It just seems like the math doesn’t add up. Like I eat a healthy diet and I get tired just pooping out the bad stuff, meanwhile a chicken can eat non stop corn and have enough “good” stuff left over to create and throw away an egg the size of their head, every day.
In: 11289
Back yard chicken owner here.
They just hang out and eat all day. If they free range, they literally just walk around and eat bugs all day. Coop is cool in summer and warm in winter. All their resources go towards the egg. And I spend $35 every couple weeks on a huge bag of formulated pellets that are packed with protein and nutrients to make sure they have the resources.
But they slow down and stop laying as soon as they need resources. If it’s really, really hot they’ll slow down. In the fall, they molt when the days start getting shorter. All their feathers drop and they look like they’re dying and they lay 1 egg a week instead of 1 egg a day. Then they stop all winter and basically just huddle up and chill. In the spring they’ll start laying again.
They also slow when older and then stop. My 5 chickens went from 3 dozen a week last year to 2 dozen a week this year. I suspect next year will be about a dozen and a half a week.
I have one who is probably 5 years old. She’s just a pet chicken at this point. Pops out a tiny egg every few weeks. Like the size of a gumball.
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