Red Comb Farm : A Year in the Egg Biz

{January 2010}

It's been almost a year since our first (big) flock of chickens on the farm laid their first egg for sale. Let me say that it has been a really fun year, filled with ups and downs, lots of learning, along with everything wonderful and challenging that goes with raising chickens. If it's possible to feel like a pro chicken/egg farmer, I do. There is always more to learn but I am confident with every aspect of the process now.

When the first 60 chicks arrived in late August 2009 we knew that in about 6 months we would have lots of eggs to sell. We have a great location that gives us a great deal of land but also 'busy road' access so we set up shop in our breezeway and let the customers help themselves. I have to say that the honor system has been a wonderful experience. We have made true friends, shared lots of laughs, persuaded local politicians, provided some with their first ever fresh egg experience and even helped people start their own flocks! It's awesome. We were robbed once this summer during a string of farm stand robberies where the majority of the local farm stands were hit. They only got $5 but they left behind their cat. It's a long, funny story for another time but having a kitty hostage helps a lot when you are trying to catch a criminal. Up until the robbery we had a glass jar that people would make change from. After the robbery we switched to a wall mounted lock box. It wasn't a big deal. In retrospect that was probably how we should have set it up in the first place because we sell out every single day! We never advertised or anything, word of mouth spread fast and our eggs are delicious, some have even said "the best they have ever tasted".

But then this September, it started to feel like a lot of work for me and while we were selling out of our eggs we were really only making a bit of 'egg money' after paying for costly organic feed. We had also added 20 more chicks in May 2010 who would pick up the slack for the older girls as their egg laying cycle slowed down. In all I was caring for around 100 birds including a few meat birds. It was kind of a lot. So I decided to sell roughly half the original flock and things seemed a bit more manageable.

After that, because my egg production was down, not only were we selling out of eggs but we were pre selling out! Sometimes I'd be sitting there with a basket waiting for a hen to lay an egg while a customer was waiting in the driveway! When people really wanted eggs they would purchase by the egg! If I only had two left, they'd buy those two! I would always try to just give them the two eggs but they still put their $.80 in the box. If I could have gotten a loan and ordered 1,000 more chickens and some help I bet I'd still sell out of every single egg. Being in the middle-size flock range was just awkward. I told Greg we either had to go really big or shrink it down. Because we have a young family we chose (for now) to shrink it down.

And then, this Fall, the Great Molt came. All chickens go through it. Sometime, usually in the Autumn, after a hens first year of life they start to shed their feathers for a new set. They stop laying eggs for about as long as it takes to grow the new feathers in which can mean a few months. After they molt their production drops dramatically and a farmer has to decide how to manage their flock. We hadn't quite gotten to that point yet but we had accounted for the decreased production. As planned our Welsummers and Amberlinks (the May babies) reached maturity and started laying eggs around the same time. We went a little further down in egg production but the younger girls were picking up some of the slack in the meantime.

Then something horrible happened this first week of the New Year. A weasel got into our coop and decimated our flock.

I haven't even really been able to bring myself to do a full head count but I counted my younger hens and I only have 6 left. 6 hens. I am choked up and in tears just typing that. In all of the years that we have been keeping chickens I have never had anything like this happen and only once before has a critter breached our coop. We have lost many hens to predation through the years, picked off one by one by one predator or another. On the morning of January 1 Greg walked into the coop and found 12 dead (but not eaten) birds. We battened down the hatches but the next morning there were 2 more dead. Most of the dead were our young hens. We are devastated. The emotional loss is huge as is the financial loss. I'm sick just thinking about it.

What this really means is that we are basically out of the egg business for now. I love my birds so much and I feel just awful about this whole thing. I miss them and I miss their eggs. I love my customers too. Today I had to return some pre-buy money and I felt so bad. This afternoon I collected one solitary egg. Right back where I started from last year. So that is it. That has been our year in the egg business. I had no idea that it would end this way. In spring I am sure we'll build our flock back up again but I just can't think about that right now. It's a sad summary but this is the way things can be and often are on a farm. I may be a little quiet here for the next few weeks as I shift my daily purpose here and there, figuring out the next steps. I hope you'll bear with me. xxoo Spidey

{January 2011}

Comments

[laura bittel]

oh, abi, i'm so sorry. :( this sounds like a really sad ending, but i think it's just going to end up being a rough patch in a much longer and happier story.

