Well Ol' LeRoy met his fate a couple of weekends ago. Todd's gal did a great job.

I've started to get my first eggs, which is very cool. The eggs are pretty small, so I think they are coming from my little white leghorns and not my big fat Rhode Island Reds. It shouldn't be too long and all my gals will be pumpin' out the goods.

Egg production is directly proportional to day length.

The Leghorns will, I believe laye white eggs while the Reds will do brown.

And, like Illahee said, you will need lights all winter to keep them laying.

Yep, layers were really starting to slow down within the last mongth, now with the smoke it's really down-shifted production. Direct correlation to daylight....

LeRoy was a little chewier than I had hoped, but he was certainly tasty, and my lovely lady now can do more than just give lip service to "knowing where her food comes from"...she killed him, skinned and gutted him, butchered him and cooked him...and then we ate him.

Fish on...

Todd

As noted above, egg production is indeed proportional to daylight and related factors. Contrary to what some do by illuminating a coop to mitigate the natural winter's decline, we have always aligned with Ma Nature and allowed the free-range girls to have a much needed rest during that time betwixt Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day when natural nutritional resources are also at an ebb. As a result, we have some of our flock that are nearly a decade old and still produce a beautiful egg every day or two during spring/summer....

Pro Tips:

As layers age, or get stressed, they start to lose the natural yellow pigmentation (carotene) in their beak, skin, hocks, feet, vent and eye ring in what is referred to as bleaching. Their combs and egg yolks will similarly pale. If one does force winter laying, keep a close eye for any signs of such bleaching. If one is using an incandescent light bulb to heat a coop in the winter to keep combs from freezing, they need to build a better coop or change breeds for ones with smaller combs. In the PNW, most breeds will do just fine with a coop that shelters them from night time predators and winter winds.

Should one have the opportunity to eat an uppity roo, make soup and simmer the carcass/stock for at least 3 hours. Blanch the hocks/feet and peel the scaly skin/nails before adding them to the stock (According to traditional Chinese medicine, birds hold their Qi in their feet, thus "dragon claws" at such restaurants). Onions, garlic, ginger root, carrots, celery, a dash of tamari sauce and whatever else works for you will make for a tender chicken soup and/or sandwich meat. The free range layer/dual purpose breeds are not tender like the caged Cornish X fryers that one buys at Safeway.

Outside of LeRoy's tastiest bits, the rest of him all ended up in the stock pot...he has been featured in two pots of soup already.

Fish on...

Todd

My Reds are starting to lay their first brown eggs now. I did get a double yolk Leghorn egg and that was cool. I am easily entertained and the coolness factor bar is set very low.

All my girls are right on schedule for laying their first eggs and I'm excited for that, but I do think I'll give them a rest over the coming winter.

Next spring, I'm thinking of adding a new type of hen to the mix. Probably Easter Eggers for the green eggs to complete the color trifecta.

Anyway, that's my chicken update. Thanks for reading.

Aruacanas lay colored eggs.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Don't be jelly of my flock. It's not cool to covet another man's birds.

"Chickens are the original punk rockers!"
- Iggy Pop

You redeemed this thread with an Iggy quote.

My favorite Iggy quote,when asked why he banged a couple hideous fat girls after a show,he replied "Sometimes you just gotta wallow in the mud."

Chicken update....

I'm still getting a good amount of winter eggs, even though I'm not supplementing any light.

I've stacked up 4 dozen eggs (that's 48 eggs Arvid) for a mondo batch of spicy pickled eggs.

I got a one gallon mason jar that's gonna be stuffed soon.

Some salt, sugar, white vinegar, water, mustard seed, black peppercorn, garlic cloves, jalapenos, red chili flake, hot sauce, dash of liquid smoke and worchestshiresaucen. They'll last in their pickling brine in the fridge for a year or two. However, 4 dozen eggs (that's 48 eggs Arvid) won't last long.

Also thinking of doing an Asian style batch with rice wine vinegar, mirin, soy, chili paste, wasabi, lemongrass, ginger, garlic etc. Perfect for dropping into a bowl of ramen.

I have really good, healthy toots.

Pickled eggs are awesome. I can eat about fitty.

Put me down for one of those (48) eggs in the ramen style Nap

also...

I knew it. It was a 50/50 shot of either this or watching some grass grow.

Grams and Moms used to make pickled eggs growing up and I helped a few times (and always ate more than my fair share). It's not hard, but I do want to get a couple of different recipes dialed in. I'm pretty interested to see how the Asian style turns out. We eat a lot of Ramen around here, so those should be a hit. I've perfected my fresh jammy egg for optimal ooze, but those are kinda boring from a flavor profile.

Jesus Toff, watch your topknot around her.

Bump for the excitement!