Rare is the hen that will lay an egg every day, year round. Most hens lay in cycles. Depending on the hen’s breed and age, one cycle may last for 12 days or as long as a year. The total number of eggs laid within one laying cycle is called a clutch. Eggs per Clutch […]
Homegrown chicken eggs are seasonal. Sometimes you have too many, sometimes not enough. Here are five ways to extend the shelf life of your fresh homegrown eggs, to preserve the surplus for days when your hens take a vacation from laying. 1. Do Nothing You may be surprised to learn how long clean, fresh, unwashed […]
The terms “sex link” and “autosex” both refer to chicks that may be sorted by gender from the moment they hatch. But the two words are not synonymous. Sex link chickens, or sex links, result from mating a hen and a rooster of two different breeds. Autosex chickens are the offspring of a hen and […]
Floor eggs are the eggs your hens lay on the chicken coop floor, rather than in the nice cozy nests you provide. Floor eggs are undesirable because they easily get dirty or cracked, making them unsafe to eat and unsuitable for hatching. A cracked egg is likely to get broken, encouraging hens to sample the […]