See what I did there? I’m on the slippery slope of backyard chooks. Truly. I am already at the bottom of the slope.
Anyway, my girls have been very productive lately. Out of 10 hens we have been getting up to eight eggs per day. They are like egg laying machines!
It looks like the young girls have reached point of lay and are egging the others on to lay every day. Even the bantams are in on the act. The young ones are not producing the biggest eggs on the planet, but at least they are consistently laying.
In the photo, you can see me with two eggs. The white egg on the right is one laid by a Pekin Bantam, and the other brown egg on the left is from one of the point-of-lay ISA brown hens. Sweet isn’t it?
So what have we been doing with all these eggs? Well we sell a dozen here and there, but mostly eat them. Last week Ben, during cooking class, made Kim and I dinner in the form of a Frittata with a salad. This took up 8 eggs.
It was simply delicious.
However, that was only one day’s production from the girls, so just about every day we have been eating boiled eggs for either breakfast or lunch and on weekends we have been cooking poached eggs for breakfast.
Don’t get me wrong. We really appreciate this ramp up in egg production by our feathered friends. After the egg famine of winter, it is a welcome treat to be bombarded by bum nuts.
So, have your girls started laying again? What have you been doing with all those eggs?
hi Gavin
tell Ben that frittata looks good.
I sell some of my eggs to the guys at work and give away some to various family and friends.I also take some along to our monthly Urban Harvest
I too seem to eat something eggy most days-crustless quiche type thing for lunch at work made with a dozen of my eggs and some Urban Harvest silver beet and some feta cheese the most recent version. or scrambled eggs with tasty cheese for brekky. made a nice cheese and mushroom omelette cooked in/on a sandwich press for my visiting vegetarian niece for lunch yesterday
I am getting somewhere between 5 and 8 eggs a day from my mixed ages flock of 13. apart from some old girls who don’t lay every day I also have some heritage breed hens who aren’t daily layers so I don’t get an egg a day from each
Claire in kalorama
Nice one Claire. That is still a lot of eggs each day, which anyone would be happy with!
Your version with the Silverbeet and Feta sounds great. As I have both in abundance, I will give it a go.
Gav x
Hi Gav, i have 5 girls and i think they have given up the ghost. Im not very cluey on how long they lay for or when they stop 🙂
They should start to lay at around 19-21 weeks depending on the breed and the conditions and they’ll really start to slow down once once they reach 3-4 years old. But before that they will often slow right down or stop in winter exp if it gets very cold.
If they first start laying in Autumn they will usually lay right through the first winter.
You need to make sure they have plenty food with lots of protein if you want them to lay really well.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Hi Cuz. My mate Mick is right on the money, although my oldest 6 year old hen still lays one egg once a week.
Gav x
Ive had maybe 8 eggs in total so far from the girls but i think only one is laying. I was told to look at the comb and only one is really flushed and standing up. I still dont know how old they are. I did, shock horror, check the coop and found a broken one today. Are they eating them or was it an accident? I hate that i leave so early and they are in bed when i get home. I never see them. I usually have eggs on weekends for breakfast and given that they are bantams thats about it. Im sure there is more on the way.
Lynda, it sucks that you can’t see them during the day. I have that problem as well, however the girls are mostly awake when I feed them in the morning. I could spend all day watching them.
May your flock live long and prosper.
Gav x
G’day Gavin,
About 3 months ago we had a egg drought for about 6 weeks while all the girls moulted all at once. Lucky we had heaps in reserve, I was almost forced to buy some! Just a few weeks ago they all started back up again and now we’re firing again on all 6 chooks! How wealthy you feel when you walk outside on a morning and have trouble picking up all the eggs in your two hands! It’s a great life!
Quiche Lorraine is one of my favourite ways to use up the eggs once they’ve built themselves up to an impressive amount – some homemade shortcrust pastry, just a little fried bacon, and cream – a good way to use up a dozen eggs.
Michael, nice to hear from you. Your Quiche Lorraine sounds delicious.
Wealthy indeed. Just remember that when you have some eggs in your pockets before someone gives you a hug! Tip from a pro.
Gav x
Hi Gavin I have 2 chooks and one or both have been giving eggs all through winter I have isa browns
Linda
Hi Linda. Those ISA brown hens are a tenacious bunch. You may find as they get older, usually during moult time, they need the calcium to develop new feathers. I found out the hard way in the second year of keeping chooks. The egg famine was a big let down, but they laid enough to keep us happily fed.
Gav x
Tee hee hee bum nuts. I’m enjoying that giggle today (need a laugh). We’re seeing eggs again finally but it looks like it was our silkie contributing to the 2-3 eggs as we get 1 most days again now and as she is sitting (3 ducka nd 1 hens egg if you will) I suspect our girls are still on strike. Can’t say as I blame them – it IS cold up here.
I am planning to get mor girls this year though as we are upping our egg eating dramatically – it’s a sustainable meal if we can grow all the necessary ingredients for impossible pie (cheats quiche) aside from a little flour so in the interests of being better locavores… Otherwise, it’s a fry up for breakfast on Saturdays and dippy or hard boiled eggs for lunch once a week. We also use them in our pikelets and pancakes so it’s an egg or more each day for breakfast 4-5 days a week here.