The old girls just had a molt...for about 2 1/2 months.

Finally got off my butt and got the timer and light going.

The light comes on at 2am....then off at 8am ( plenty of day light then)

These birds are now on their 3rd laying session.

It takes about 10 days ..with the supplement light to get them going

Got 9-10 birds....been getting an egg or 2 per day...then got 4 yesterday..

And got 5 today !!! Doing the happy dance !!

Nothing worse than buying eggs ...and buying Layer pellets

Trying to get mine going again, it’s becoming a challenge. lol

Mine got back to laying about 2 weeks ago after their molt. Only 7 hens, but have been getting 3 or 4 a day mostly. Plenty for us. I was thinking of putting the whole bunch in a soup pot.

lol

Store here today was selling eggs $.50 a dozen. They ain't farm raised eggs, but they are good for a lot of recipes. Just nothing like real eggs if you're frying them over easy for breakfast.

,50 cents a doz ???

That's a no brainah ..

Yep it was a one day sale at a large chain grocery store here in Iowa. HyVee.

Good deal on making your chicken coop great again Nessie!

I miss having chickens! When I lived further out in the country I had two I got at a livestock sale. Pauli Girl and Merryweather. Merryweather didn’t lay for months. I had a little fire and had some friends over and my buddy had a few beers and said to her “if you don’t start laying some eggs I’m gonna cook you in that fire!”
The next day she laid an egg. It was a sorry specimen with a soft shell but , by gum, she produced!

At the end of the first year going into the second spring, I order nine new chickens from the feed mill and raised them up and they start laying and then I sell the old ones to the asians locally

If you do that every two years you always have young birds

Our new flock is finally starting to ramp up production. Went from 2-3 a day to 7-9 a day, from 18 birds. Been running artificial light for two months.

Sure nice to have fresh eggs again.

Smash - my wife threatens them with the soup pot when they slack a day or two. Usually by leaning an axe against the run fencing.

lol Don’t mess with Fran!!

Going to be -5..for lows this weekend.

My son mixes some oats with bacon fat...and once the

Fat is all soaked up by the oats...he lets it cool

Then gives it to the birds ..to warm the them up

That's a good deal!
How do cold temperatures affect egg production?
Thanks,
Doug

The biggest issue I have in the cold is to get the eggs collected before they freeze and crack. My newest flock started laying in October so getting 18-22/day out of 24 hens.

They are getting supplemental protein from the animal carcasses.

They do better in the cold....than the heat

Like noted above...you have to check for eggs more often...before they freeze

I get what we have termed "toaster leavins'" from the local butcher. This is the residue left on the meat saw and also scapings. He wads it into a 3-4 lb ball, places in a sack and freezes. It's a great supplement / energy and stretches your feed quite a bit.

Also, I order new chicks in late fall because a) they are usually on sale b) during winter they are locked in a lot which makes a great way to introduce them to the older hens c) by spring they are starting to lay and big enough to enjoy / forage outside.

Throw them a beaver carcass. They thrive on them.

That's how we do it. When the new birds start laying we butcher the old ones and use them for soup stock. The chicks usually start laying at about five months old.