11-29-2011
It has been a long time since we last wrote about our delightful little girls; all eight remain happy and healthy, although most recently, they have been molting so they have gone through a bit of a "scrappy" phase. One of our Brahma girl started molting in early summer before all the others. We attribute it to a long period of broodiness, and perhaps that added stress caused her to cycle earlier than the rest. The others have been going through the process within the past month or so. Our egg production dropped to one per day among all eight girls, however, with added hours of artificial light, and progressing through their molting, the egg production is slowly increasing again.
As we head into winter again, we have gone through the process of "winterizing" by putting plexiglass on all their house windows, getting their water heater going again, and placing a few lights on timers to give them about 4-6 hours of extra light each day. It seems to be working. Our eggs are up to three a day. Last winter, their first laying season, we averaged five eggs a day from our eight girls. We gave eggs away regularly during the winter. Eager friends are waiting for more eggs this season...they may just have to wait a bit longer!
It has been a long time since we last wrote about our delightful little girls; all eight remain happy and healthy, although most recently, they have been molting so they have gone through a bit of a "scrappy" phase. One of our Brahma girl started molting in early summer before all the others. We attribute it to a long period of broodiness, and perhaps that added stress caused her to cycle earlier than the rest. The others have been going through the process within the past month or so. Our egg production dropped to one per day among all eight girls, however, with added hours of artificial light, and progressing through their molting, the egg production is slowly increasing again.
As we head into winter again, we have gone through the process of "winterizing" by putting plexiglass on all their house windows, getting their water heater going again, and placing a few lights on timers to give them about 4-6 hours of extra light each day. It seems to be working. Our eggs are up to three a day. Last winter, their first laying season, we averaged five eggs a day from our eight girls. We gave eggs away regularly during the winter. Eager friends are waiting for more eggs this season...they may just have to wait a bit longer!
