This is my hobby. It’s been my hobby for about six months now. I watch the number of little brown ovoids in this tray, and try to make the number grow.
Uncertainty brings spice to the game. (I prefer salt and paprika.) See, with three chickens I can acquire a maximum of three eggs per day. There has never been a single day when the three ladies laid four eggs in a day, so three is the cap. Winters, the minimum is zero but that’s rare: Call it one a day as a minimum. I normally eat two for breakfast but if it’s a baking day the consumption can rise as high as five per day. Then I try to make sure there’s a half-dozen waiting in Landlady’s fridge when she comes up, which in nice weather is every two weeks.
So you see, despite my and the chickens’ best efforts, this 18-count tray has never, in the past six months, been full. Since yesterday was baking day, this is about as good as it’s ever gotten.
But it’s never been empty, either. Almost, very close, but never completely empty. It’s magic!
We have three chickens as well, and get similar amounts of eggs. We don’t often eat breakfast at home though, so the numbers build up quicker. We hard boil them for work lunches and snacks. Cost – about the same as storeboughten, but tasted – no comparison at all, home grown rules!
We have 26 layers and typically 18-23 per day. Your girls are doing good.
My friend, you need a rooster…rooster meets ms. chicken…later ms. chicken has little chickens which results in far more eggs. Yes, I know…smart ass remark on my part. Sorry.
That just means you need more hens, we have 10 hens (my wife also just got 2 pullets, trying for the best rainbow of eggs while keeping to about 10 birds, these 2 new birds will start laying about anytime for the Moran which lays a very dark brown egg generally to this fall for the Amerunca which lays a dark blue) and get 7-8 eggs a day even in winter, supplemental light works great, keep the light to around 12-14 hours a day total and laying does not fall off. Summer is when ours fall off on the laying, misters and shade cloth only help so much when it is over 100 out. She did manage to breed for a hen that lays a dark green egg with the last rooster we had briefly (our zoning allows roosters if the neighbors don’t complain, we have yet to find one that does not crow at least 4-5 times an hour during daylight), both roosters we have tried found new homes instead of having to go to freezer camp.