Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Egg and Us

Any of you readers out there who don't keep chickens may have noticed lots of postings with pictures of eggs lately . . . and wondered why. Well, the reason is because many of us "chicken farmers" are recently coming out of the usual molting period that comes upon hens sometime during the winter months. And when the chickens molt, they stop laying eggs. (Frozen egg ducts?)

After having as many wonderfully fresh, tastier-than-anything-store-bought eggs for most of the year, being eggless comes as a heavy blow.

But now with winter nearly past, and brief whiffs of spring in the air, (ta-dah!) we are getting eggs again.

Here on our little homestead, we've also been made aware that it's culling time once more. There are quite a few feathered bodies that have been coasting, stuffing their little gizzards with laying mash, but no longer producing eggs. I'm sorry, Chickens, but if you don't pull your weight around here, it's into the stew pot. (Wonder how long I have left?)

Realizing the situation, a week or so ago, husband took the bull by the horns, or the chicken by the . . . ah, um . . . back end, and checked to see which ones should be culled. He then put the nine non-layers and three surplus roosters in a separate housing area. We need to butcher this whole bunch and put them in the freezer, but as so often happens, "things" keep getting in the way and this ostracized bunch of birds think they're just on vacation somewhere in new facilities.

Also, it seems (ahem) that we have been getting about three eggs daily from this segregated group of . . . um, non-layers. Luckily, my husband has a sense of humor and says he's going to have to do a little more research on culling techniques before we proceed to the chopping block.

In the meantime, I've got a real craving for some deviled eggs. And since I've got a good surplus of eggs once again in the refrig, I'm gonna go boil some up right now.

8 comments:

Jennifer Jo said...

I would like the details on how to cull chickens. We have a bunch that aren't laying, and in our neck of the woods we have no tolerance for lazy ladies (of the clucky sort).

Jo said...

Hey Mama Pea -- how does the hubby tell the layers from the non by looking their rear ends? I didn't know there was a way to tell! We have some older ladies in our coop and I'd love to know if they were productive or not.

Erin said...

I too, always wondered how you knew which ones were no longer producing. So you pen them in a different area and watch and see? It makes sense. More info on your chicken culling and cleaning please, I love it! Can never have too much info on the subject...

Mama Pea said...

Hey, JJ, Jo, and Erin - Well, who knew? Sounds as if a chicken culling lesson wouldn't be inappropriate here! Dear husband is in a particularly busy period right now, but I'll do my best to see if we can't get a post (with pictures) up by the weekend.

Jordan said...

Ditto on how do you know by looking at the arse end of a chicken if it's laying or not?

Frustrated Farmer Rick said...

Count this as something we would like to know as well. I have heard of trap nesting but if there is an easier way I would love to learn about it.

RuthieJ said...

I think culling the hens would be the biggest thing keeping me from raising my own chickens. Don't they get pretty tame after a while?

Mama Pea said...

Jordan, Rick and Ruthie - Very breezy, cool and gray out there this morning but if husband and chickens are willing, I'll try to get some pictures to accompany Chicken Culling 101. Yes, Ruthie, you do have to be able to get your mind-set in the right place for chicken butchering. We try to remember that all of our chickens have had a really, really good life with us and we're grateful for the eggs and meat they give us.