Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The Chicken and Egg Problem ..
As I scrimp and scrounge for eggs from my motley crew of chickens, I try to not bemoan the fact that when we moved here we brought nearly 200 hens with us! That first winter was rough. The predation was just plain awful and by the time spring rolled around we had around 20-25 hens. We butchered some free loaders as stewing hens and lost a few more and now sit with 6-7 hens (less the Dorkings) that are like 3 years old. Ahh the frustration! So I'm not exactly rolling in eggs.
The extreme heat this past summer didn't help and now they appear to be moulting. I had a small window of time where I actually got some eggs which was rather nice but now that window is cracked open, just barely, and seemingly ready to slam shut.
It's amazing how wordy I can get when I'm writing! Drives my DH batty... I do like descriptive composition though...
Now I have a small batch of chicks we're raising. And they are looking pretty good. I'm intending to buy some pullets soon. This weekend actually ...
The extreme heat this past summer didn't help and now they appear to be moulting. I had a small window of time where I actually got some eggs which was rather nice but now that window is cracked open, just barely, and seemingly ready to slam shut.
It's amazing how wordy I can get when I'm writing! Drives my DH batty... I do like descriptive composition though...
Now I have a small batch of chicks we're raising. And they are looking pretty good. I'm intending to buy some pullets soon. This weekend actually ...
Monday, November 12, 2012
Dorking Chickens
So many times something seems and appears to be a most excellent idea as an addition to the farm... and 75% of the time it ends up being a flop. A huge HUGE flop!!
Our latest, Dorking chickens. On paper, looks fantastic and perfect. Spent a lot of time reading about them on breeder boards and such but sometimes you miss that one crucial question that can make or break you. In their case, it has to do with eggs laying.
When we first got breeding stock we kept them in breeding group pens. That was more our fault because they really didn't get enough sunlight to be productive. So, we let them free roam. The hens were refusing to roost in the coop. It took an owl nearly killing one (we were able to stop the killing process I'm time and chase the owl off) to get all the hens to roost in the coop. The roosters work pretty diligently to gather all of them up as well.
Now they are roosting in the coop but they lay their eggs every where! Once you find their nest, they move it. It's rather difficult to get eggs to hatch or eat if you can't find them. We're just a tad frustrated ...
Our latest, Dorking chickens. On paper, looks fantastic and perfect. Spent a lot of time reading about them on breeder boards and such but sometimes you miss that one crucial question that can make or break you. In their case, it has to do with eggs laying.
When we first got breeding stock we kept them in breeding group pens. That was more our fault because they really didn't get enough sunlight to be productive. So, we let them free roam. The hens were refusing to roost in the coop. It took an owl nearly killing one (we were able to stop the killing process I'm time and chase the owl off) to get all the hens to roost in the coop. The roosters work pretty diligently to gather all of them up as well.
Now they are roosting in the coop but they lay their eggs every where! Once you find their nest, they move it. It's rather difficult to get eggs to hatch or eat if you can't find them. We're just a tad frustrated ...
Friday, November 9, 2012
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