First proper actual egg from the chicks

It’s official … the chicks are now pullets. I found this egg in the nesting boxes in the chicks coop.

As you can see by the weight, it isn’t a particularly large egg, but it is perfectly formed. 43 grams is pretty small by the standard of our chickens, we usually run from 50 to 70 grams (one egg actually topped 89 grams).

And here is the egg in comparison with the eggs from the much older White Leghorn chickens. It is no surprise that the pullets first eggs are small. It is normal to get unusually shaped eggs while the chickens get their cycle into gear, so it is very good that this chick has laid a perfectly formed egg with no surface impurities or calcium deposits.

The White Leghorns are pretty much off the lay at the moment. I’ve had only four eggs with shells since the 2nd of January. Normally, I get between 3 and 5 eggs a day from the grown-up girls. I think that the heat has had a serious impact on their cycle. Since the 2nd, I’ve also had about four eggs without any calcium shell … just a weak and leathery skin. All but one of these shell-less eggs has been broken, so they have been fed to the dogs.

Also, I am very happy with the colour of the egg shell. It makes no difference to the taste of the egg, it is purely an aesthetic thing. White eggs come from chickens with yellow legs and white earlobes … brown eggs come from chickens with red earlobes. I think I can identify the chick that laid this egg, she is very dark in colour with reddish yellow legs. She is probably the most developed of the hens too. Anyway, we will see what we will see.

Chicks First Egg

Today one of the chicks laid an egg. The egg was small and didn’t have enough calcium deposited on it for the shell to be hard, but it was the first egg.

The egg was laid next to the chicks roost, so it looks like it caught the hen by surprised … I suppose I can’t really call them chicks anymore, the babies have grown up.

When the chicks arrived, they were 8 weeks old … it is now another 12 weeks since then, so they are about 20 weeks of age. That’s just about spot on for development from chick to pullet.

The cock has grown into a magnificent young rooster and he struts around the coop just like he is supposed to. His development has been good, developing his comb and wattles early and then his height and greater size.

The hens are all gorgeous young chickens indeed.

I expect that the first hen to lay will be a bit inconsistent in her laying initially but her body and behaviour will adjust to the new stage of her life.

Our older chickens, the White Leghorns are now pretty much off lay, they seem to have reached the end of their laying life, so it’s retirement for them. I intend to allow the chickens a graceful and peaceful retirement. Although the hens will not produce many eggs in their retirement, they will provide the pullets with the wisdom of their age.

I now just need to find a new home for the new rooster.

Egg Sales

After some poking around on the interweb, I discovered that I have to label the eggs that I sell … even though I have a flock of less than 20 hens. There are a couple of pieces of legal instruments that cover the production of eggs for sale. The Tasmanian Food Act, the Egg Standard and the Animal Welfare legislation. From these three instruments I discovered that:

1. I do not need to be licensed as an egg producer or carry an egg producers license because I have less than 20 hens;
2. I am subject to the Food Act as a backyard poulterer irrespective of the number of hens I have because I am selling, gifting or otherwise providing a foodstuff; and
3. As a consequence of 2 … I have to follow the standards for labelling from the Egg Standards.

Well, it isn’t that much of a problem. It increases my costs by about $0.50 per dozen eggs to cover the cost of egg cartons, sticky labels and printing (I’m printing the labels myself). It just means that the $5.00 I charge for a dozen free range eggs means slightly less profit. My chickens lay, on average, 3-4 eggs per day which means I get about 9 dozen eggs per month. After feed costs and now carton and labelling costs … my profit has just gone down to $5 per month or the princely sum of $60 per annum! Woohoo … here comes my retirement fund! It’s a good thing that I do this for our own health and welfare rather than as a business.