Egg Lady has a "wait list".

I dropped by the egg lady for my usual farm fresh eggs this morning and she just frowned. "I'm all out of eggs and with the recent salmonella scare, I've unfortunately had to start wait listing people". Can't keep ahead of the demand. She'll give me a call on Wednesday or Thursday.
The upside is that when I do get the eggs, they are sure to be verrrry fresh.

[David M. Bueker]

I was at the store Sunday morning & went to grab a 6-pack of Pete & Gerry's eggs (organic), and had someone who was very carefully examining individual eggs ask me how I could tell which eggs had the salmonella.

[Jenise]

I dropped by the Goat Farm on Friday to pick up eggs too. The chickens, I was told, "have started hiding their eggs" and only four could be found that morning. Do you suppose they read the paper?

Oh and even more disastrous news: there were cows in the barn and no goats. "Those are mighty big goats," I said. Yes, I was told, they were switching to cows because "there's no money in goats". Quite a turnabout from about two years ago when they stopped making goat cheese because demand for the milk was so high they had none leftover.

Oh and even more disastrous news: there were cows in the barn and no goats. "Those are mighty big goats," I said. Yes, I was told, they were switching to cows because "there's no money in goats".

Jenise-
Are they switching to dairy cattle (cows) or beef cattle? In my area we have loads of beef operations, but zilch dairy operations that I'm aware of. Conversely, we have a number of goat diaries and a world class goat cheese operation at Capriole.

I was at the store Sunday morning & went to grab a 6-pack of Pete & Gerry's eggs (organic), and had someone who was very carefully examining individual eggs ask me how I could tell which eggs had the salmonella.

Everyone knows that Salmonella infected eggs, and their shells, smell like salmon and have a pinkish tint.

[David M. Bueker]

I was at the store Sunday morning & went to grab a 6-pack of Pete & Gerry's eggs (organic), and had someone who was very carefully examining individual eggs ask me how I could tell which eggs had the salmonella.

Everyone knows that Salmonella infected eggs, and their shells, smell like salmon and have a pinkish tint.

Damn! I needed that info Sunday morning.

Winger, you shoulda been there in the 70s when I had two separate flocks of 24 hens. Chickens ain't hard to raise, you know.

Salmonella is usually a problem in less fresh eggs. Now that we have our own chickens, we never have eggs more than a few days old before they're used up. Please note: I'm rejoicing, not gloating.

Salmonella is usually a problem in less fresh eggs.

I have my doubts about this claim, Ce. The egg shell is an essentially impervious barrier, so any bacterial infection (such as salmonella) would have to be there from inception. In fact, this normally arises from a situation when the hen's ovaries are infected with salmonella, not a healthy situation and one that shouldn't arise if the hens aren't raised in a cramped, squalid environment where they essentially wallow in their own feces. That being so, I doubt that your own eggs pose any risk whatsoever.

Mark Lipton

Winger, you shoulda been there in the 70s when I had two separate flocks of 24 hens. Chickens ain't hard to raise, you know.

That is very true. But it seems a whole lot easier to just to stop by the egg lady's place on my daily walk and plunk down $2.00 for the "fruits" from her Rhode Island Reds.

Salmonella is usually a problem in less fresh eggs.

I have my doubts about this claim, Ce. The egg shell is an essentially impervious barrier, so any bacterial infection (such as salmonella) would have to be there from inception. In fact, this normally arises from a situation when the hen's ovaries are infected with salmonella, not a healthy situation and one that shouldn't arise if the hens aren't raised in a cramped, squalid environment where they essentially wallow in their own feces. That being so, I doubt that your own eggs pose any risk whatsoever.

Mark Lipton

Aah, ok Mark, thank you. I'll bear that in mind.

I've worked out a deal with my egg lady for next year. I'm "renting " 6 of her chickens to keep in a movable coop that will be rotated around my lawn. They can return to her for vacation respite and for the winter and come back to me in the spring.
This solves a lot of logistical problems. I hope it works out. I could still just buy from her but I like a challenge and the neighbors need a challenge.

Christina, I'm excited for you - I know how much fun we have with ours! Enjoy!

Oh and even more disastrous news: there were cows in the barn and no goats. "Those are mighty big goats," I said. Yes, I was told, they were switching to cows because "there's no money in goats".

Jenise-
Are they switching to dairy cattle (cows) or beef cattle? In my area we have loads of beef operations, but zilch dairy operations that I'm aware of. Conversely, we have a number of goat diaries and a world class goat cheese operation at Capriole.

The regulations are so defined and strict for a grade A cows milk dairy operation (at least in MN) that it is very difficult to switch and start up. Of course if they are allowed to just sell milk to the consumer directly from the farm without it being graded it can work. We had a small farmer who was selling his unpasteurized milk from the farm get shut down because of salmonella. He was never willing to follow the proper practices and procedures necessary to run a safe operation. Some of his customers received an extra "benefit" from his unpasteurized milk!

my farmers market egg person told me that someone had come up first thing and bought every egg she had. this egg stuff is getting baaaaaaad.