228 Million eggs recalled

Heritagefarm · #61 08/19/10, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pony

LOL! So, can you also sell eggnog for that $5, or do you have to fork over some more cash?

More cash to make them happy!
Actually, we couldn't sell eggnog - too perishable.

Lazy J · #62 08/19/10, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

That makes me sad....

What makes you sad? The fact that the birds have a tempture range of 62 to 82 and are protected from preciptiation?

What makes you sad? The fact that the birds are protected from predators and the stress associated with predation?

What makes you sad? The fact that the hens have 24/7 access to clean water and nutritious feed?

What makes you sad? The fact that the producer is trying to raise the hens without prophylactic doses of medicine?

What makes you sad? The fact that the birds have shavings and are separated from manure with slats?

What makes you sad? The fact that Chris30523 cares for his/her hens and ensures they are healthy?

I am curious, what makes you sad?

partndn · #63 08/19/10, 03:13 PM

I don't think you're curious at all, particularly at how the poster feels. I think you're doing your best to see if you can sway this thread to be closed.
I am NOT curious, however, as to why you can't post on the topic or just LET IT GO? I love to read information here and would really appreciate you using the posting space for something that didn't plead for argument. You must have nothing to do.

Emmy D · #64 08/19/10, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy J

What makes you sad? The fact that the birds have a tempture range of 62 to 82 and are protected from preciptiation?

What makes you sad? The fact that the birds are protected from predators and the stress associated with predation?

What makes you sad? The fact that the hens have 24/7 access to clean water and nutritious feed?

What makes you sad? The fact that the producer is trying to raise the hens without prophylactic doses of medicine?

What makes you sad? The fact that the birds have shavings and are separated from manure with slats?

What makes you sad? The fact that Chris30523 cares for his/her hens and ensures they are healthy?

I am curious, what makes you sad?

What makes me sad is my hens have all of the above and don't have to live their lives indoors or in CAGES!!

Emmy

Lazy J · #65 08/19/10, 03:51 PM

One aspect that is lost in the debates between Raise Your Own versus Store Bought eggs is the non-shell eggs used in food production. A substantial portion of the millions of eggs produced in the USA are sent to Breaker Plants where the eggs are processed for use in many products ranging from cake mixes to fluid eggs for commercial baking to food service eggs.

I am glad we have our own flock of layers for our shell egg needs, but am also glad we have a commercial egg farmers that produce eggs efficiently for use by those of us that don't have the resources to have their own layer flock.

Jim

Heritagefarm · #66 08/19/10, 04:05 PM

Non-shell eggs??? What does that have to do with anything???

arabian knight · #67 08/19/10, 04:06 PM

So am I glad to have prices around 1.59 a dozen for eggs, and that what makes these large farms do valuable to the Consumer. Period.
And keeping up with all the products that have eggs in them, makes prices stay lower then if there were no large farms like this.
So we had an outbreak, this too will pass, with not much affect on the prices thanks to large farms like this, throughout the USA.

pancho · #68 08/19/10, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emmy D

What makes me sad is my hens have all of the above and don't have to live their lives indoors or in CAGES!!

Emmy

I sure would like to know how you regulate the outside temp for your hens.
If you could explain it would save others a lot of money on cooling bills.

Lazy J · #69 08/19/10, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heritagefarm

Non-shell eggs??? What does that have to do with anything???

Non-shell, or Breaker Eggs are where many of the commercial eggs produced are used. That is where bakers, for instance, get the eggs for their needs. There aren't people breaking eggs at the bakery by the thousands to make products.

Fortunately most of the eggs processed by Breaker Plants are spray-dried to make an egg powder which kills bacteria. So the current recall should not affect them.

Jim

CaliannG · #70 08/19/10, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heritagefarm

Ya wanna know how we become USDA certified so we can sell our eggs at the local farmers market? Send them $5.

Thank you for that, HF! My entire family giggled.

As for the safer homestead verses factory, it depends.

Homestead birds ARE exposed to more varieties of things, bacteria, viruses, etc. HOWEVER, they are exposed to them in smaller *quantities*. A Jay flies by that is carrying fowl pox might shed some, but it is spread out over an area, so maybe only a few birds will pick up the virus and their immune systems are plenty able to deal with with the small amounts they pick up.

Factory birds are not exposed to much, because they live in a factory. Bleach is used in quantity. However, what they ARE exposed to tends to be concentrated and, because they are caged and not out and about roaming, they get a good dose of it. Once they get it and, due to the condition, if they are exposed to it they WILL get it, they don't have the immune systems to combat it.

It's kinda like the kid that gets to run and play in the dirt doesn't *generally* (exceptions exist) develop the same problems with allergies and whatnot that a kid who is constantly kept in a sterile environment develops. The kid that has had a case of the sniffles a few times might likely get over a flu in a week with no real ill effects than a kid that has been meticulously kept away from anything that might have a germ. In the latter case, the simple yearly flu has been known to kill kids that don't have antibodies built up.

In any case, the sort of problem in eggs that might effect US are things more easily spread in a factory environment, rather than a homestead environment. Well, actually, when it comes to the INSIDE of eggs, Salmonella is the only critter, so far, that has managed to achieve the feat of getting inside eggs of any kind.

haypoint · #71 08/19/10, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QoTL

I was agreeing with you here.. but you lost me in the last two paragraphs.

