Found an old farm journal from 1940 that changed how I see my flock

I was digging through a box at my grandpa's place in Ohio and found his dad's chicken keeping notes. He wrote that his hens laid about 150 eggs a year back then. My modern hybrid girls give me over 300 each, easy. It really hit me how much breeding has changed the simple backyard hen. Makes me wonder if we've traded some hardiness for all those eggs. What's the oldest chicken tip or fact you've come across?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_price1d ago

Totally get what you mean. I found my great-aunt's notes from the 50s and she was thrilled with a dozen eggs a week from a flock of ten. My barred rocks would laugh at that. She wrote about her hens taking long breaks in the winter and living for almost a decade. Mine are egg machines for a few years and then they're just done. It really makes you think about what we've asked them to do.

patricia_singh8123h ago

That point from @jana_price about hens living longer back then is huge. Makes you wonder if we're basically running them into the ground for eggs.