Around Thanksgiving we were getting one egg every other day, and the egg would be laid in the pen, not the nest, which meant we got a dirt coated egg every other day.
I bet even that egg is better for us than factory eggs from the grocery store...
Here you can see what the chickens think of me... a food vendor!
They associate me with food and treats, so now whatever I touch becomes very interesting to them... even if it's just the bedding in their pen. Silly birds.
With all the construction going on, and occasional errant dog coming into our yard, I've come to the conclusion that free ranging 6 birds is way too risky. We've lost one to a wild animal and had to cull three roosters that were extremely loud. The one rooster left (farthest right in pic) has a strange crow that's almost comical. I'm not willing to lose anymore and then have to wait another 6 months for more eggs.
So, I've been bringing the food to them. Now that the ground is frozen, I've been giving them lettuce and other greens and sometimes leftovers from the dinner table. When the lawn was still growing, I'd mow a strip and dump the clippings in their pen. I'd like to grow some meal worms as an added source of protein, but that'll take some figuring out.
