Animals
- The Egg-less Chicken Days Of Summer
The girls are on strike! It's that time of year again...egg production is suffering. Where we used to pick up 4 or 5 or even 6 dozen eggs a day,we are lucky now to even find two dozen. Why this drop in production? Heat may be the answer... as...
- Growing Chickens
I am happy to say that the hens that arrived as just-hatched-chickson April 1st are laying now. Every day I am getting 2 ½ to 3 dozen eggs. Lovely, aren't they?I love an egg carton full of eggs of varied color and size. Hubbs takes our eggs to...
- Elvis Is Singing A New Song
Here's Elvis, out with his gals and he's singing a new song! "It's now or never......" he croons. Elvis is as concerned as I am about our hens' dwindling egg production. Ever since that dog attack several weeks ago, production has been...
- Not All Chicks Are The Same!!
Last week we had a chicken tragedy. It seems, that at some point in the evening as the chickens were out free-ranging, two of the neighbors' dogs came onto our farm and had a killing spree. Several of our beautiful layers fell prey to these frenzied,...
- The Long And The Short Of Egg Production
Currently, we have about 30 layers....producing about 15 (plus or minus) eggs a day. We have a dozen more Rhode Island Red adolescents that will begin to lay later this winter. The amazing thing to me is the variety of color and size that we get in any...
Animals
I Need An Answer
I have a question for you...
something that has me worried.
Here it is.....
At what point does one qualify to be labeled a chicken hoarder?
Seriously, I know I am not a hoarder,
but my flock seems to be growing as the years pass.
My problem is this....
after several years of laying, chickens eventually stop laying.
Because I have chickens of varying ages,
I never know exactly which chickens are laying and which are not.
So amongst my layers are quite a few retirees, I am assuming.
Even if I knew which gals were no longer productive,
I don't think I would have the heart to stew them.
So as the years pass, I start more chicks so that I have
plenty of eggs for my ever growing flock of customers.
This summer I have started 25 (the Cuckoo Marans and Henri).
And because my old layers are just not up to speed in egg production,
I have ordered another 25 assorted brown layers to be delivered in July.
As for room in the henhouse....there is plenty with 4 henhouses.
And because the hens are free ranging, they basically only sleep and
lay eggs in their houses.
The rest of the time they are galavanting around the farm.
I assure you I have happy chickens...
very happy chickens.
Each of the coops gets cleaned every morning.
They always have access to fresh food and plenty of water.
Table scraps are a common treat
(they eat as well as we do!),
and their days are filled with dust baths, insect hunting, pasture grazing,
and communing with all manner of farm critters...peacefully....
making for a well fed, non-stressed life.
So I ask you.....
do I need to worry?
Or better yet....
do my chickens need to worry?
PS....
I wanted to show you this sweet iris.
It is called a black iris, and it came in the mail
early this spring from a sweet friend.
I am so happy it bloomed!
Just lovely....thanks Linda!!
- The Egg-less Chicken Days Of Summer
The girls are on strike! It's that time of year again...egg production is suffering. Where we used to pick up 4 or 5 or even 6 dozen eggs a day,we are lucky now to even find two dozen. Why this drop in production? Heat may be the answer... as...
- Growing Chickens
I am happy to say that the hens that arrived as just-hatched-chickson April 1st are laying now. Every day I am getting 2 ½ to 3 dozen eggs. Lovely, aren't they?I love an egg carton full of eggs of varied color and size. Hubbs takes our eggs to...
- Elvis Is Singing A New Song
Here's Elvis, out with his gals and he's singing a new song! "It's now or never......" he croons. Elvis is as concerned as I am about our hens' dwindling egg production. Ever since that dog attack several weeks ago, production has been...
- Not All Chicks Are The Same!!
Last week we had a chicken tragedy. It seems, that at some point in the evening as the chickens were out free-ranging, two of the neighbors' dogs came onto our farm and had a killing spree. Several of our beautiful layers fell prey to these frenzied,...
- The Long And The Short Of Egg Production
Currently, we have about 30 layers....producing about 15 (plus or minus) eggs a day. We have a dozen more Rhode Island Red adolescents that will begin to lay later this winter. The amazing thing to me is the variety of color and size that we get in any...