Our egg layin beauties!

These girls have proved to be quite the productive group of hens!

The chickens, who were baby chicks just a few months ago, are now full grown and proving to be excellent egg layers!! Addie has taken such good care of them from the time they first joined our little farm back in March. At the end of the summer I realized how hard Addie was working to take care of them and that she basically did all the feeding and egg collecting...so, we told her that if she wanted she could have all the chicken responsibilities...she gladly accepted! Along with the irresponsibility, we told her that if she sold any extra eggs she collected that she could keep the money in her jar. She quickly decided she wanted to sell them for $10 per dozen (decided upon due to only have 10 finger...otherwise Im sure she would have thought of a higher number!). I told her that she would never get $10 for 1 dozen eggs...quickly she exclaimed "Oh, Grandpa will buy them!". "Oh, yes Im sure you are right...but we are not charging grandpa $10 for eggs!"

We are down to 9 hens (several were roosters and a few were lost to the harsh summer we had) but they are layin very consistently! Addie was bringing in 7-8 eggs a day until just about a month ago as the daylight began to dwindle (chickens egg production is based dramatically off of hours of sunlight...as well as a healthy diet). With the slight temperature rise we have seen as well as a new organic chicken layer feed we have them enjoying, their production has taken off again and Addie is bringing in at least 5 eggs a day...some days we have 8. I'm sure the production will lower slightly as we enter the cold winter months, but these girls are definitely strong heritage breeds and I really look forward to seeing them in the years to come!

I think hens are a fabulous and easy way to start having your back yard produce something for you!