These days, I could write several Blog Entries on the Chickens of Butterfly Hill Farm. We have been so busy with Harvest and putting the Garden to Bed that Quality Chicken Time and Chicken Commentary have been less.Let it suffice to say: Things have changed. For starters, we now have 43 Chickens; 39 are Hennies and 4 are Roosters. Three of those Roosters are new of the Season. They were Lacey's Littles. Their stay here is not a given; they are being watched carefully for "fitting into the flock". One (Freddie) is in his 3rd Year. At the very least, you could say that Social Relationships have changed. The usual "Peck Order" has been up for grabs.
Egg production hit a nose dive at the end of the Summer and through the Fall. That is normal for seasonal cycles. Many of the Chickens were putting most of their Energy into molting, which means replacement of Feathers.
But now, the Hennies seem to be in high gear with Egg Production. Today we got 19 Eggs and they are gorgeous. It seems to me that an almost 50% return on 39 Hennies is a pretty impressive number.
We have been pondering the increase in Egg Production. Yes, most of the Molts are complete. For Winter Season, usually numbers are down. We speculate that Egg Production is up because they have supplemental Light on Cold Nights. Hennies need 14 hours of Light to produce Eggs.
Our Fine Feathered Companions have had supplemental Protein too. Richard put the Deer Carcasses in their Coop and just outside the gate. They have been thrilled and have almost picked those Deer Carcasses Clean. You should hear them thump-thump-thump on the Bones.
Melanie thinks those are the big reasons. Melanie has heard from several Folks that the Presence of Roosters actually will help with Egg Production. That could be a factor too.
In modern practice where most Eggs come from Factory Farms, Hennies are "burnt out". Cramped into small cages, they are forced into situations where they are Egg Production Factories. As a result, their lives are stressed and they are short.
We are careful not to "over stimulate" the Hennies. Melanie would like to keep them on Natural Cycles which allows for the normal lows in Winters. We think we have a good balance on this one, but we are ever watchful too.
2 comments:
We have just 4 hens, and only two who are laying, however, we've noticed the winter slowdown too. We now get an egg (per laying hen) about every day and a half to two days, instead of every day. We had supplimentary light in the coop for about a week, during single-digit temps, but have since gone back to au naturale.
The solstice is nearly here, so hopefully as the days grow longer, things will pick up a bit for everyone. ;)
When I had chickens, I never supplemented with extra light. I felt the girls needed and deserved the time off. It was as close to the "natural" rhythms as possible. BUT, on cold cold nights, the extra warmth provided by that light might be needed too. Ah, it's a delicate balance.....
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