Random question regarding cost of feeding

[Ebony Rose]

This may be an answer to your foraging problem:

(chicken tractor, cheap and portable) Move them to fresh grass and still keep them protected while they're out and about. I can see you putting them in a tractor for a couple hours a day to "mow" the yard, then move them back to your protected enclosure for the balance of the day.

 

[PTA Chicks]

I'd be thrilled if I actually got 300 eggs in 30 days from 10 layers, even in peak production all my girls miss at least one day a month

I also wish I got that many. I avg about 30 eggs a week so it does contribute a bit

 

[PTA Chicks]

This may be an answer to your foraging problem:

(chicken tractor, cheap and portable) Move them to fresh grass and still keep them protected while they're out and about. I can see you putting them in a tractor for a couple hours a day to "mow" the yard, then move them back to your protected enclosure for the balance of the day.

It is an option I considered but I leave for work by 7am and home 6pm,often it is dark by then,definitely in winter. Also,my land is quite steep so I am limited as to where I could place them. However,I have recently been trying to make a plan for more under cover free range area so things are happening,slowly. They do get lots of outside time on weekends. Hopefully soon we will be back to our normal.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I'd be thrilled if I actually got 300 eggs in 30 days from 10 layers, even in peak production all my girls miss at least one day a month

True, ya do miss an egg here and there that I didn't include in that figure **blushes** A hen can lay only one egg in a day and will have some days when it does not lay an egg at all. The reasons for this laying schedule relate to the hen reproductive system. A hen's body begins forming an egg shortly after the previous egg is laid, and it takes 26 hours for an egg to form fully. Recalculating eggs per month **drum roll** 23 dozen eggs a month, more or less **winks**