IMPORTANT VIDEO TO WATCH

[Meri Maura]

Not long before the pandemic you could buy a dozen of the cheap eggs for $0.69

I don't ever remember eggs being anything under $3 ;

 

[Foristers]

Thanks @saysfaa for the summary.

So, individuals with anecdotes to share. Little bits of their experience do not translate to the general world with confidence. We do not know so many important points such as age of chickens, location, feed and style of feeding, extraneous factors (like howling coyotes that might be freaking the flock out), treats, weather (my chickens, I swear, cross their legs when it’s windy and we get no eggs…even in spring or full on summer), or other things I’m not thinking of.

Overall, I had the experience last winter (2021-2022) of having lots of chickens I was feeding of various ages, from 8 month pullets to 4yo hens and lots in between, same feed (20% all flock), same environment, no new stressors, no changes in environment like stressors in the form of predators or new noises. And we got hardly any eggs at all- I had to buy eggs for around 6 months. My thought was that the older chickens were molting and since they are barnyard breeds/heritage breeds, they aren’t high production types, so overall less eggs and longer break. Also, the pullets we had were “new” chickens, and maybe came from genetics that were not strong layers/or built in longer break. Maybe the weather had something to do with it, as overcast days do impact them, and we get plenty overcast days here.

So, what did I do? Well, I thought about all the factors, and decided to remove half of the flock, including most of the pullets, and got new chicks last Feb, March. We still have a varying age flock, we still feed same feed. We have not had to buy any eggs this winter, at all, as I stopped giving away eggs and stockpiled late summer/early fall in anticipation of a slow down. They molted and slowed down, even the pullets, but we still got some eggs everyday. We got low there for a couple of weeks, but our girls are picking back up - some breeds more than others, but daylength is still in the short side. We bought about 15 chicks in mid Aug, so those should start laying soon too as they are around 24 weeks old, I think.

Great input. Thank you. I do need to get younger hens. But I also have a fox problem at the moment

 

[Foristers]

The "Poplar Report" video on youtube (I'm not going to drive view counts by linking it) is much the same. Anecdotes, unsourced "someones", very short on detail, long on speculation, no offered mechanism of doing this. Which video came first, I couldn't say.
and the offered remedies - feed more corn, feed more oats, feed more scratch, feed less soy, and now feed goat feed (among others) all demonstrate a woeful ignorance of poultry feed science and the nutritional values of the offered substitutes. At least when people say "feed cayenne pepper to warm them up in winter" it does no harm, and may keep the rats out of the feed.

I think I am going to have to 'eat crow' on this matter...

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Not long before the pandemic you could buy a dozen of the cheap eggs for $0.69

California is more expensive than Carolina

 

[Foristers]

Geez, really?? Another self proclaimed BS. nonsense.

There really are better ways to state that you disagree with someone else's opinion or thoughts, but I'll let you do you.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Not long before the pandemic you could buy a dozen of the cheap eggs for $0.69

Not in California.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I think I am going to have to 'eat crow' on this matter...

Its good. My introduction to this was on Facebook. and while I was immediately dismissive of the asserted motives behind the thing, I was willing to investigate to see if there might be an underlying kernel of truth which might lead to a particular mill in a particular area in a particular timeframe.

But I'm always willing to consider human error/incompetence as plasuble explanation when something bad happens without need to reach for some vast conspiracy. Partly because its so rare to find competence on a vast scale....

 

[Foristers]

After reading everyone's replies to this and seeing the results of the poll, i -gulp- may have overreacted a bit. I apologize to those of you who I apparently offended. I have been a little concerned about the hens not laying and then BAM - that video in my youtube feed. The lazy man's way of saying, "by Jove, I've got it!" - and off to backyardchickens dot com to 'cluck' about it. EVERYONE MUST KNOW!
But, based on the early results of the poll, I may be the only person in this entire online community that is having this problem and I use probably the same brands as the rest of you.

Again, I apologize for posting this, although I am not sorry for taking the poll. And thank you to those who contributed.

 

[Aunt Angus]

California is more expensive than Carolina

Boy, is it. Median home price in CA is, like, $760,000. In So. Carolina is around $300,000. Eggs were never below $5/dozen before the recent spike.

 

[Aunt Angus]

After reading everyone's replies to this and seeing the results of the poll, i -gulp- may have overreacted a bit. I apologize to those of you who I apparently offended. I have been a little concerned about the hens not laying and then BAM - that video in my youtube feed. The lazy man's way of saying, "by Jove, I've got it!" - and off to backyardchickens dot com to 'cluck' about it. EVERYONE MUST KNOW!
But, based on the early results of the poll, I may be the only person in this entire online community that is having this problem and I use probably the same brands as the rest of you.

Again, I apologize for posting this, although I am not sorry for taking the poll. And thank you to those who contributed.

If only more folks were more like you. And me. I will definitely admit I'm wrong if the tests reveal problems.