The Chicken Farmer Who Had To Buy Eggs
Can you imagine? A farmer who raises 3 different egg-laying types of birds having to buy eggs at the store? Well… (slowly, sadly raising my hand) it’s me. Buy why?
There are actually a few different reasons for our farm specifically, so let me share why our farm is in a low supply of eggs right now:
Chicken Eggs - Every year chickens that are over a year old go through a period of time where they lose many of their feathers and regrow new ones - think of a dog shedding to get a new coat. This is called molting and it happens every fall for chickens.
Regrowing the new feathers takes a lot of nutrients and energy from the hen and so egg production goes out the window.
This only happens once the chickens are over a year old, so if your neighbor is still getting eggs all winter long, there’s a chance their birds are younger. Getting a few new spring chickens each year can help keep you in eggs for the entire year. I seem to have forgotten to do that this year. :/
Also, when there aren’t enough daylight hours, the hens will stop laying because their brains know it’s not the right season for having chicks.
Some farmers and large industrial egg producers keep artificial lights on their birds indoors to trick their brains and keep production up even in winter. Believe me, if I had a fancy-schmancy coop I would totally be doing this… I mean this is a working farm, not a bed and breakfast. Ha ha
Quail Eggs - Many of the exact same things that apply to chickens, also apply to quail. There’s just one little difference…quail molt twice a year! So my quail are currently in their winter molt and even though I have artificial light on them…alas no eggs. :(
Duck Eggs - Ducks are so great for eggs! They lay super early in the morning so it’s very easy to gather their eggs first thing in the day. They also start laying in January with natural light conditions, versus February or March for chickens.
They do go through a molt every fall like chickens and quit laying for a couple of months as well.
Unfortunately for our farm, the really bad cold snap we had recently killed many of our wonderful egg-layers, so we will have to start over with a new flock this year. So sad, ducks are what got us started in farming and many that died this winter were from our first ducks and they all had names. :(
On a positive note, however, we did find our first few chicken eggs yesterday! Yay! It doesn’t matter how long you’ve had chickens or been farming, the first eggs of the season are always as exciting as Christmas morning!
