Hide And Seek

We pick our eggs off the range, literally. Our Sunshine grass fed layers produce the table eggs we sell to you. They are left free to roam, eating living grasses and herbs, fresh fruits on and off the tree and insects that they enjoy to run after.

There are no layer baskets where they lay their eggs. They choose their spot and DO it there :)

Yesterday, as Doc Rey was walking around to check on the farm...he calls me with a loud whisper and motions..more like convulsionly waving that I go to him...NOW

See what he has for me, as he steps on a patch of grass...

After a minute or so, the Sunshine stands and walks gracefully away...leaving the freshest, warm, brown egg!

Actually, that is our major problem. The egg picker walks through the range and goes on an "egg hunt" daily. That way, he doesn't really know where and when they lay. It is a presumption that he gets to see the day's harvest.

Truth is, we can't tell. We can't tell if we got all the day's lay. The rains are a major too. The range can get muddy and hides an egg or two from our eyes.

Oh why am I saying it is our major problem? At the end, the problem is the asset! We are able to honestly say and look at your eyes when we say we have eggs from grass fed, free ranging layers.

The occasional rotten egg is replaced and our regular customers understand and believe in our crude and basic way of raising our layers. That's the way we and they want it.

So it remains that we do our "egg hunts" daily and go hide and seek....it is easier to spot hatching eggs on Facebook :)

Rule #1, Look After Health

We are the first to always say that our Sunshines are not for breeding, they are raised for meat purposes.

Inspite of all those....we still get the so-called "dispersals". The group who will buy "ready to slaughter" at live weights. They then "disperse" what they may term as breeders or the layers.

If meant as layers, that is OK. The Sunshines are dual purpose...meat and table egg production.

I remember once that I got a comment on this blog and a text on my phone, about our selling breeders when we say they are not for breeding....or something to that effect. Doc Rey called the person.

We can't think of any such transaction, until we traced it to a branch of ours who had a recent sale on live weight transaction. Supposedly for the purpose of slaughtering. Surely, breeders can't be bought for PHP150/kg :)

The person turned out to be a veterinarian so they were talking on the same level. This veterinarian wasn't party to the term breeders etc. He was just the recipient. The guy the project was turned over to. So, he knew exactly where the problem was :(

Two months after, he calls Doc Rey. The chickens were thin and lost a lot of weight.

Were they being taken cared of?

Were they being fed?

Veterinarian talking to another veterinarian. Surely, even if it was hog grower that was being fed to your chickens, they will still GROW...delayed yes...but as long as being fed, they won't decrease in weight. At the very least, they will not gain, but not lose :(

He will look into the management...

Next sentence. They haven't laid eggs.

Please don't forget that we say chickens don't need roosters to lay their table eggs. They don't need layer mash to lay. BUT, bear in mind...they need to be healthy chickens, to be able to lay eggs.

Malnourished hens will probably not lay eggs. You will have to condition them and bring them at par with their healthy layer counterparts :)

Meat And Eggs

Someone was inquiring today about getting all females for table egg production.

We may but we hardly do it. Takes effort, time and hard to say for sure. Best efforts are sometimes acceptable on day1, but as the booboo gets obvious, the customer forgets the agreement on best efforts :)

If you want 200 layers, I suggest get 400 day old chicks, which we box at random, straight run.

Today is perfect time. Why? You get to harvest the males in time for the graduations and fiestas. Then by September, you start having your eggs.

Think about the timing.

Table Eggs In Demand

Table egg production, from grass fed and free ranged Sunshines are in demand. We sell at PHP250/tray of 30s and it is very in demand.

Another business idea one may go into is the table egg production.

You may slaughter the male Sunshines for meat, and maintain the females as layers. On the 5th to 6th month, when they reach sexual maturity, they start to drop and give you brown colored eggs. The egg yolks will be deep orange in color, and have no fishy taste.

Expect to get about 180 eggs per annum from one hen :) They will not be as productive as your hormone laden white chicken layers, in terms of number of eggs, but the health benefits and premium pricing will make it worth it.

Try the eggs...you will be proud if you produced them.

Table Eggs Production

After the "can we breed questions", another frequently asked question is do you need males in a flock of females kept for table egg production.

No, you don't need roosters in your free ranging layers :) They eat a lot and are noisy!

Healthy pullets start laying at 5-6 months. That is standard. Enjoy the hide and seek game when you pick up their eggs on the range.

They have dark orange colored yolks, no fishy taste nor smell. I am able to take them raw :) You get great tasting eggs from grass fed hens. Perfect for my leche flan.

At 60days, dress your male Sunshines for meat and keep the females for your grass fed layers.