What have done towards your prep?

[Mortblanc]

I eat a lot of eggs, 2-3 dozen per week. They are a primary protein source for me.

I would love to have some more chickens but my predator situation makes it almost impossible. I had a coyote run across the lawn, snatch a chicken and be gone with me standing 20 feet away once.

I started with a nice sized flock and they were picked off one at a time. Even my own hens sitting on eggs could not keep up.

Around here there is no source for "battery chickens". We do not get birds "ready to lay" on day one. When the birds drop off laying production they are sold in mass to processors and the next time you see them they are swimming in noodles in a soup can.

Ours come in a card board box as day old chicks. You raise them for 6 months before you see an egg, then some critted kills them before they can pay for their upkeep.

Another time I watched a raccoon work the gate latch to let himself into the coop. I shot that one and had to rebuild the latch. My coop had to have wire buried in the ground and complete overhead coverage.

There is also our winter situation here and my mountain type location. Going up and down the hill to feed and gather eggs in the snow and ice was tricky the last year I kept birds, downright dangerous.

I do live in a very rural area where people still keep chickens and I have several sources for fresh eggs. Eggs have always been a primary barter item in homesteading culture. It is not like living in the city where supply chain issues dominate. Here it is weather , life cycle, and laying production that control how many eggs you have.