still no eggs

We have hundreds of laying hens. Beautiful birds, a wide variety of breeds..none of them are the new breed of production bird. Our girls are colorful and varied, as are their eggs.

We are at the time of year when egg laying should commence again. Yesterday I found one egg, the day before three eggs. This output has been true for months now..while at the same time those hundreds of gals eat. Every day. Eating us out of house and home.

We have been raising egg layers fir years. We let them live out their lives..commercial egg operations will take their hens to Campbell Soup after their first cycle of egg laying. We keep ours..there are laying hens out there that are 5 years old. They don't lay eggs as frequently but when they do those eggs are huge.

But there must come a time when eggs stop. And while we don't know exactly where that outer edge of productivity is located, we know that we need to stay in business and not feed hens that are not producing.

Homer purchased these pretty plastic rings. They fit over a chicken foot when the bird is small..and will mark which hens are likely to produce the most eggs. The old gals..might just end up as chicken soup..