So, what’s the big deal about the eggs in the pic to the left? Why bother to post an image of a nearly-full egg carton of eggs on a blog about layers? Well, because these are eggs from a 10-year old Easter-egger, Goldie, and a 7-year old Langshan, who earned the descriptive name of “Whah” for the peculiar little cluck she greets me with every morning.
Despite Interior Alaska being full on into the long, dark winter days, Goldie, after years! of not laying, started up again at the end of October, and she hasn’t stopped yet. As of this posting, she has laid close to two dozen eggs – (averaging about 4 a week) and Whah, although not quite as prolific, lays about 2 a week. Suddenly, after being eggless for a number of years, and resigning myself to buying fresh eggs at a local feed store (still way, way cheaper than keeping a backyard flock, but not quite as much fun), I have eggs again.
Of course, I don’t expect the egg-run to last. Goldie is, after all, quite the elderly hen, and perhaps this is her last hurrah before stepping off the mortal coil. None-the-less, it’s delightful to once again go out in the morning and find a pretty blue egg in the nest box. It makes me even think about going back to keeping layers, as right now my flock consists of old birds in retirement: Goldie, Whah, Old Hen (who is 12) and Gandalf, a roo of about 6.
For the moment, though, I have stopped expecting to see one of the oldsters keeled over when I visit the coop first thing in the AM, and now have been slipping into the habit of discovering one or two eggs.
It feels a little bit like a gift from Goldie for all of the years of keeping her and her flock mates safe, warm, and well fed. And who knows, maybe it will spur me into the decision to get a few new layer chicks this spring!
Never doubt the power of raw chicken poop to drive off people and make enemies of your friends – it has even been employed as a city management tool. In 2013, the city of Abbotsford BC gained some unwelcome notoriety when it spread chicken manure throughout a homeless encampment in an effort to disperse long-term homeless residents. When both citizens and the targeted homeless called foul – the city government was forced to apologize and presumably also to clean up the mess. And as any Alaskan backyard flock owner knows, after dealing with a coop through the long, long winter, raw chicken manure can be eye-wateringly strong.
It is important to compost or age chicken manure for two reasons: to reduce the number of pathogens potentially harmful to humans, and to “cool” the manure. Chicken manure, because of its high nitrogen content, is the hottest of manures; if not aged or composted before application, fresh chicken manure will burn, even kill, young or tender plants. Like all manures, safe handling includes wearing gloves, making sure the pile is not easily accessible to children, pets and other livestock, and treating it before use. Composting, when done properly, creates high enough temperatures to kill pathogens. Aging does not kill pathogens, but inhibits reproduction through unfavorable conditions, leading to an eventual die-off of pathogens over time. To that end, it is important that if using the aging method, sufficient time is given for this to occur. It also bears noting that a healthy flock will produce relatively healthier manure – so sound flock husbandry (keeping your birds clean, uncrowded, well fed and unstressed) is also part of sound, safe manure management and usage.
Alaska Backyard Chickens 