rather than developed quitters, boiling would be a good idea.
The reason that I don't feed developed eggs to my Pigs is because my Pigs might get the idea that eating Chicks is good. I free range my Chickens, Ducks and Geese and they spend a lot of time in the Pig compound.... ....here Chick, Chick, Chick
The eggs that don't hatch under our hens are almost always ROTTEN anyway. Those go into the woodstove, explode like stink bombs in there and then end up in the garden with our ash.
much of what my neighbours consider to be good I consider to be bad
I have Large Blacks. The sows farrow in the chicken barn if the weather is cold and chickens are always in the farrowing pen along with the sow and piglets. The cats are too. Those heat lamps in the corner are cozy. The only danger is if a sow steps on one, but I haven't had that happen. If the sow is well fed she doesn't care about eating chickens. I have fed freshly killed chickens (coyote attack) to the sows with live ones running around and they still don't bother the live ones. As the piglets get older, before weaning, they start wrestling with one another. The chickens move out when the piglets get around 20lbs because the piglets like to chase them and they are too rough.
A pig will eat any egg it finds and won't worry about if they are quitters or not, but quitter eggs or fresh eggs do not trigger chick eating. So, what gets eaten first; the chicken or the egg? Doesn't have to be either.
Oh, sure, you could do that. Or you could eat some pie. While reading this tiny ad:
permaculture bootcamp - gardening gardeners; grow the food you eat and build your own home