Thursday, January 17, 2013

Chicken Update. And then there was 7...

Having chickens during the winter isn't easy.  We have been lucky so far this year and have had only 1 big snow storm.  This is my chicken house a few weeks ago before we got about a foot of snow.

The last time I wrote about my hens I was having a hard time with the cost of raising backyards chickens.  I had just bought $50 worth of feed and was getting very little if any eggs.  Thankfully that has turned around and I have been getting 4-7 eggs per day from 7 hens.

Yes, only 7 hens is what I have left.  I lost another bird last week.  This bird is the last of my original 9 from the Spring of 2010 when I first started keeping chickens.  My last white Brahma.  I am left with 6 Plymouth Rocks and 1 Rhoade Island Red.

The birds have been laying really well the last few weeks.  Like I said I have been getting 4-7 eggs each day.  I have gotten some pretty interesting eggs as well.  Every once in awhile I get a doozy.  One that when I see it all I can think of is "ouch".  That was this one.

As you can see it didn't even fit into the egg carton.  It was a double yolker, always nice to get one of those. It's like a two for one deal.

This egg was just the opposite   It was about the size of a robins egg.
I am looking forward to Spring and getting some new chicks to add to the family.  I am still researching, trying to figure out just what type of birds I want to get and how many.
Posted by Frugal Sara at 4:56 PM
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5 comments:

  1. juliecacheJanuary 17, 2013 at 6:51 PM

    chickens are fun, no matter how many you have.

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  2. Felecia CofieldJanuary 18, 2013 at 7:31 AM

    Hi Sara! I am only getting 1-2 eggs daily from 9 hens! Five are only almost 2 years old, the others I don't know. I actually had to buy eggs this past weekend, so I bought organic. They were brown, but the hubs said they didn't taste as good as ours. I enjoy raising chickens for eggs, but I'm not sure the cost of feed evens everything out. Thanks for sharing! Blessings from Bama!

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  3. Granny SueJanuary 19, 2013 at 5:59 AM

    My hens have almost stopped laying too but I expect them to pick up now that the days are longer. As you probably know, it takes 14 hours of daylight for them to lay--and then these heritage breeds have their moulting periods too when they quit laying. I don't think we save any money having chickens, but I like having fresh eggs all the time, being able to go to the coop to get eggs when I need them--and I just like the look of chickens pecking about :) Nice to find your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LydiaJanuary 19, 2013 at 7:30 PM

    road island reds are what we have always gone with. They are hardy and good layers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Frugal Exerciser - Sheila SimmonsJanuary 22, 2013 at 6:34 AM

    I guess it's a learning curve when it comes to chickens. It seems like you are getting a lot. Did you see the episode of Doomsday Preppers on NGEO? You can keep the eggs up to a year by dipping them in paraffin wax and covering each egg in newspaper.

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