A Few Cluck-worthy Additions

As our daily egg yield has continued to decrease, we have decided it is time to add a few feathery friends to our aging flock.  Instead of opting to raise day old chicks this year (they are a ton of work and boy, do they stink!), we are experimenting with a more cost effective (and much less time consuming) alternative - ready-to-lay hens.  We purchased a dozen 20 week old Lohmann Brown hens from a farmer on Kijiji and it is time to pick them up!  These hens are the most common type of chicken used for commercial egg production laying farms in Europe.  Luckily ours will have a much nicer life here on Gael Glen Farm than their poor European cousins.

Our new ladies are big enough to be incorporated directly into the main coop with our existing flock.  Ian picked them up last night and in the dark of night we introduced them into the coop.  Doing the hen amalgamation at night reduces the chances that the new birds will be harassed by the older, bigger hens.  Everyone just goes to sleep and in the morning it is like they have always been there.

Most of the new hens have not yet ventured outside.  They were raised exclusively inside and so this is the first time they have the opportunity to free range - they are working up the courage to experience the great outdoors.  

Lohmanns begin to lay at about 18 weeks, laying about 1 egg per day and up to 300 eggs a year.  We picked up a lot of cute little brown eggs off the coop floor today.  The new girls are relatively inexperienced layers and many have not yet managed to find the nesting boxes.  I am sure this will come with time.  

Lohmann hens are known to be very friendly and are good chickens to keep as pets for children - an added bonus for sure.  Welcome little brownies to your new home at Gael Glen Farm, we are happy to have you!