Free range garden eggs

[DAVYCHEZ]

Keep the eggs coming Takiap, they are gorgeous!

[bsdk1960]

Keep the eggs coming Takiap, they are gorgeous!

and gonna miss them soon when i'm home in dk.

[Takiap]

Keep the eggs coming Takiap, they are gorgeous!

Jokes aside..... it's nice to know you're enjoying them. It seems the hens have settled in now, if egg size is anything to go by. Lately most eggs tend to be large to jumbo.


Pete, looking at the picture of your daughter's coop, and looking into my crystal ball, I have a very strong feeling that, upon reaching their "no more eggs" golden years, your daughter's chickens will enjoy a quiet retirement rather than join the family for lunch.


You'd be amazed at just how serious some people are with regards to keeping chickens. A few of the coops you see on the BYC site are like 5-Star hotels.

[PeteC]

^ Oh yes! The clan went to Disneyland for a week and I stayed at the homestead. When everyone got home I was accused of chicken abuse...especially concerning that broody hen...(I used a small rake as a motivator) The daughter treats all 6 of them like her kids. The one that got eaten by a raccoon a while back, I think they had a funeral ceremony involving the remaining feathers and bone! Pete

[hhfarang]

My daughter's chicken condo in California. What you can't see is the ramp going up to the enclosed area where the nests are...egg laying zone. That coop is big enough for 6 chickens. They get locked in at night due to raccoon attacks. Pete

Pete, those "American" chickens sure look fatter and healthier than the free range Soi chickens I see around here.

[PeteC]

...Pete, those "American" chickens sure look fatter and healthier than the free range Soi chickens I see around here.

Try $19.95 for a 2 pound bag of mealworms as daily snack food. One bag lasts about a week.....as well as some kind of exotic seed mix. This is in addition to their normal organic chicken food. These eggs if tallied up probably cost 5 times more than store eggs.

They're also cannibals. They eat the cooked yolks that the family doesn't eat sometimes, as well as various vegetables and fruit. Their coop and yard is on the middle of a lemon and orange grove but they don't touch them. So, chickens apparently don't enjoy citrus.

[Dannie Boy]

...Pete, those "American" chickens sure look fatter and healthier than the free range Soi chickens I see around here.

Try $19.95 for a 2 pound bag of mealworms as daily snack food. One bag lasts about a week.....as well as some kind of exotic seed mix. This is in addition to their normal organic chicken food. These eggs if tallied up probably cost 5 times more than store eggs.

They're also cannibals. They eat the cooked yolks that the family doesn't eat sometimes, as well as various vegetables and fruit. Their coop and yard is on the middle of a lemon and orange grove but they don't touch them. So, chickens apparently don't enjoy citrus.

Ours love to eat the remaining flesh left on the skin of a water melon after we have cut it off to eat. They also devour with relish, any living insects/amphibians that I scope from the top of the swimming pool - their daily treat!!

[Takiap]

My daughter's chicken condo in California. What you can't see is the ramp going up to the enclosed area where the nests are...egg laying zone. That coop is big enough for 6 chickens. They get locked in at night due to raccoon attacks. Pete

Pete, those "American" chickens sure look fatter and healthier than the free range Soi chickens I see around here.

Yes, but I think you might discover that they are not native American chickens, and I can guarantee you that if left to roam wild, they will be gone before the sun sets. What you see running around in the soi are Gai Baan, which are still very much wild jungle fowl.

Just as a matter of interest, our egg layers are what you would call "American" or "European" chickens, and yes they look twice the size as well. Egg layers are bred for their egg laying ability, while broilers are bred for their feed to meat conversion.

There is one VERY REAL difference...........Thai soi chickens can provide you with a FREE source of meat and eggs, whereas the special breeds typically don't.


If our egg layers don't get fed, they don't lay. If our "soi chickens" don't get fed, it makes absolutely no difference at all. For a poo Thai family, Thai Gai Baan are by far a better option if you ask me. Free eggs; free meat, and if sold at market, a higher price as well.


I've had gai baan for a few years now before my MIL got the egg layers - which would I choose?

If living up in the sticks, I'd probably go for the gai baan, but if living in an urban environment, then the egg layers might be better.

On a slightly different note, the hens my MIL has are standard "industry wide" egg layers. The eggs you buy in the the supermarkets come from exactly the same breed of hens. The only difference is that my MIL doesn't keep her hens in cages, and they aren't given any antibiotics or any other type of medication. Of course, this being Thailand, "free range" is only free range because it's slightly easier and cheaper.

Pete, out of interest, are those speckled hens in the photo Plymouth Rocks? Just ask your sister... I'm sure she'll know.

[PeteC]

Daughter, Takiap. Sister is 73 and couldn't care less where her eggs come from. Daughter is at Girl Scout camp with granddaughter for a week so answer maybe delayed...stay tuned. Pete

[PeteC]

We're in luck, there must be wifi near the camp. .....and I quote:

"Who knew my chickens would be known internationally. Lol

Black & white are Plymouth Rock or Barred Rock

Orange are Rhode Island Reds

Yellow are Buff Orphingtons (I think)"

[joelle]

having read all the posts I would really like to try these famous eggs, therefore could I please have the adress so I can call round to buy some, if it is possible of course, assuming you have any left, also any particular day when I have the chance to get any ?
very nice day to all

[Takiap]

We're in luck, there must be wifi near the camp. .....and I quote:

"Who knew my chickens would be known internationally. Lol

Black & white are Plymouth Rock or Barred Rock

Orange are Rhode Island Reds

Yellow are Buff Orphingtons (I think)"

Cheers. As far as I know, commercial egg layers in Thailand (and probably elsewhere) are some sort of Rhode Island Red cross breed. True RIRs don't lay quite as many eggs but they are apparently a great dual purpose bird - eggs and/or table. I've also heard that the RIR roosters can have quite an attitude problem and are known to actually attack kids.

Our gai baan are great for eating (if cooked properly) but you only get about 50 eggs per year compared to the egg layers which we have that lay around 320 eggs a year. The egg layers on the other hand don't have much meat on them at all. They certainly look big and plump, but once you undress them, they're actually quite small.

I have found a guy up in the Northeast (KK) that sells RIRs and/or fertilized RIR eggs so I might end up with a few myself at some point. At the moment though, no more livestock.

[PeteC]

No problems with the RIR's that I know of or experienced. The bitchy one was one of the yellows....she who broods all the time and attacked me when taking her off the eggs.

[Takiap]

Just a quick update.........


My MIL's hens have started going crazy and are now laying eggs like there's no tomorrow, about 40 per day, and 99% of those are either large; extra large or jumbo size.

With so many eggs arriving , she has now reduced the price if you are willing to take a tray of 30 at a time. So, 30 eggs for 150 baht.


My opinion: A good deal if you ask me. As mentioned before, if you live in or around Borfai, or somewhere between Borfai and Hua-Hin, either my MIL or I might be able to deliver.

[PeteC]

She put steroids in the feed, right?