We picked up six new baby chicks this afternoon, we now have a total of ten chickens. These chicks are the same breed as our other hens - Rhode Island Reds. Why do we need more chickens? Right now we're almost always getting three eggs a day and most days we get four. In a few months our ladies will start molting, and when chickens molt they don't lay. Also, as a chicken gets older she lays bigger eggs but fewer of them. This is why most laying hens don't live much past their second birthday - it's just not economical for farmers to keep them around.
At the Suburban Farm we will keep our girls around long after they're in retirement. But we want eggs more frequently then our girls will provide as they mature. The new chicks should start laying right around the time the first group is molting. Admittedly, there will be a few months after the first group molts were we'll be getting seven or eight eggs a day, and the winter after next we will be without eggs entirely since everyone will be molting. But in about two years after everyone has molted at least once we should get four or five eggs a day, which is the right number for us.
So, this should be our last round of chickens for a couple of years. I am trying to persuade Ryan that ducks might be a fun idea for next spring. They lay eggs too. He's slow to convince and he has a good argument about the maximum capacity in the back yard. I guess there should be some room for plants. I've upped the stakes with the beekeeping bargaining chip, "You get bees and I get ducks."* and I think his resolve is wavering.
- G
*By-the-way, if you told me four years ago that I would be having a conversation like that, I would have thought you were an escaped mental patient.
There's one in every group. We did tell her that she can't get her ears pierced until she's at least 3 weeks old. If we could just get her to turn down that damn stereo.
At the Suburban Farm we will keep our girls around long after they're in retirement. But we want eggs more frequently then our girls will provide as they mature. The new chicks should start laying right around the time the first group is molting. Admittedly, there will be a few months after the first group molts were we'll be getting seven or eight eggs a day, and the winter after next we will be without eggs entirely since everyone will be molting. But in about two years after everyone has molted at least once we should get four or five eggs a day, which is the right number for us.
So, this should be our last round of chickens for a couple of years. I am trying to persuade Ryan that ducks might be a fun idea for next spring. They lay eggs too. He's slow to convince and he has a good argument about the maximum capacity in the back yard. I guess there should be some room for plants. I've upped the stakes with the beekeeping bargaining chip, "You get bees and I get ducks."* and I think his resolve is wavering.
- G
*By-the-way, if you told me four years ago that I would be having a conversation like that, I would have thought you were an escaped mental patient.
There's one in every group. We did tell her that she can't get her ears pierced until she's at least 3 weeks old. If we could just get her to turn down that damn stereo.