Bird-Dog

BIRD

DOG

Alica asked last night how many birds we have.  We have 14 roosters on the old henhouse side, of them, 7 are last year's hatch, and 2 are two years old.  1 is four, and the others are five.  TOO MANY. 

On that side are 7 girls from last year's hatch... and four older hens who lay once in a while, meaning I may get two eggs a week from them.  The others, about six small birds and about four standards, are no longer laying.  

On the new henspa side are four roosters, only ONE of whom I intended to be there. 

There are 28 hens, large and small, meaning standard and bantam.  Of these, most are laying, but some only lay twice a week, as they are older.  All in all, I am getting from 16 to 24 eggs a day from both henhouses in the middle of winter.  

This week we have used about 7 eggs for our own use, and I broke a few.  

Today I found several eggs soaked with yolk, so I think one broke in the nest.  I have extra calcium grit in the henspa, as they have their yard, but no pasture to roam in for grit.  I have been taking anywhere from 7 to 9 dozen eggs a week to our food pantry, and they need every one! 

And actually... we are probably going to have to get a small college-sized refrigerator, and use it for egg storage, as I am taking up so much space in the kitchen fridge! 

I hope to replace the non-layers with between 8-10 new pullets in the spring.