Keeping Track of Eggs

Ever since the girls started laying eggs back in the summer, we have been recording the number we collect each day.  Keeping track of the eggs helps us determine how many we are getting throughout the year as well as how the girls' production changes with the seasons.  One great thing about our chickens is that even though they are all Buff Orpingtons their eggs are decidedly different.  

One chicken lays eggs that are light in color, almost pink, and pointy at the tip, another lays eggs that are smaller than the others and more rounded, and the third lays eggs which are browner in color.  Marking the eggs on some type of chart really helps me determine how long it has been since each has laid.  This is easy for us since we only have three chickens.  If you have more, it may be more difficult to keep track of an individual chicken's laying habits.    


Up to this point, I have been marking the egg count on a standard calendar hung on the side of the fridge, changing the page each time a new month begins.  However, I have yet to purchase a calendar for 2014, and to be honest, it takes up a lot of space when all it is really used for is counting eggs.  So, when I saw this chart on hencam.com I thought it was a great idea.  I decided to create my own with less text to make a cleaner looking chart for my fridge, and the chart below is what I came up with.  I think it will be simpler to use than the calendar since I will be able to see the entire year at a glance.  I also love that it has a line for totals each month.  With my old calendar, I had to count the tally marks each day which took too much time if I wanted to know how many eggs the girls had laid in all.  

I also look forward to being able to quickly compare the girls' production from month to month simply by looking at the chart.