Over the past couple of weeks, their egg-laying activities have seen a reduction in the number of eggs laid every day because of the time-change and seasonal difference in daylight hours. Last year, we figured it out and rigged a heat lamp into their coop to offset the cold nights and to increase their laying business.
It's not consistently cool enough to add that heat lamp because our Texas weather remains rather warm for a longer period of time...as the rest of the country is starting to shovel snow, we are still wearing shorts. Even so, the reduction of daylight hours makes a significant difference upon the hens egg-laying routine.
This coming Spring, I am truly thrilled about the prospect of getting some chicks to add to our growing farm.
Once we've added more full grown chickens to our farm, I will not worry about having too many eggs because extras are cooked up as a treat for the dogs.
For now, we are preparing for cooler weather on a consistent basis. Our chickens will hopefully adjust and begin laying a bit more frequently. This bit of getting 1-2 eggs per day from our five chickens is rather embarrassing.
Girls...we love those eggs, don't let us down!
5 comments:
I'm down to 4 girls now. Coons! They are all molting and I haven't one single egg in a very long time. I keep searching the yard but, find nothing.
I've gone from an overage to zero. The whoa-man put eggs on the grocery list. grrr.
I hear you on the drop off of eggs! People to come over and visit and ask if we have some extra eggs. Embarrassed, we have to say no, we actually don't have any... even though we have 25 chickens! Wish they would be on a different cycles, but they are still a gem to have around.
Mike - I am down to five. We're definitely getting chicks as soon as possible. We've not had coon attacks out here yet, but I hope you catch yours. Maybe you should add some bigger, stouter birds to help guard the flock. My Buff Orpingtons are rather hardy and have enough weight on them to be more intimidating. That little Bantam I had was so sweet, but she was always the prime target because of her size. I've noticed that I've not lost any of my Buffs, perhaps that is because of their hefty size. ???
The Kelly's Adventures in KY - I know what you're saying --- we have no extra eggs to share and it is SO DEPRESSING and YUCKY to buy eggs from the store instead of getting the freshly laid eggs from your chickens in the yard. It's definitely worth it to have chickens. I've loved it. Since we've moved, my sister no longer gets her eggs from us and she really misses those eggs. :-/
Lana
When/if you have an abundance of eggs, they can be frozen for the lean times.
You do have to scramble them before you pour them into ice trays; but I did some that way, and fixed hubby an omelet and he said if he hadn't known they had been frozen, he wouldn't have been able to tell any difference. :-)
As near as I can tell, many people have a drop in production this time of year. Unless you want to resort to the artificial light thing.
Or, you could try a breed like Austalop, sex link, light sussex, etc, which have a high egg laying capability -- meaning 360 eggs a year or so.
Glad to hear everything is going well, Lana. ♥
I have a feeling your girls won't let you down!! :-)
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