I checked this subject out yesterday- and one study I read actually said free-range birds were MORE at risk than caged birds. Presumably they come into contact with other types of bacteria that the caged birds wouldn't have access to (which makes sense, since mine love to dig in the compost pile and I doubt they'd turn their noses up at a big pile of dog poo). NOW- I am NOT saying that either is 'safer'. Truthfully, is anything EVER that safe? That's life, that's the risk you take. I don't have hens because I wanted safer eggs- I have hens because I wanted happy hens living in conditions I am morally ok with.

However- I don't agree with your last two paragraphs, especially the last one. How are my hens at risk for more diseases? They live in cleaner conditions, and I rarely bring in new birds, and if I do they are in quarantine until I determine their health status. Beyond that, new blood in my flock is only achieved when the birds themselves reproduce. My birds aren't near other flocks, either.

Factory Farm chickens are kept in buildings that are controlled by bio-security policies. Backyard flocks are exposed to bacteria and diseases that occur naturally in the environment. Wild birds transmit diseases, too.

Don't take my word for it. Check with your state's Ag Department. Ask them how many poultry disease outbreaks have there been in the past few years and were they backyard flocks or huge factory farms?

I didn't like the answer either.

In an earlier post I made a statement that was wrong. I was commenting that if, as someone had stated, most hens carry salmonella in their ovaries, then home flocks would be at risk, too.

I discovered, later today, that most laying hens do not carry that bacterium. When a flock is found to be carrying salmonella, the birds are destroyed. Mega farms check for it, generally backyard flocks are seldom, if ever, for bacteria.

Heritagefarm · #72 08/19/10, 10:11 PM

But, the bottom line is, factory farmed birds are not well taken care of. (that's the norm, I'm sure that there are factory farms that take as good care of their animals as a good homesteader... Uh...) A healthy, happy animal makes healthier, tastier product.

Patt · #73 08/19/10, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by partndn

I don't think you're curious at all, particularly at how the poster feels. I think you're doing your best to see if you can sway this thread to be closed.
I am NOT curious, however, as to why you can't post on the topic or just LET IT GO? I love to read information here and would really appreciate you using the posting space for something that didn't plead for argument. You must have nothing to do.

I have to agree he has been working overtime to get this one shut down!

Patt · #74 08/19/10, 10:33 PM

It makes me sad to think of a chicken who will never see the sunlight, never chase a bug, never take a dust bath, never lay out and just enjoy themselves. Anyone who has ever sat and watched their chickens roaming around their farm enjoying themselves would have to be saddened to think of them crowded into a barn and never seeing the sun.

Lazy J · #75 08/19/10, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heritagefarm

But, the bottom line is, factory farmed birds are not well taken care of. (that's the norm, I'm sure that there are factory farms that take as good care of their animals as a good homesteader... Uh...) A healthy, happy animal makes healthier, tastier product.

This is an absolute falsehood! You prove once again that you are blinded to reality and refuse to accept that your perceptions are incorrect and jaded.

There are farms both large and homestead that have no business owning animsla let alone selling livestock for human food. fortunately they are the exception and not the rule.

Heritagefarm · #76 08/19/10, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy J

This is an absolute falsehood! You prove once again that you are blinded to reality and refuse to accept that your perceptions are incorrect and jaded.

There are farms both large and homestead that have no business owning animsla let alone selling livestock for human food. fortunately they are the exception and not the rule.

228 Million eggs recalled

Lazy J · #77 08/19/10, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

I have to agree he has been working overtime to get this one shut down!

If asking for clarification and offering a different view leads to shutting down a thread the I am guilty.

Lazy J · #78 08/19/10, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

It makes me sad to think of a chicken who will never see the sunlight, never chase a bug, never take a dust bath, never lay out and just enjoy themselves. Anyone who has ever sat and watched their chickens roaming around their farm enjoying themselves would have to be saddened to think of them crowded into a barn and never seeing the sun.

I see where you are coming from. Thanks for the reply.

PrettyPaisley · #79 08/19/10, 11:12 PM

I heard a blurb on a news clip that I can't find anymore about regarding the feed being contaminated. I wish I could find more about that if it's the truth.

Likewise, I read recently that salmonella can also be found in pet food and that allowing your small children around it isn't the best idea. All I could think of was how many times I found DD on the floor in the cat's food bowl.

arabian knight · #80 08/20/10, 01:04 AM

I read that they are investigating that and Pet Foods being served to the pet in the kitchen is a bad idea, as that alone is contributing to salmonella being transmitted to the humans in that household.
So you are not that far off at all in saying not to Feed the cat or dog in the kitchen~!

Quote:

Young Children, in Particular, Are at Risk of Salmonella Infection From Direct or Indirect Contact With Pets
By Katrina Woznicki
WebMD Health News Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Aug. 9, 2010 -- Pet food can be a source of salmonella infection, and millions of families, particularly young children, may be at risk of becoming sick if pet food is not properly handled and stored in the home, according to research conducted by the CDC and several state departments of health.

Human salmonella infections linked to dry pet food had not been reported prior to a three-year outbreak in 2006-2008. Overall, Salmonella enterica causes 1.4 million illnesses and 400 deaths every year nationwide. Although the most common source of human infection is ingestion of contaminated water or food, infection can also occur through direct or indirect contact with pets.

http://pets.webmd.com/news/20100809/...ella-infection