Egg production is up!!!!! I’m so excited! It is not because the new chicks are laying eggs but because I finally got a clue! J No really. I stopped buying the commercial feed that has all the important vitamins and minerals that are necessary to their growth and production. Why did I do this? Because I could get “wheat screenings”, Organic wheat screenings, for ½ the price of the commercial feed. Wheat screenings are what is screened out of the horse feed/grain as it goes through the grain elevators. It’s what’s left over that isn’t really good enough for horses or cows but good enough for chickens. BUT, it lacks the minerals that they need. When I decided to do this I knew that they needed the extra minerals and salt but didn’t know to what extent it would affect them. I purchased the minerals and salt and would throw a handful of salt and minerals in now and again. The switch from the commercial feed took place about the same time we started to lose light. Chickens need a minimum of 14 hours of light for production. Well, all of a sudden by the end of September we were WAY down on production. Some days as few as 5 eggs a day! This is down from an average of 16. I thought it was because of the light but after I put a light inside the coop to extend their daylight it never really increased. We went 2 ½ months like this. I finally purchased 2 mineral feeders but not really expecting this to make too much of a difference because I was throwing handfuls of the minerals in with their feed. But after the feeders went up and they had free reign on controlling their own intake (apparently they are pretty smart when it comes to knowing what they need), the egg count has gone way up!!

YEAH! I’m consistently getting 10 or more eggs a day. Every once in awhile I’ll get 6, 7 or 8, but for the most part it’s 10+! So, I’m very thankful! My ability to sell eggs is back!