Our 24 laying hens, the notorious egg eaters, are enjoying their last
Summer days. Due to their insatiable appetite for their own eggs, I
ordered a new batch of bad-habit-free chicks and in a couple of months
will send the naughty cannibals to our freezer.
No doubt attempting to foil our plans once again, lately they've been averaging 22-23 eggs a day!
The average production when I purchased the new chicks was 7-8 a day.
Blast.
Maybe we should stay the execution. But then what would we do with 50 hens?
Any ideas?
7 comments:
It must be chicken peer pressure/competition syndrome. My hens were each laying about 5-6 eggs a week then dropped back to a single egg a week when the heat started. I added some 10 week old hens to the flock and as soon as they started laying the competition was on! Coincidently, the newbies started production the day my husband brought home a dozen eggs from the grocery store. Go figure.
LOL!! I love your frankness :-D. Seeing as how I don't see another viable solution, this is most likely the route we'll go :).
That is SO interesting, Leanna! Chickens are competitive... who knew?
Just wondering, what do you do with that many eggs?
Well, we eat a lot of eggs around here ourselves, but we also share the majority of them with four different families in our extended family. In the rare event when there are extras, my neighbors buy them (I've offered to give them but they always want to pay us). :)
I give my extra produce & bread items I would of normally thrown out the them as a extra treat. A good incentive to them....My birds have been producing like crazy this year. Also, if you put a little bitter apple or wasabi on their beaks (tar or no peck solution is used by some too), it discourages them from breaking eggs.
Very interesting! I'll keep those things in mind, thanks!! :)
Post a Comment