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18 Mar ’12
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double post
19 Feb ’12
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A "neighbor" of mine has a 2 dozen layers, she keeps them in a fenced area with all her other animals (goats, turkeys, donkeys, peacocks etc...) and her's lay all over the place. They do tend to find favorite places to lay and she usually finds the eggs in that spot. Her fence is fairly low, 36-40" and sometimes the birds will get over, but they tend to hang out around the house either way.
By far the best taste, it's amazing how different they taste and look from store bought eggs.
18 Mar ’12
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I realize this set up is a little beyond personal use homesteading, but I like to brag a little. The eggs turn a tidy little profit over all. The first photo shows the silo and the garage door used for the chickens to come and go as they please. Before it gets dark they are all inside and off the ground. We just close the door at night and open it in the morning. It was kind of cold this morning so they were all still inside. An exhaust helps cool things down in the summer months can be seen above the garage door.
The inside photos show the roosts, feeders, watering bucket (we have automatic wateriers also but they didnt make it into the photos), nesting boxes and just the bottom of the propane Modine heater for the coldest of Maine nights. The chickens are pretty resilient to the cold but we have running water in the building so we keep it set to come on just above freezing. The windows face the south so it stays comfortable most of the winter months during the day. Happy chickens make lots of eggs. When we were having the coyote problem last year the production dropped down considerably.
16 Feb ’12
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I think B17 free ranges at his dads and they lose quite a bit he was saying to predators
Over time we do. Although it seems that this last batch has held on ok. I want to say there are like 4 or 5 left....maybe my old man will see this and chime in.
17 Feb ’12
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Wow, so thats a commercial setup? How much work does it require on a daily basis?
18 Mar ’12
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Commercial may be a stretch with only 200+ birds, but it does turn a profit. On a daily basis it takes about a half hour for care. Fifteen minutes in the morning and night. You have to keep up with keeping things clean and dry for them or they can get sick and die off fast. Once a week it gets a good cleaning that takes a little more than an hour. That doesnt include cleaning eggs or boxing them. When we can find enough we use recycled egg boxes with just our label stuck on the box. The cost of shavings and grain has been skyrocketing and the price of the eggs follows suit. In the barn they sell for $2.50 and delivered to the natural food store its $3.00.
The production fluctuates quite a bit. Right now they are producing about ten saleable dozen a day. Production will rise in the summer and drop in the winter. Pullet eggs, odd shaped and jumbos that wont fit into a box are donated to the food cupboard. We have the silo filled three times a year to the tune of about $1200. The price of shavings fluctuates depending on where you buy them, have them delivered or pick them up. We buy them in bulk truck loads as we use a lot of shaving in the dairy barn also. We keep a plastic sheathed barn just to store shavings.
It seems I may have hijacked this thread a little from its original course, sorry about that.
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