Winter News

Dora It’s been a while since I’ve done an update, so I thought I better catch up.  We lost another hen this winter.  Dora passed away before Christmas.  Jan found her dead one morning, sitting in one of the nesting boxes.  Unlike Speck, she didn’t exhibit any abnormal behavior in the days leading up to [...]

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Molting!

We’ve finally come to the conclusion that our hens are molting. One of Jan’s relatives that has had chickens for years visited last week and said they are definitely molting. And I spoke with a friend living in Heber who buys eggs from a local farmer – she hasn’t been able to get eggs for [...]

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In Face Of Egg Recall, FDA Calls For More Authority

It seems to be there are better solutions: raise your own chickens, or buy from local farmers that raise their chickens with humane methods. Here’s the NPR story on the egg recall, found on their website at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129373553. Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg said Monday her agency is limited by law to a [...]

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Egg Production Has Slowed

We have noticed a bit of a slow down in the number of eggs we are getting these days.   In spring the girls were laying about 4 eggs on average – some days 3, some days 5.  But with the heat of the summer, the numbers have dropped.  Sometimes there are just 2 – and [...]

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Egg Variation

This is a great picture to show how our eggs used to vary in size and color as the hens first began laying.  The browns have since gotten more similar in color, and the sizes are generally closer, but we still get some great variation.  Sometimes an egg will come out long and skinny, and [...]

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We Have Egg!

Thar she blows!  The most beautiful egg I’ve ever set my eyes on.  We suspect Rosie, because she’s the most mature in her appearance, and the brown color means it’s one of the black sex-links. Not too early after all.

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Laying Eggs

Okay, maybe we were jumping the gun on egg laying.  Another text we were reading said that the average age hens start laying is 5 to 7 months.  We are just barely at 5 months (or 20 weeks).  There’s supposed to be some variation based on breed, and I can see that our aracaunas are [...]

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Eggs Any Day Now

Our chickens turned 16 weeks old last week, so according to the reading we’ve been doing, we can expect to see eggs any day now.  It is with a new anticipation that we greet the girls in the morning, thoroughly scanning the nesting boxes, the rest of the coop, and the run for any surprises. [...]

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