[Emily Hertler]

Wow, I had no idea, Abi! I was off of FB for a few days around the new year. Damn the weasels! I'm so sorry for your loss. I know you'll build up your flock again when you're ready. This was a fascinating article; I am in awe of you. Hugs and kisses!

[Sassafrass]

So sorry to hear this. You and your flock were an inspiration; it's awful that you should experience this.

[corinne]

This is a beautiful post. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Thinking of you, xo

[Jenna]

Oh darling.... don't let this get you discouraged.
There's a weasel nailed above the door of my coop i inherited with the farm, and now I know why!

[Bev]

Wow, what an amazing story Abi. I am really sorry that happened but I have to say that your posts about the farming life have been a huge inspiration for us to go local and buys from small farmers around here. Keep sharing and things will work out!

[Karen r]

I'm sorry I know that feeling. One weekend we came home to find a raccoon had gotten in our small city coop and eaten only the heads off our ten chickens. Gruesome. Another time I came downstairs after taking a shower to find my then three year old so excited about "the dogs" he let in to play with the chickens when he found them pacing outside the coop. Turns out they were not dogs, but coyotes.....I have learned to chalk it up to experience. After the first our coop got a roof. The second a childproof lock, now we have to find a way to keep a choc lab puppy from retrieving chickens. Good luck!

[Andrea (aka Selkie on Ravelry)]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear this. Sincerely...

[KC]

Life throws lessons at you in many different ways. Then of course life in the natural world just is and it's not fair. But don't give up, if I lived near you and were one of your customers, I'd wait for you to get back on your feet. You've got a great thing going even if it's stressful sometimes. Best of luck!

[jess]

So sorry to hear this! Take care.

[Kathy]

I'm so sorry! Have you thought about trying to do a local fundraiser or something? A local business, devastated by natural events? I mean, it would be a U.S. version of a Keva project, kind of... without the loan payback. :) I mean, it probably seems a little presumptious to you, but maybe it is something to consider?

[life at cobble hill farm]

Abi I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of girls. We lost one a week or so ago and that was painful, I can't imagine losing a number of them at once. I wish you much luck in 2011 at finding your "fit".
Staci

[Kristen]

We lost 16 of our 38 this past summer (most of them our up-and-coming young hens) to someone's loose dogs. It was devastating to drive up and find feathers and bodies everywhere. My son was very distraught. We haven't quite solved the problem of how to prevent this, so now our chickens are confined to 'chicken jail' (their chain link yard) instead of roaming our acre (which had been safe for them the past four years). It is hard and sad. I hope with some rest time you'll be back to it in the spring.

[Nichole]

Losing your girls is such an utter bummer. I am truly SO sorry to hear about the naughty weasel. I had a similar experience earlier this fall losing eight chicks within 30 minutes or so. Not eaten, just played with by a dog on the loose. What a loss and waste.

I'm sure you'll build your flock up again this spring. But I know it's hard to reconcile with the loss of your good hens.

[Nicole]

Wow, who knew the egg-laying biz was so dramatic! I'm sorry to hear about your flock disaster. I hope that 2011 brings you better times.

[MJ]

Oh I am so sorry to hear about your loss :(. I have heard one too many stories like this. I guess when we give our heart to something so fully, that is when we are most vulnerable. In the end, nature has a way of reminding us we are not in control. Many warm thoughts as you mourn and recover...

[gayle]

You have my utmost sympathy. We had predator problems this year, too, so I know exactly how you feel. 'Devastated' doesn't begin to cover it...

[mare]

Oh i feel so badly for you. It is a horrible thing, and you feel so helpless..I had what we think was a weasel DIG it's way thru and into our basement when we were raising ringneck doves. I went downstairs one morning to find just the back of the dove with the whole underparts(breast and legs and all)gone, and the head tossed in the opposite corner. Also we found some doves missing toes or with cuts on their feet. That monster scared them off their perches in the dark room and then proceeded to pull them down thru the chicken wire bottoms. I rigged up a better system after that but never did recover or feel "safe" for the birds down there after that. It's a terrible thing...

[rebecca]

Oh Abi,

(Deep breath)
~sigh~
I am so sorry.

rebecca

[Dahlia]

...

