Alright, so my girls have NOT been productive this whole year. I have been very disappointed. I have given them every excuse, for their lack of production. I know they have been extremely stressed this year from predators. After thinking about it….that didn’t even happen to these hens. These are a whole new bunch except for Maggie Mae. She is the only one who SAW the horror or the attacks on the other girls. I would give her a pass for NEVER having to lay another egg….but she is a trooper….she at least still tries.
All of these other have just been loved too much. I have come to the conclusion that they are just spoiled. They eat all the time. They have access to a nice yard full of green grass and I still give them cracked corn and laying pellets. They have all the fresh clean water they could want. They have reinforced fences and a coop with an automatic door. Yet, even with all that….I might…if I’m lucky…get two eggs a day. And I have 14 hens!
Now, I have a friend who has 12 hens and she gets 10 to 12 eggs a day. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!
I am happy for my friend…don’t get me wrong….but I am NOT happy that I have to beg MY hens to lay an egg for me.
I asked my friend what it is that she is doing differently. She only feeds them laying pellets… a certain amount a day. She lets them free range some…but not everyday because she doesn’t live at the place she keeps them. When she is going to be on her land working for a few hours, she lets them out to free range. And they still go to their coop and lay her 10 to 12 eggs a day.
Amazing….just amazing.
Well anyway, she has eggs coming out of her ears needless to say….so she had mercy on me and said I could gather hers if I wanted them. Stating that she had more than she knows what to do with at the moment. She said she had one or two hundred in her fridge!!!!
Needless to say…….I took her up on her offer and started gathering her eggs each day. It is amazing how quick they can accumulate.
No wonder she had so many in her fridge. These are just some of the ones I have gathered in the last few weeks.
I have been sharing them with our friends that I know love farm eggs too. To me….that is the neat part……..being able to share them with others.
Goodness…Billy and I can only use so many….but sharing them makes it fun for everyone. People’s eyes actually light up when you give them farm fresh eggs!
I mentioned the other day that Maggie Mae has been sitting on an egg since last Sunday. Today, she got up to eat and I noticed that it is just that….one egg….one single little egg. Well, one of my other girls had laid an egg today in the box next to her….so I quickly put it beside the egg she is sitting on. I’m hoping she won’t boot it out of the nest.
Tomorrow, after I collect eggs at my friends coop, and any eggs I might happen to have from my coop, I am going to sneak them into Maggie Mae’s nest!
Sometimes the grass does seem greener on the other side. I mean I wish my girls would lay more eggs, but my friend wishes that at least one of her girls would sit on her eggs so she could have some baby chicks. She is even thinking about buying an incubator.
I figure that If I can get Maggie Mae to sit on all of them, possibly we will have lots of babies in a few weeks. Maggie Mae would be one proud Mama if she could hatch all those babies! Golly, if she is going to go to all that trouble sitting for three weeks….she might as well have more than one baby out of it. Then my friend will get the baby chicks she wants.
Now….there is one problem…….we really won’t know if ANY of the eggs are fertile…..but I sure am hoping so!!!!
I just love it when I get a good idea…..Hee Hee….I’m so excited….I can hardly wait until tomorrow.
I've Gone Country 