Every good chicken adventures begins with Chicken Math or in this case the timeline of chickens. We purchased 6 week old chickens from Tractor Supply the beginning of August 2022. Unfortunately, we lost one within a week or two so that leave 5 chickens.<\/p>\n
These 5 chickens have never been good layers. We have never had an abundance of eggs. After doing some internet research this is a common problem with chicks from Tractor Supply.<\/p>\n
April 2023 we added three new chicks from a friend. Unfortunately, one of these turned out to be a rooster and after he was a little too rough with the girls he was re-homed in June 2024. This left our chicken count at 7. At this point we were averaging 3 eggs a day which was not a lot but still not horrible for “pets that produce”<\/p>\n
Things started going down hill from here as well, first we lost a chicken to a racoon in October 2024. Then another died from natural causes in November. We lost a third from the original 5 in February.\u00a0 In March we were down to 4 total hens. Our egg production was so low that an egg a day was exciting.<\/p>\n
At the end of March 2025, Zach brought home two four week old hens that had been hatched and raised at his school. Unfortunately we are still at an average of 1 egg a day with a total of 6 chickens.\u00a0 I have stated before the introduction of these two to the flock was quick and simple.<\/p>\n
Neither Zach nor I really liked the idea of raising small chicks again as they require a lot of work. I have been on the hunt for some additional hens since then. So now begins our current chicken adventure.<\/p>\n
Last Saturday, we purchased 4 “golden comet” pullets from a local feed store.\u00a0 I was very hopefully that would be easy to integrate.\u00a0 \u00a0Well they may be easy but not as quick as I had hoped. These new chickens are in a dog cage in the run. I am going out at least once a day and sometimes twice a day to let them out of the cage. We currently are dealing with chickens pulling feathers and I am managing with a stick.\u00a0 They do have a water dish in the cage and we allow to eat to they stop when we open the door. I am hoping that by next Saturday they can at least stay out for a whole day without constant supervision. The next step will be moving to the coop at night and teaching to go up in the coop as well.<\/p>\n
But I do have good news, the chicks we got in April are starting to produce. Since Sunday we have been averaging 3 to 4 eggs a day!\u00a0 That is exciting and would mean we should be getting 7-9 eggs per day. I will be happy with 7 a day!\u00a0 Stay tuned for more chicken adventures!<\/p>\n
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Every good chicken adventures begins with Chicken Math or in this case the timeline of chickens. We purchased 6 week old chickens from Tractor Supply the beginning of August 2022. Unfortunately, we lost one within a week or two so … Continue reading