Freeloaders

As delicious as farm fresh eggs are, I must report that we have been getting very few of them lately.

By few, I mean we get one measly egg per day.  One.  It is normal for egg production to decrease in the winter but this seems ridiculous.  We have over two dozen hens!  Or so I thought.  I have begun to wonder if we have a rooster living a clandestine life as a hen.

Our rooster Beemster.

A hen.

Mystery chicken.  A rooster gallivanting as a hen?

 Our mystery bird does not crow and what might be its leg spurs are very small.  It is also very skittish and shows no interest in consorting with the ladies.  However, its large combs sure make it look like a rooster.

Given that our hens are getting older and the new chicks we will get in the spring will not begin to lay until November 2018, I have been looking forward to getting a few guaranteed eggs from the three chicks hatched by our broody hen this past summer.  If one of these chicks turns out to be a freeloading rooster, it will not help augment my egg production.  Though in fairness, my two dozen hens who continue to eat a ton and lay very little are not helping egg production right now either.  If laying does not pick up as spring approaches, it might be time to think about making some chicken soup.  One egg a day is just sad.