Chickens For Eggs
Raising and keeping a small flock of chickens for eggs has become a popular hobby for many families. It fits right in with today’s urge to go green and get back to basics.
Most chickens will lay 5 eggs per week. So if you need two dozen eggs per week you will need approximately 4-5 good laying hens. Check the breeds that you are interested in for the qualities you want. The best layers won’t usually sit on eggs if you want to hatch a new generation of layers, but some of the breeds that are just a little less productive will set the eggs for you.
If you only want to produce eggs to eat, you won’t need to deal with a rooster, and that can be a big perk. Roosters can be aggressive and downright mean unless you get a really docile breed of chickens, and even then the rooster won’t be as nice as the hens.
Choosing Your Chickens
The best laying breed of chicken is the White Leghorn. They will begin laying at about 5 months of age and lay an egg almost daily for the next 3 years or more. Leghorns lay large white eggs.
Red and Black Stars are also excellent layers and have the added attribute of being friendly and make great pets. Stars lay large brown eggs, one per chicken almost daily.
There are hundreds of chicken breeds. Some things to take into consideration when choosing are:
- Look for chickens that will do well in your climate. Some are adaptable, while others won’t do well in cold climates.
- How much space you have. An adult chicken needs at least 4 feet of space at the minimum. This means 16 feet of space per 4 chickens. More is always better. They need exercise, and close confinement increases stress in hens that can cause them to stop laying.
- Pick a docile breed if they are going to interact with children.
Small Business Ventures in Chicken Eggs
Keeping chickens for eggs can be a great family hobby or an excellent small home business.
If you have the room to free range the chickens the eggs will bring a higher price. You can go completely organic and they will bring even more.
If you decide to have fertile eggs for hatching, you can sell the fertile eggs for incubation projects for students, or sell baby chicks.
These endeavors become even more profitable if you choose chickens that are a rare or endangered species. Many of these eggs are sold on the internet year round.
If you choose this venture, you will have to learn to pack eggs safely for shipping. This is not as difficult as you might think. It just takes lots of bubble wrap for each individual egg, and a snug fit in a double box. I have shipped and received many eggs this way without a mishap.
If you are going to incubate or sell eggs for incubation it is extremely important that you do not wash the eggs. Just brush off any loose dirt. Washing the egg removes a protective layer on the outside of the shell.
Keeping chickens for eggs is fun and, with the right planning, can be quite profitable.
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