Have you ever seen an egg like this before!!!??
We have our little-big house on the prairie and just started our adventure towards self sufficiency this year. We have a huge fenced garden and entered into the chicken farmer world in May with 12 baby chicks! We have 11 hens and 1 rooster with 3 of 4 or my White Leghorn hens now laying eggs. Our flock consists of 2 Barred Rocks; 2 Easter Eggers/Ameraucanas; 2 Buff Orphingtons (one of these is a rooster); and 2 Black Australorps.
I was a little worried we had 5 roosters at one point due to the huge combs and waddles on 4 of my girls, but it turns out larger combed hens typically implicate the hen will be a better layer. White Leghorns laid the eggs in the photo and are the best breed of layers. They lay most of the XL white eggs purchased in grocery stores and can produce 300 or more eggs/year! They are not overly suited to the cold due to their small build and large combs, putting them at risk of frostbite. In the winter I will apply vaseline to their combs to protect against frostbite. I also have an insulated chicken coop for my ladies.
Here is a picture of the most expensive egg of my life! This baby cost me about $4000 after including costs for my chicken coop, fence, chicks, supplies and food! I will NEVER gain back this investment in selling my free range eggs for $3/dozen, but the idea of self sufficiency is well worth the investment in my opinion! Plus these girls will provide a great source of protein to our family in the change that SHTF. With the added addition of a rooster we have the potential to hatch our own chicks and grow our flock.
What type of crazy investment have you made in an effort to build your self sufficiency?