The Chicken Chronicles 3.31.23

Our hens' egg production started dropping soon after Bandit was re-homed and by winter, it was pretty much at zero.

In February, Ben talked to a neighbor with chickens who was adamant that big feed stores added something to their chicken feed that made chickens stop laying eggs and if we would buy feed from a smaller feed store that made their own mix, our hens would start laying again. Ben laughed at this conspiracy theory.... but figured we had nothing to lose by trying. And whattaya know? Almost as soon as he switched their feed, they started laying again. Within a few weeks, Jack's egg selling business was back on and he was making weekly deliveries to the family next door.

I like seeing the chicken tracks in the snow.

Two weeks ago, tragedy struck. Jack's beloved hen Felix, the Rhode Island Red (third from the right in the below picture) passed away. She'd been acting off for a little while, and Ben and Jack had cleaned up her rear end where poop had accumulated, hoping that would help. But just a couple of days later she didn't go into the coop at night and Ben found her dead on the ground. It was very cold that night, so we don't know if she froze to death or died from some other sickness. We were all sad, but Jack was the most affected. He handled it pretty well, but it definitely bothered him. She was so mild-mannered and a great little buddy for Jack - and a dependable layer.

The whole brood in Oct. 2022

We're down to 6 hens now.