laying hens

Two of our chickens began laying in december. One of the hens was an Americauna (Pebbles) and the other a White Plymouth Rock (Peeps). So around 6-7 months for those two to began laying. Rosie, the Rhode Island red just began laying in March, taking her about 9 months. I believe it's a daylight issue coupled with the temperature rising. A week before she laid her first egg she had been acting different, talking a lot more and generally being weird :) I knew an egg was coming soon! All of their eggs are medium in size, tasty, with big yolks and healthy hard shells. Peeps has brown eggs and has established herself at the top of the pecking order. Pebbles has green eggs and Rosie has brown. We're averaging an egg a day for each of the hens.

We feed them a mix of organic feed from western farm center in Santa Rosa, CA along with oyster shells. Plus, we're always giving them scraps from cooking and the garden. I swear they eat better than us. I suggest buying in bulk (50lb bags) with both the food and oyster shells. You'll save a lot of money in the long run. To keep it form spoiling use a plastic trash can or any sealable storage container. What's handy with the trash can is you can tie a bungie cord from handle to handle to keep raccoons and other critters from getting inside.