The Hens are Laying Again!

My laying flock has been taking a break for the past few months.  They were going through a molt and recovering from rooster damage so it has been very quiet in the nest boxes lately.  I did have one younger hen in the flock and I believe that she and an occasional random older hen have been laying the one or two eggs that I have been getting each day.  I believe in allowing animals to follow their natural rhythms in life so I do not supplement light to keep the hens churning out eggs through the period when their bodies should be resting.  I would like to try to keep hatching chicks every 6 months or so just so I can keep my egg production more consistent throughout the year and still allow them to go through this natural break period.

The hens themselves are looking quite nice.  Most of them have grown back their full complement of plumage, though I have one or two stragglers that still look a bit on the ragged side.  They seem much more content now that they aren't under the constant harassment of the roosters.  I hope they don't get too stressed when I add the three youngest chickens to the laying flock in the next few weeks.  They have been getting acquainted with them when I let both flocks out together into the garden and fighting is minimal in that open context.  I'm sure it will only take a little while for them to adjust to their new shared quarters once I put them together.

In the past several weeks I have been getting one to two eggs a day.  It has been enough to keep me from running out of eggs, but not enough that I had any extra to sell.  In the past couple of days I have seen an increase in egg production.  I am hoping that a couple more hens have come back online now that they are done growing in their winter feathers.  If the girls get back to laying then they can start to pay for their food again.  They haven't always covered the bill, but it sure helps when they bring in a few dollars here and there.

I sell the fresh eggs to people at work.  I don't have many to sell and there is plenty of demand so I don't think finding homes for a surplus will be a problem.  I will just have to be careful to make sure that I keep a couple for myself here and there.