-22F last night and got 9 eggs from 10 hens today!

[Cluckcluck1215]

That's pretty amazing! Geez, I have eight birds, and was getting one egg a day, but my SLW decided to molt very late, and now I'm not getting any!
Also, I saw you mentioned 'retiring' your hens after they stop laying at two-three years. I had two BR hens for the longest time. One lived till seven, and laid every day and even the day she died, not even stopping when she molted and we had very little daylight. And I kid you not, it may have been a shell less egg, but she laid the day she died.
And I had a 10 year old BR that laid up until 9/9 1/2 years old.

 

[gtaus]

My sewing machine is one of the best tools I own!

I bought my wife a nice sewing machine years ago. She uses it every once in a while, but is not very good at sewing. It's a skill, I'm sure. Anyway, to have things sewed or altered by our local sewing shops costs as much (and sometimes more) than buying the item new. I had a jacket that needed a new zipper and our local sewing shop wanted $25 to put in a new zipper. Well, I only paid $15 for the jacket at Walmart brand new. I think our local sewing shop mainly makes their living on alterations for wedding dresses. Anything else is not worth their time.

But I have sown tarps together to make giant bags for collecting leaves and such. And I have repaired some of my ripped work clothes that are mostly in good shape and looks are not too important. Most of my sewing projects, however, have ended in failure, so I do appreciate people who can sew.

 

[gtaus]

That's pretty amazing! Geez, I have eight birds, and was getting one egg a day, but my SLW decided to molt very late, and now I'm not getting any!
Also, I saw you mentioned 'retiring' your hens after they stop laying at two-three years. I had two BR hens for the longest time. One lived till seven, and laid every day and even the day she died, not even stopping when she molted and we had very little daylight. And I kid you not, it may have been a shell less egg, but she laid the day she died.
And I had a 10 year old BR that laid up until 9/9 1/2 years old.

That's very encouraging. Dear Wife and I don't need anything like 9 eggs per day. So maybe these hens will be providing enough eggs for years to come for us. To be honest, I never got my small backyard flock for egg production, eggs are just a happy bonus. I have enjoyed having a backyard flock for many, many reasons other than just eggs. But I would guess many people here on the BYC community can relate to that.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

That's very encouraging. Dear Wife and I don't need anything like 9 eggs per day. So maybe these hens will be providing enough eggs for years to come for us. To be honest, I never got my small backyard flock for egg production, eggs are just a happy bonus. I have enjoyed having a backyard flock for many, many reasons other than just eggs. But I would guess many people here on the BYC community can relate to that.

Nine eggs a day for my family, one who bakes and cooks a ton during the holidays, would be awesome. But like you say, eggs are just a bonus. Our girls are pets (very spoiled pets, albeit) but eggs are always very nice.

 

[aart]

I bought my wife a nice sewing machine years ago. She uses it every once in a while, but is not very good at sewing. It's a skill, I'm sure. Anyway, to have things sewed or altered by our local sewing shops costs as much (and sometimes more) than buying the item new. I had a jacket that needed a new zipper and our local sewing shop wanted $25 to put in a new zipper. Well, I only paid $15 for the jacket at Walmart brand new. I think our local sewing shop mainly makes their living on alterations for wedding dresses. Anything else is not worth their time.

But I have sown tarps together to make giant bags for collecting leaves and such. And I have repaired some of my ripped work clothes that are mostly in good shape and looks are not too important. Most of my sewing projects, however, have ended in failure, so I do appreciate people who can sew.

It is a skill for sure, worth paying for if you buy clothes worth repairing.
Zippers are not easy.
Making the kids clothes out of remnants(bolt ends) was worth it,
once they got bigger it was cheaper to buy second hand clothing.

 

[NNYchick]

We are not big egg eaters in my family so I always have an over abundance. Once a week I boil them up and feed them back to the flock for their treat that day so I am not over run with eggs.

 

[Chris-n-Kate]

OK, since you know I'm not much of a cook, I really looked for an easy way to make pickled eggs.

What I discovered is that I could buy some cans of pickled beets at the supermarket. I would put some hardboiled eggs in a small glass jar, filling it up as much as possible with about 5 or 6 eggs. Then I would drain the juice from the pickled beets can into the jar with eggs. Depending on how well you pack the eggs in the jar, you might have to get juice from a second can of pickled beets. If I have extra room in the jar of hardboiled eggs, sometimes I add the pickled beets to it to fill it up. Then I let it sit in the refrigerator for ~3-4 days and the pickled eggs are done.

I never had tried pickled eggs and was not too sure if I would like them. However, I do like pickled beets, so I figured that I might as well try out a small jar of 5 or 6 eggs and I could eat the pickled beets with my salads. Turns out, I really liked the pickled eggs this way. I even talked Dear Wife into trying a pickled egg and to her amazement, she even liked them! So now I usually have a jar of pickled eggs and/or pickled eggs and beets in the refridgerator ready to add as a side dish to my salads or main meal as appropriate.

If you have never tried making pickled eggs, this is a super easy way to give it a go. Just use the juice from canned pickled beets.

Nice! Thanks!

 

[rehdancer]

Yes, we got those same cold temps after you did. Our problem is that the eggs freeze, and while we believe they're still edible (haven't gotten sick yet) the texture or something is different in that they don't mix well for baking - I got white clumps in my pumpkin pie -so we have to keep them separate from the ones we sell. Plus I have one lady, probably the newest one to start laying, who lays eggs from the roost, so I have an egg on the floor sometimes, usually broken because it lands on frozen poop. And of all things, some of the ladies actually share a nest, laying their eggs in the same nest at the same time. I guess they're really good friends............. Aren't they interesting?

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I've been to International Falls, Minnesota a few times. It's supposed to be the coldest place in the United States or the most northern point of the United States.. I can't remember. It smells like fish.

 

[IdahoGal]

My girls have stopped laying. Do you who have chickens still laying provide light?