My eyes just welled up when I got to that last bit, Abi. I hope you are holding up. Things can only get better, right?
I am so sorry for your loss, and hope to hear from you soon.
<3 <3

[Lois Budnitsky]

I feel so sad about the lost chickens. Those eggs look so-o-o delicious. I enjoy reading about your farm and family. It's a vicarious experience for me.

[Karen Sue]

this is a sad loss...and a huge time for reflection..I hope you have more chickens in your life real soon and I hope that your egg buyers appreciate you even more and pay you double!!

[Sarah]

Stick with it, Abi! There is a terrible shortage of good eggs in this world!

[Rachael]

Oh how devastating! I can sort of relate to you. We didn't have as many chickens but the hawks decided to make a quick snack of all my silkie hens. I raise them more because it's just so darn cute to watch those silly puffballs run around, and the hens are seriously broody. I had 15 at the beginning of fall and am now down to 4 and only one of those is a crazy little hen. I lost my best brooder, Delilah who wanted nothing more than to raise chicks. She raised two clutches for me this summer and was a fierce mother. We have other chickens for eggs (not that the silkies don't lay eggs; they're just small and mostly yolk), but I sure do miss my little silkies. It's a horrible feeling to lose your animals. Especially since it was a livelihood for you. But as you said, this comes with the farming territory, doesn't it? Well, spring IS right around the corner (even though these subarctic temperatures tell us otherwise). I can't wait to hear about all the new chicks you will get this year!

[Melissa]

So sorry.

[melanie]

So very, very sorry to hear about your girls. Losses are devastating - we've also had our share.

If you didn't care so much, your flock would not have been so wonderful...

When you are ready, we would welcome another farmer back in biz! Anything we can do to help, let me know...

[Rural Mamma]

There are three easy ways of losing money - racing is the quickest, women the most pleasant, and farming the most certain.
Lord Amherst

Mmm thought a quote might bring a smile ;) Huge hugs to you and your family... I will keep your little farm in my thoughts and prayers and you have reached the one year milestone of your small business and I am sure have learned alot so now is the time to keep on keeping on ;) and maybe go weasel hunting..xo

[Account Deleted]

your courage, experience, generosity of spirit, creativity, photos and insight have allowed me to live a life that i am probably not strong hearted enough to live myself. i thank you so much for all your shares and my thoughts go out to you and your chicken girls. the circle of life just sucks sometimes.

[karin]

I am so sorry, Abi. I hope that you will not give up but keep going, and start your flock again. Your eggs are soooo good, I hope to have some again!!
Sending all my love--
Karin

[Claudia]

Abi,
My heart is sad for you and your family. I'm thinking of you.

[suna]

i miss you.

[Jennifer]

Oh Abi, I'm just reading this for the first time today. I've been thinking of you and missing your blog posts and then when your (gorgeous!) pilot hat popped up on ravelry I thought, hey, where's she been?

I am so terribly sorry to hear of your chicken loss. Predators stink. Such is the tenuous existence of farmers. I am so sorry you are experiencing this side of things. Hang in there--chick season is just a few months away. xoxo to you all

[Joy]

Thanks for being honest about the chicken/egg business. It happens. You've learned a lot. Maybe next go round will be bigger and better!

[Payday Loan]

It must have been hard. But hey, cheer up! There are plenty of reasons to start again. And oh, you can always take a loan. There are Payday loans that guarantee fast and easy loans for everyone. You can even do it at home through internet application. Now, don’t be sad because if you are, you could not think of better solutions.

[kyndale]

That's awful. I totally feel for you. I feel bad for the chickens too. Do weasels come in at night and how did they get into your hen house? Is there a way to prevent it next time? I'm just wondering, not trying to bring up bad feelings. We have a very small backyard flock of 7 hens and we don't have many predators. There is a squirrel that's been hanging around that worries me. Mainly because they eat the eggs. Would having a rooster help protect your flock? Best wishes, Kyndale

[John Lair]

That's so bad! I wish everything is fine now. Whenever I am sad, I cook instead of eating in a restaurant. I pour all the emotions while cooking and eating makes it all better. Remember, all sorrows go away with a loaf of bread. That's what I do whenever I tighten budget to pay my loans.

[Fernando Severns]

Are those organic eggs? Yes, they are the best! And that bit about the cat is funny! Who would bring a cat along on a heist? Anyway, I hope you were able to trace the robbers.