Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Trefoil]

I might get sone Wyandottes bantams! Some Buff Columbian Bantam Wyandotte's or Bantam BLR Wyandotte's! What do you guys like best?

I've got some partridge bantam wyandottes and they are lovely birds, so it depends on which you think are prettier, I have some standard columbian wyabdottes and they are really pretty.

 

[naglady]

glad - congrats to your son.. He must of been so excited

I know how you feel about your low egg production, I have been having a low egg count also the last couple of weeks... fri and sat i had only 4 eggs a day i think one day last week i had maybe 6 eggs.. its been pitiful.. especially now when i have alot of people that want to buy eggs from me...
Friday i decided to hook the christmas lights in the coop, set timer for lights to come on 5-9am... today i switched it to 4-9am.

Sunday i had a 11 egg day from 14 hens. was pretty happy.. before the drop in production i was getting 9-14 a day. Big difference.
Today i am up to 6 so far.. there was a hen in nest box when i left the coop.. dont think i will see 11 but hope to see more then 7, i do have a couple australorps that lay late in the day.. so keeping my fingers crossed..

Its just so disappointing to see 4 or less eggs out of 14 hens.. and i know its going to happen and will happen I just dont like it.

 

[RaZ]

Perhaps we are missing an opportunity here.
We know that egg production tapers off in late fall and winter for our natural flocks.
As our fresh natural eggs become more scarce, shouldn't the price go up a bit due to the rarity of the commodity?
I think that we can up the price of eggs by a bit. If you are using artificial light or providing extra feed, your base cost has gone up.

I'm not advocating a price gouge, I am merely suggesting that we educate our customers that there is some seasonality in organically produced, local food. I see nothing wrong with seasonal price fluctuations.

 

[iamfivewire]

Guess weve been lucky - got 7 eggs of 7 layers couple days ago & 5 of 7 today. Been averaging 4~5 a day

 

[naglady]

Raz I agree with you.. I upped my egg prices from $2. to $2.50 a doz..a week or two ago and still selling out..

Iam five wire- do you have lighting 24/7, your hens are still doing great.

I just went out and i didnt get 6 eggs today the count was only 5.. and was surprized to see all the chickens in the coop roosting already this early it was still light out. must be the cold or something, or maybe tired from the light coming on early..


I have a order for 2 doz i need to fill yet.. then i am good and can start saving some for us again. i accidently cracked 6 eggs yesturday.. was pretty bummed about that. so we had them for lunch..

 

[RaZ]

How about the colour of these legs?

 

[iamfivewire]

No artificial light used - just what little bit of light that ocours naturally this time of year . . . . . hope i didnt "jinx" anything by posting & only get 1~2 til spring

 

[ClucksnDucksMI]

Thankfully, mine hasn't changed yet. I do have extra lighting but they are still free ranging during the day. I probably just jinxed myself lol. Random question - (I'm new to chickens!) I hear a lot of talk about molting, however, my five girls didn't. They are about seven months. Any ideas why? Too young?

 

[RaZ]

Most often, a young bird is not likely to moult. Consider that a juvenile bird just spent several weeks developing feathers in the first place.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

How about the colour of these legs?

Looks like maybe some pretty green eggs comin? She looks like a curious one, very pretty.