Saturday, February 4, 2012

Oh Pooh...............

Not the kind of job I want but someone should do it. I knew the time would come when I had to check my chickens hoo hoo to see if they have stopped laying.  Even though some are nearing four years old, I have read that when they lay a final egg it is usually really, really small.

And, it looks as though someone is telling me it's quits for her. Even my banty eggs are larger than this little thing.

So can you tell which ones gotta go? Hubby thinks I should only keep them as long as they are laying and we can sell some to help pay for their feed.
But he won't be checking their hoo hoos, so I'll make it look good by chasing them down, pretending to check them over and tell him I can't tell one hoo hoo from another and they'll just have to live to old age around here.
Works for me.

4 comments:

mtnchild said...

Once in a while I'll get a really tiny egg from one of mine - don't know which one, but since I have 4 girls and most of the time I get 4 eggs a day, I'm not worried about the size, I just giggle.

I have one that hasn't laid for about 12 months and she is loosing weight - she's not one of the layers - she will soon be in the freezer ... sob ...

Some chickens will lay for a good 5 or 6 years before they give up. I wouldn't worry just yet.
Yvette

ladybug loves lilacs said...

I am surprised to hear that you are trying to check them out to find out who isn't laying. I grew up on a chicken farm and we used to occasionally get a small one every once in a while. We had butchering time every year and the oldest would be the ones who went in the freezer. My dad tagged them when they were young so we knew which were the oldest and getting butchered each year. I have had my own chickens and we had our for 6 or 7 yrs and they were still laying. And sometimes we did get a small one. In the beginning they will lay a few small ones when they start laying. Enjoy reading your blog!

Gail said...

Thank you both for reasuring me that my hens will keep laying for some time now. Love your blog name of ladybug loves lilacs. Will be visiting Pins and Needles for inspiration. Love what you have done. Thanks for stopping in.

Dusky Beauty said...

I'm late to the party, but I think you'll know when one of your girls starts losing condition that she's getting on in years.
Those itty bitty eggs are common-- my hubby calls them "fart eggs"- gross but funny! I got one a week or two ago out of some ducks laying for the first season so don't let it worry you, it was just a regular egg without the yolk.
If you think about it, imagine how useful yolkless eggs would be if you could reliably farm them?? Or how much the city dweller rubes would pay for such a thing :D HAHA!!