Chick Chain is a 4-H activity that introduces youngsters, and often their parents, to the fun of growing baby chicks into laying hens. It’s called Chick Chain because participating youngsters receive baby chicks in the spring and sell some of their grown layers in the fall, with the proceeds funding the purchase of chicks […]
The eggs you collect from your chickens develop through a process that is nothing short of miraculous. A hen’s reproductive system consists of two main parts: an ovary and an oviduct. A young female chicken, or pullet, starts life with two ovaries. As she matures, the right ovary remains undeveloped and only the left one […]
The age at which a healthy hen lays her first egg depends, in large part, on her breed. Chicken breeds that are developed primarily for high egg production may start laying soon after they reach four months of age. Many backyard breeds start laying at the age of about 5 months. Chicken breeds that are […]
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 […]