Time is running out.....

It appears that one (some) of our hens is coming to the end of  her egg laying life.Our hens that will be two in the spring have served us well.They never slowed down and continued to lay all through the winter months'.They never had any artificial lighting,that was a personal choice but they do have natural light and I believe this is why they lay so well and are generally happier.

Poor thing....it can't be comfortable to lay this.

Time to make a move

Well this month is almost gone and we'll be into February.Geof put a window in the little barn yesterday to give the hens some extra daylight.A chicken needs at least 14 hours of daylight to form an egg,so this should help a bit.....though ours hasn't decreased much at all.

This is going to be the courting coop.

Nice and bright in there now.

I'm going to move a dozen rhode island hens and one roo (unrelated) that has a fair bit of rhode island in him over today.I think they will make some nice chicks.

I'll wait at least two weeks before I start saving the best eggs......around 40.The past two hatches have been about 50/50......so hopefully I'll get 20 pullets from that hatch.They should be laying by the end of August,perfect for the market.I will be getting some fertile eggs off the farm as well,should be interesting.

 

 This Australorp is from my last hatch in August,she should soon start laying by the looks of her comb.

 Rosemary has been running back and forth from the coop to this one all winter....some nights are spent here and some nights are spent in the other....I hope she doesn't get to cranky when she finds out the others have moved in!

Pickled Eggs

I do not like them in a box.
I do not like them with a fox.


But Geof likes them,so........

Boil for 12 mimutes.Drain....Run cold water over them and let them cool.

 Peel the dam things....don't use fresh eggs....it's not fun at all!

 Heat your juice....I use 1 cup of white vinegar, 1 cup of water,pickling spice and a couple tablespoons of sugar.....most times but this time I added just a wee bit more,it depends on your own taste.Oh,I also added a bay leaf to this batch.

I did the quart jars on Monday and they are ready to eat now.

Sign

Up until now we hadn't advertised that we had eggs for sale....it was just word of mouth.All summer we couldn't fill the egg orders and took back orders.....well not anymore....we have a mountain of eggs!! LOL

Here's my sign in all its' glory.

All The Eggs We Can Handle!!

As you can see we have lots of eggs for all of our neighbours and friends.

$2.50 a dozen or $5.00 a flat.