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[clhw AT InfoAve.Net (clhw)]

Not knowing which Lynn Bev is talking to....

We have about 30 adult birds and nearly 30 chicks maturing now. There are
some roosters overdue for butchering and some getting there...

At the moment, we are not getting many eggs because of the number of
setting hens, eating snakes, and lazy daughter....

We usually separate the hens and chicks in a couple of weeks; sooner if the
hen is not protective and is not covering the chicks at night; generally
being a bad mother. Like the other Lynn, predators are a big problem so we
have the chicks moved, with their mother, to a brood box as soon as they
are discovered. The brood box is in an enclosed house snakes don't get
into.

Then we move them to a cage with small mesh. Generally before then, the hen
is tired of being cooped up and we turn her loose. The next step is the
chicken run which has large mesh wire, and they are closed into the chicken
house every night and a trap set in the chicken doorway. After they are
size enough to discourage hawks, they are let loose with the flock to free
range. I'd like a chicken tractor!

Some of the hens take a while to recover but probably within a week of
being released, they are laying again. I haven't tracked a hen to know if
that is always true or not.

I've never made egg noodles. I've helped a Mennonite lady make them and I
decided it wasn't worth my time and I didn't notice that they were any
better than the others.

I've used extra eggs in egg nog; angel food cakes; heavy pound cakes; hard
boiled eggs for salads; and I've sold extras. This year, we haven't been
selling any.
Lynn from SC



>Lynn,
>How many chickens do you have?  How many eggs do you get a day?
>
>I mentioned before that this is the first time I had a chicken go broody
>long enough to hatch out eggs.  The chicks are now 4 weeks old and have
>been with their mother in a chicken tractor all that time.  I am
>thinking that I want to put the mother back into the coop, back into
>production, but I don't want to mess up any instinctual drive or cause
>the chicks stress.  I have noticed in recent days that the hen now sits
>up on the roost in the chicken tractor most of the time, and the chicks
>respond to me when I go out there with kitchen scraps, so I'm thinking
>that now might be a good time to make the transition and take the hen
>away from her chicks.  If left alone and things remain in the status
>quo, when will the hen start laying again?  Any suggestions?
>
>I don't have a glut of eggs, but I do have several dozen.  I'm going to
>make some egg noodles this afternoon, and after that, when I get 4 dozen
>eggs in the refrigerator, I would like to stop collecting eggs and give
>the hens, including the barred rock that has already hatched some out, a
>chance to go broody again and get another batch of chicks.
>Lynn, do you make egg noodles with your excess eggs?
>I usually use the noodles pretty quickly, but it would seem to me to be
>a good way of 'storing' eggs..make the pasta, dry the pasta, etc.
>
>
>Bev
>--
>erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia USDA Zone 
>7
>34.498N 85.076W
>
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