Raising too many chickens, a frugal failure...

We have always loved raising chickens. Just seeing them walking around the property makes us happy. Wonderful personalities, all different kinds of breeds... great super fresh eggs... keeping the yard pest free... All that and more until one day, we came to the realization that what started with a few baby-chicks are now a group of about 30 of chickens! Many chicks have been hatched by carefully hidden eggs by creative mama-chickens since and many of them are roosters...  Not a single egg can be found in the egg-collecting- boxes  and the feed prices have gone from about $ 7 (for a 50 lbs bag) to $12 per bag!  
The short version- a frugal failure. 
We are now downsizing. 10 chickens (only the youngest ones) and no rooster ( not needed for egg production) and rebuilding the chicken coop to fit a smaller group and make the layer-boxes more attractive. 
Also, a light in the coop, set on a timer to produce a couple of extra hours of "daylight" can keep the chickens laying  eggs further into winter and sometimes all the way through the darker months. They require at least 8 hrs of light per day.
The love for our chickens have not changed. 
We just had to find the balance between over-abundance and sensibility.
And I think a smaller group makes the worry of finding food and the pecking order easier for the chickens themselves.

Maybe now we'll have happier chickens too!?