Sweetpea sitting on eggs.

A few of our hens are laying nearly every day now. The best layers are the Buff Orpington and the Barred Rock. The hens are two years old now, “Chicken Prime”. This is the peak of their laying career. The eggs are large. Actually, it will probably be downhill from here as egg production slows as they grow older. I’ll be happy with a couple of eggs a week from each hen. Regardless of how long they lay, they will have a life with us here in Cambria.

A chicken has a life span of 5-7 years. At about 20 weeks of age they begin laying. For approximately two years they’re at their best, laying 4-7 eggs a week, depending on the breed, the season of the year, and the climate. They lay best when the days are long. In the wild, a chicken will lay a clutch of eggs (up to 30), then stop and sit on the eggs to keep them warm. We refer to a setting hen as one that is “broody”. The eggs will hatch around the 21st day. Egg ranches get more eggs than a backyard “chicken wrangler”. Egg farmers manipulate egg production by keeping lights on all night. Hens will continue eating and laying at a faster rate. These poor hens seldom live a long life. They are “spent” and die after a year or two of this pressure to produce, thus, they die young and their meat is used in commercial chicken soup.

A hen will lay up to 900 eggs in their lifetimes. I’ve heard of an Australian hen laying 370 eggs in a year but that is unusual. Our hens have stopped laying periodically. Sweetpea and Poppy have both gotten in the “reproductive mood” and stopped laying for a few weeks. They became “broody”. They don’t want to leave the nest boxes but their eggs are not fertile (no rooster there to do the job) and it is useless letting them sit on eggs. Also all of the girls have gone through a yearly “molt” where they lose their feathers and grow new ones. During this time, the hens have stopped laying for a period of about a month.

It is an interesting concept this whole backyard chicken thing. Economically, the hens pay for themselves by producing eggs that pay for their feed. I love the freshness of the eggs, the orange yolks, the firm egg whites, and the fresh taste of their eggs. I love watching the hens, too. They have their own little “society” all contained in a small area of our garden. They were raised there, that is all they know. I enjoy sharing this experience with others and hope that some of you will be inspired to keep a few hens of your own.

Oh Yukk! The hens’ run is a mess! We’ve had light rain for seven days straight and the ground is saturated. Most of the run is covered with lucite panels but the ground is soaked. Poor hens are walking around in mud. They’ve been using their ladder more than usual to get up off the ground. Don filled some of the holes created by dust bathing in the run to try to get it to drain off but it is still quite mucky. I spread a bit of alfalfa around this afternoon to soak up some moisture.

Rain has obscured the view of the Pacific

Chickens are incredible resistant to weather. While I am complaining about a little steady rain, back East the chickens are wading around in snow. In cold climates many people raise only chickens (like our Wyandottes) that have smaller curly combs on top of their heads (called rose combs). Smaller combs mean that less comb is exposed to the  freezing temperatures in the winter. I’ve seen a few of our hens tuck their heads under their wings to sleep. Kind of like pulling blackout shades, warming your comb, and warming the air you breath all at the same time. Clever girls!

Local wild turkeys are soaked in the rain

Our California wild turkey neighbors have found a vacant lot to hang out in. At least our hens have a cute little henhouse to hide in should the weather get worse.

Wishing you all a happy, joyful, and festive holiday! May your tootsies stay warm and dry.

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One of my sons checks in on my hens on occasion. He emailed me to say the I hadn’t posted anything lately. I answered that not much was happening in the henhouse. Most of the six hens show signs of molting (loosing their feathers and growing new ones) and aren’t laying eggs. In fact, we’ve only been getting about one egg per day and it looks to be from the same hen. You see, all their eggs look slightly different. They have different shapes and are different colors so we can tell who is laying and who isn’t.

Barred Rock Molting-Pinfeathers are Growing in

Molting is a yearly occurrence for most breeds of chickens. Feathers are made of keratin, a kind of protein, and the annual transformation of shedding and replacement takes its toll on the hen’s physical condition and disposition. When the hens molt, their combs shrink and become a pale pink.  Some hens experience a change in personality, becoming unusually cranky. Molting could go on through January so I’ll have to forgo omelets until the hens are back in form.

Our hens are approaching two years of age now. Several are going through their second molt. Tulip, the Ameraucana, is one that has molted twice. Her molts seem to last forever. She stops laying those pretty green eggs for a couple of months. Sweetpea, the barred rock, is also suffering (I mean experiencing) her second year of molting. Sweetpea, is a good layer and I miss her large, rather long, light-brown eggs. Sweetpea is one of our most affectionate hens. She jumps onto our laps and tucks herself into the crook of our arms and settles in for an extended stay. Last fall, when she first molted she wouldn’t let us touch her. I read that when birds molt, the incoming new feathers make the skin sensitive to the touch. This year, though Sweetpea is a little stand-offish in her molt, she still has enjoyed some gentle handling.

Sweetpea's bare bottom

Daisy, the Buff Orpington, needed to molt. Her light flaxen plumage had become ragged and dull. I can’t wait to see Daisy in her new feathers. Rosie, the Rhode Island Red, has stopped laying and dropped a few feathers here and there. I see her growing some back on the bare spots on her head that the other hens had denuded. I think that Rosie will be one of those hens that does not fully molt. They say that the better layers molt less and for a shorter length of time and I think that Rosie is one of those. Luckily, we have temperate winters here on the Central Coast. My poor hens are walking around with bare bottoms and naked necks. Hopefully they’ll be strutting their new look soon.

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When our sweet Buff Orpington, Daisy, was sick last summer (see “Daisy is Ill“), I was given some very practical advice by Brigitte Kessler-lichtensteiger, a chicken rancher in southern Ontario (and cousin-by-marriage to my niece). She suggested that I save and dry egg shells left over from cooking, grind or smash them, and feed them back to the hens. The extra calcium would strengthen their shells. I’ve been doing this every few weeks since August and I think it has made a difference. The shells of all the hens seem to be stronger and smoother.

Egg Shells Drying

After doing a little research, I found some material that supports Kessler-lechtensteiger’s theory here. “According to researchers at Mendel University, a hen must deposit 25 mg of calcium on the developing egg surface every 15 minutes during the 20-hour period in which the eggshell is formed. A prolific laying hen producing approximately 300 eggs per year will deposit 24 times more calcium into her eggs’ shells than the amount contained in her bones. With research like that, it is not a surprise that laying hens may need supplemental calcium even if they are being fed a nutritionally complete laying feed formula. Eggshells can provide that supplemental calcium.” I found this on eHow but is substantiated in other articles on the internet as well.

I confess that I am of Scottish descent and it is hard for me to waste anything. I’ve been putting egg shells in my garden compost for years and have been feeding my six hens oyster shells to supplement their calcium intake. Now, in addition to the oyster shells, I air dry egg shells for about a week or put them in a warm oven for 1/2 an hour. I then put the broken shells in a little food processor and give them a whirl. After drying, the shells break down easily so this only takes a minute or two. When I fill the chicken feeder, I sprinkle this powder in with the feed, and mix.

With laying hens having to produce so much calcium each day, it only makes sense that food high in this essential mineral will enhance the hens’ ability to produce strong shells and keep the little darlings healthy.

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