Our current laying flock is made up of Delaware, Ideal 236, Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, and Cream Legbar hens. The Delaware hens are calm and lay medium-sized putty-colored eggs. However, for their size and appetites, they aren’t good enough layers. The Ideal 236 hens are excellent layers and the eggs are large and white, but we don’t like their personalities. They aren’t mean, per se, but they are too aggressive for our mix of hens. The other hens are decent as layers, but we are ready to move on.
Every year, we experiment with different breeds of chickens to learn about their characteristics, with an eye toward making good choices for the future. We typically start with extra chicks. Some of the chicks are meant for meat and some are meant to be the future layers. In a later post, I will describe the chicks we have ordered. They will be arriving soon.
Throughout the summer, as convenience presents itself, we isolate the mature hens to see which are still laying. Those who aren’t are scheduled for retirement. We also keep an eye out for chicks with interesting characteristics that might be useful.
In the fall, when the days are still warm enough to be comfortable for wet hands, the meat birds fly South to the freezer and the retiring layers join them. The laying hens and the selected pullets move back to the coop for the winter when the frost warnings begin. The coop is kept between 40 and 60F most of the winter so waiting until there is a chance of frost at night minimizes the temperature change when they move indoors.
