We have been chicken farmers at the Kuegler mini-farm for over 18 months. During this time, we have had many exciting moments: a runaway chick, the first egg, the chickens’ first encounter with snow. However, in early December, we realized that our chickens’ time with us may be ending sooner than planned.
Although we like having chickens, our decision to get a flock of eighteen was for eggs. We didn’t want eighteen new pets, we wanted chickens that would provide us with eggs. So, in late November when our girls’ egg production dropped from six or seven eggs per day to one or two eggs per days, we thought their laying days might be over.
We knew that lack of sunlight would lessen their egg production, as it did last year, but this year, their production of eggs simply ceased about mid-December. We began to contemplate our options.
1. Butcher the chickens and make soup for us.
2. Continue to feed the chickens, making them pets instead of “farm” animals.
3. Donate them to a friend who would butcher them and use them in her restaurant.
We had become comfortable with choice #3. In fact, I was going to call her at the end of this week to arrange a date for the chickens to be delivered. However, when I went to their coop on Monday night, I discovered three eggs, and then on Tuesday, I discovered four eggs. Did they know about our plan?
Obviously, the amount of sunlight has improved egg production, and for this we are very glad. We had been disappointed that they laid eggs for only slightly more than a year, as we had hoped to get closer to two years of laying from them. We also weren’t enjoying buying eggs at the store. Most of all, we weren’t excited about having to tell the kids about the chickens’ demise.
So, for now, our girls are back to doing what they do best. Laying eggs. And trying to avoid all of the snow.
