One goose or three chicken: experts named an alternative to more expensive eggs

Although flows of chicken eggs from near and far abroad have poured into Russia, prices for this product are not falling quickly. The price was 130 rubles per package in December last year and remains the same. By the way, exactly a year ago a dozen cost an average of 90 rubles.

But the world didn’t fall like a wedge on chicken eggs! There are also goose and duck ones. Can they replace traditional eggs from laying hens? We asked Dmitry Kolistratov, a farmer from Ruza near Moscow, about this and more.

Let us remind readers that a Russian eats about 270 eggs per year – if we take into account those eggs that are used by the food industry. In total, we produce about 45 billion eggs per year on our own.

Hopes that imports would bring down prices for this product were initially naive. In December, about a million eggs from Azerbaijan and 300 thousand from Turkey were imported into Russia. As you can see, the volumes are very tiny – after all, on our own we “issue” about 4 billion pieces per month.

But in our country there are approximately 20 million personal subsidiary plots and farms, which supply 18% of this product to the market, many times more than foreign poultry farmers. Why don’t they fill the sales counter with their goods? It turns out that there are many reasons, and one of them is severe frosts, which will continue to rage in the near future, because Epiphany is ahead. It is risky to transport eggs in cold weather; you can freeze them.

According to farmer Kolistratov, today the main state support should be directed to poultry farming.

– We know practically nothing about geese and ducks; such eggs are not commercially available. And this is also a promising direction,” he believes.

– Can a goose or duck egg replace a chicken egg? – I ask him.

“It’s the same as asking: can lamb replace pork or beef,” Dmitry answers. – The goose is interesting because this bird is a vegetarian and does not eat worms and various midges. It has a completely different egg structure and contains more plant vitamins.

– What about the taste characteristics?

– Totally different. All eggs are tasty and healthy in their own way, but not for everyone. The protein in a goose egg is many times greater than in a chicken egg. It is also used in making omelettes, scrambled eggs or pies. Only instead of three chicken eggs you can take one goose egg.

– How much do goose eggs cost?

– They are practically never available for sale, only from farmers or in private farms for a specific order. In the summer, one goose egg cost 80 rubles, they are expensive.

– Not a bad business for those who keep such a bird…

– It’s hard to call it a business. Within a month, the bird prepares eggs for laying, then rests for a couple of months and can start laying eggs again… During such periods, yes, you can make a certain profit.

– And chicken eggs – how do chickens lay today, in the cold?

– In winter, egg production decreases sharply, this is 100%. I’m talking about farm and poultry. Maybe that’s one egg every four days. I can’t say anything about large production facilities; they have their own microclimate and use stimulants to increase egg production.

Poultry senses the change of seasons genetically and “sits on the egg” in the spring, as nature intended. Egg production decreases not only from cold weather, but also from the length of daylight hours. If you do not think about the health of your laying hen, then create a constant temperature in the poultry house and do not turn off the lights at night. She will rush, almost like in summer or spring. But if the chicken is your “workhorse” and produces good offspring, then it is better for her to rest in the winter; in the spring her egg production will increase.

– As I understand it, chicken eggs won’t become cheaper after the New Year holidays?

– More likely. Competition is needed among agricultural producers, which is why this industry is now especially in need of government subsidies. In general, animal productivity decreases in cold weather. The main thing is that the room is dry and there is reliable ventilation and airing. Animals get sick and feel discomfort not so much because of frost, but because of high humidity. During this period they need to increase their diet. I increase the caloric content of food for my pets by about 30%.