tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post8415207887820910748..comments2024-02-02T05:45:33.724-06:00Comments on Incoming: John Phippshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03245790061133614986noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post-91711950830829846642009-03-27T16:34:00.000-06:002009-03-27T16:34:00.000-06:00anon:I appreciate your concerns. It is widespread...anon:<BR/><BR/>I appreciate your concerns. It is widespread among industrial producers (my term). My point is our frustration produces a disproportionate response too often.<BR/><BR/>I'll try to post some points about this soon to help explain how those of us who generate the vast bulk of our food can perhaps consider some alternate responses that do not reduce our professional standing or elevate our detractor's arguments.<BR/><BR/>I also have become sensitive (like you) to those who somehow place non-physical work, such as ummm, this blog or managing health insurance claims or attending zoning meetings as somehow inferior to things that make people sweaty and dirty.<BR/><BR/>In fact, the fact many producers will farm for literally nothing leads me to the conclusion it is a pastime. If it's "work" they have to pay you to do it, right? If they don't have to, why should they?<BR/><BR/>Work elitism is common among farmers because they have until been able to forestall abstraction in our profession. But as I spend more time at my computer and less outdoors to run my farm, I am convinced which activity is the hard work.<BR/><BR/>And which one I can't wait to get to.John Phippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03245790061133614986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post-46399397091512264522009-03-27T15:01:00.000-06:002009-03-27T15:01:00.000-06:00Anon back,Well, if I seem a little sensitive it's ...Anon back,<BR/><BR/>Well, if I seem a little sensitive it's because I AM. <BR/><BR/>There are so many people who have never tried to make a living producing food trying to tell us that we are doing it all wrong. They don't know that the methods of housing and care that we use have been developed at the Universities and by Scientists. They think we are all just "Factory Farms" who are trying to grind every cent out of a chicken that we can.<BR/><BR/>They have not been around to try to produce eggs for 59 cents a dozen. They have not seen the improvements in health and production that are directly the result of better housing (yes, I'm talking about cages.)<BR/><BR/>They think everyone should get their food from a small farmer. The Factory Farms are a way to produce more food per acre - they don't even realize that this is an environmental improvement - using less arable land and producing more.<BR/><BR/>They want you to toil by hand to produce some food while they ride in their BMW's and send emails on their Blackberries.<BR/><BR/>I would ask that through your humor you teach and explain what we are really doing. PETA already has enough friends.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post-75540792391694934372009-03-27T12:35:00.000-06:002009-03-27T12:35:00.000-06:00all:Thanks for your comments. Obviously anon and ...all:<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comments. Obviously anon and others perhaps read more into my curiosity on this topic than I actually believe. Like many other topics the novelty of the subject caught my eye, and as I remember, several other aggregators. <BR/><BR/>Just as I have cautioned other industrial producers like myself, dismissing the animal welfare movement as ridiculous may lead to more pushback than you expect from customers you need - especially at this particular moment of economic turmoil. I certainly see it it feedback I get.<BR/><BR/>As I try to do, I link the whole article for you to read and opine upon. I found it mildly interesting since it suggests demonstrated by consumer buying habits changing.<BR/><BR/>As an analogy, there is no sound basis for non-GMO prejudice IMHO, but I still respect the right of others to spend their dollars/euros/pounds as they choose to express their opinions on that issue. And if my countering arguments are unavailing, maybe that's my problem - not my customer's.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the feedback - I'm sure many folks learned more about egg production.John Phippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03245790061133614986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post-31438107841736508872009-03-27T10:32:00.000-06:002009-03-27T10:32:00.000-06:00It would do Agriculture a great service if you wou...It would do Agriculture a great service if you would check with an egg producer to find out the facts. We need your help to spread the good word about modern food production rather than giving credence to something as ridiculous as this.<BR/><BR/>Modern chickens are bred to lay numbers of eggs. Some of the commercial breeds lay a smaller egg. The medium egg market is much lower than large - currently about about 25 cents per dozen. The premium paid for extra large over large is small, just a few cents per dozen. Most producers manage the hens to produce large eggs. There is a disincentive to produce extra large so egg size is kept from being pushed higher.<BR/><BR/>Naturally there is some variation to the egg size that is produced so even if you are trying to get large you will get some jumbos.<BR/><BR/>Chickens naturally start off laying smaller eggs and egg size increases as the hen ages and the bones of the pelvis spread. But sometimes a young chicken will also put 2 yolks in one egg shell as their bodies aren't quite into the swing of things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post-88848710153261348682009-03-27T09:48:00.000-06:002009-03-27T09:48:00.000-06:00Ditto Sue's remarks on older hens laying larger eg...Ditto Sue's remarks on older hens laying larger eggs and not getting all upset about it.<BR/>We like our largest eggs and have kept old "ChickPea", buff orpington hen, around for years even though she only lays about a dozen eggs a year because each one of hers maxes out our egg scale.threecolliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05811004278088768813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post-30913772402380581752009-03-20T12:38:00.000-06:002009-03-20T12:38:00.000-06:00I agree with Sue. Our hens 60 years ago started l...I agree with Sue. Our hens 60 years ago started laying "peewee" eggs, then "pullet", then "medium", then "large", then some extra large. (Peewee was about the size of my thumb, if I remember correctly, medium were 21-24 oz per dozen, large 24-27, pullet 18-21. <BR/><BR/>Since the bloodspot is formed as the egg is forming, it doesn't have any relation to the size of the egg (Google "bloodspots eggs). And simple geometry would say the proportion of shell to contents decreases as the size of the egg increases. (There's more packaging material for a quart of milk than a gallon.)Bill Harshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02094598931693185805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27951078.post-27476905641198385222009-03-20T06:58:00.000-06:002009-03-20T06:58:00.000-06:00That sounds just crazy! My chickens lay bigger eg...That sounds just crazy! My chickens lay bigger eggs as they get older eating whatever they can scounge up around the farm (mostly spilled feed, worms, bugs, kitchen scraps). They seem to fare none the worse for giving us those deliciously large eggs!Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06259122221421226496noreply@blogger.com