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

[Judy Todd]

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

On the subject of hens laying in winter. Yes, it is totally dependent on the amount of light. I put a 40 wt bulb on a timer, to give them 14 plus hours of light. It works. I have 12 laying hens and get 4 or 5 eggs one day and 7or8 on altering days. One just finished molting so most likely not laying yet. One banty decided to go broody, so she is in time out, and not laying. My girls do free range all day, I think that makes a diffrence but just my opinion. I sell all the extra eggs to my neighbors and always have a waiting list. If I hve extra I scramble them and feed to my puppy and the hens. Nothing goes to waste. Happy Hollidays to all of you.

 

[gtaus]

That flan reminds me, @gtaus, do you like custards? How about creme brulee? Great use of eggs!!!

I make custard about 2x per week. It is one of my favorite after meal desserts.

My wife is a Filipina, and she has been making Leche flan, the Filipino version of French creme caramel. That is very good but very, very rich. But when we have far too many eggs, the Leche flan uses 10 egg yolks just for one batch. I then use the egg whites in scrambled eggs or for making french toast.

And we usually hard boil a dozen or more eggs every week. I pickle some of those hard boiled eggs, but also eat hard boiled eggs as a snack instead of potato chips, etc...

 

[ValerieJ]

I make custard about 2x per week. It is one of my favorite after meal desserts.

My wife is a Filipina, and she has been making Leche flan, the Filipino version of French creme caramel. That is very good but very, very rich. But when we have far too many eggs, the Leche flan uses 10 egg yolks just for one batch. I then use the egg whites in scrambled eggs or for making french toast.

And we usually hard boil a dozen or more eggs every week. I pickle some of those hard boiled eggs, but also eat hard boiled eggs as a snack instead of potato chips, etc...

That sounds delicious!!! I'll have to look up Leche Flan when I start getting enough eggs again. I love all the asian and island foods, so I'm trying to learn to make them since restaurants are just too far away to be fun for us.

 

[gtaus]

I'll have to look up Leche Flan when I start getting enough eggs again. I love all the asian and island foods, so I'm trying to learn to make them since restaurants are just too far away to be fun for us.

Dear Wife is an excellent cook, and I have proven to be an excellent eater. Unfortunately, that has led to some weight problems for me as I get older. I eat healthy foods, just maybe too much.

 

[ValerieJ]

Dear Wife is an excellent cook, and I have proven to be an excellent eater. Unfortunately, that has led to some weight problems for me as I get older. I eat healthy foods, just maybe too much.

I'm an excellent cook and eater too. We eat a lot of fish and chicken, which is good, but then I like all the cream sauces on them, so....

 

[aart]

and I have proven to be an excellent eater

I'm the 'eater' at the local potlucks... ....not a good cook.

 

[Susan Dye]

Yes, I am sure that there were girls that would have enjoyed some of our shop classes. And I know that I would have benefitted from taking basic cooking and sewing classes. Mind you, I enjoyed my shop classes when I took them. But one semester of basic cooking and sewing would have served me well through life. I find myself cooking a meal every once in a while for Dear Wife and have discovered that sewing tarps and canvas is actually good to know. Again, thank goodness for YouTube videos.

BTW, I cooked up some breakfast omelet for Dear Wife and we enjoyed that this morning. And I usually make her an egg breakfast (with pancakes, waffles, etc...) on the weekends. She is more than happy to let me in the kitchen to cook her a meal. So I try, and she pretends to enjoy it. She is by far the better cook, but I do what I can.

Funny how boys, back in the day, were excluded from cooking & sewing in school, but if they wound up in the military after high school, they were taught basic sewing & even cooking. I remember my school guidance counselor telling me, with as much disdain as she possibly could, that my aptitude test showed I was best suited to be a "grease monkey". Sounded good to me, lol, but of course shop classes were strictly males only.

 

[ValerieJ]

Funny how boys, back in the day, were excluded from cooking & sewing in school, but if they wound up in the military after high school, they were taught basic sewing & even cooking. I remember my school guidance counselor telling me, with as much disdain as she possibly could, that my aptitude test showed I was best suited to be a "grease monkey". Sounded good to me, lol, but of course shop classes were strictly males only.

Some teachers just shouldn't be teachers.

 

[Jeddice]

I'll keep that in mind next year. Dear Wife and I don't need 9 eggs per day, so it won't hurt much to be down in the count next year. I am planning on "retiring" my girls after 2 or 3 years, but I have not quite decided how to do that yet. Dear Wife is already looking at the more plump girls and planning ahead. I am leaning on letting them "free range" their last years, and maybe build a separate setup for them apart from my "production" hens. Currently I have all my first year hens under a protected run and Fort Knox coop. But I suppose a less secure, and more free range, setup could be built for retirement of the older hens.

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.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My wife is a Filipina, and she has been making Leche flan, the Filipino version of French creme caramel. That is very good but very, very rich. But when we have far too many eggs, the Leche flan uses 10 egg yolks just for one batch.

I tried leche flan once (had a lot of Filipino friends during college) - SO rich! One spoonful felt like the equivalent of an entire bowl of custard. It doesn't surprise me that it would use up that many yolks, but definitely a good way to use up eggs if you like super decadent desserts.