Hens, Eggs, Light And Spring

Rhoda, a Rhode Island Red, who is NOT on a diet.

People who have had layers (that's LAY-ers) always ask the big question in the winter. "Are you getting any eggs?". The first year of a hens life she usually lays all through the first winter, although not necessarily every day. The eggs might be smaller, "pullet" eggs depending on her maturity, but eggs nonetheless. The older hens, which define six of my eight, may slow down as the days get shorter, and after Thanksgiving or so, sputter to almost nil.  This winter we only had two or three days with no eggs at all. My new, adopted Rhode Island Reds, Rhoda and Red, kept us in their nice eggs through out, with an occasional supplement from the older girls.

You may wonder what use there is to keeping these old hens if they don't produce all year, but here at On the Pond Farm, they are also maintenance workers, and do preventative health care. Every day, after their morning feed, they work their way behind me to each stall as I clean them. They scratch for grubs, bugs, parasitic worms in the stool, and left over grain and seeds. By doing this clean up, they make it difficult for rodents to thrive, and parasites to spread.

In the video you see the girls waiting their turn to lay.  Until recently, they all waited to lay in the same box. I think because production is up, they have now split the eggs into two nests.  We used to have more boxes, but they always seemed to put all their eggs in one basket (Ha!). Fine with me, although come summer, I bet they will start hiding them around the barn again.  Always fun to have egg hunts for visiting kids!

After the video at the evening egg gathering, we we amazed to find this.

Yes! EIGHT eggs. 

All girls appreciated the great summer weather of the past two weeks and were in full production.

Its officially Spring!