It seems as though when ever updating our laying hens, comes into conversation there is a soft hearted 7 year old that bursts into tears and says "Not Cricket." He has a special bond with this one. She was one of the first and fell asleep in Adin's hands as a chick. :(You see our girls are getting older and not producing they way they used to... they didn't produce a single thing for months this fall. Then I started talking about butchering all the girls but the 2 youngest and now, with the cold and everything I have eggs.
I don't think all of them are laying, but it is so hard to figure out which egg goes with which lady. I know Lucy's egg, she is a Leghorn = white egg. But then there are Lady Cluck and Red who are Buffs, Cricket who is a Dominique, Fancy Nancy who is an Australop and Cinnamon who we think is a Rhode Island Red (she was an "oops" in the first meat chick batch last summer - she was not a Cornish Cross). All of these ladies lay brown eggs. Miss Cricket has always laid these petite perfect eggs and we just haven't gotten one in a while and Cinnamon is just now starting, I think they are her's, giant eggs (we have only had 3 so far.)
In the winter we have only one of our two coops running as we only winter over 6-7 birds (Swamp the roo included) and use the 2nd in the summer for our meat chickens. But I am thinking of firing up the 2nd one a separating some out to see which lady is laying what or not at all. Then I can do some selective butchering and maybe get a few new pullets from a co-worker of my hubby and get some more egg production going.
We'll have to see. I keep telling the kids that this is what raising chickens is all about: food. It is it too much for him, I may have to seek retirement housing for Cricket at my sister's coop. Sis had a hard time putting any of her girls down and seeing as I took Swamp off her hands, maybe that will work. Hmmmm.
