Chickies, Chickies, Chickies!! Meet the new additions! (Pic heavy!)

[Araucana16]

Holy..! Rangi just crowed!

She got all excited and ran toward me when she saw me, but then she stopped short and just let it out! I'm pretty sure she's a pullet as she doesn't have any pointed feathers and her behavior is unlike that of my boys, so what the heck?



Araucana, Whiri has been laying about 3-4 eggs a week, still very small but getting a little larger every time. Thus far, it's just her and Roha. Rangi's been talking like she's getting ready, but then she crowed, so...

Well... that's odd. I've heard of hen's crowing. Maybe she's one of those? If she's not acting like a boy... and she's nice... you may end up with a really nice rooster! Or maybe just a weird hen.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I do have two other hens that crow, one when she's about to lay an egg and the other right after she's laid. My girls are strange.

Oddly enough, now Rangi's squatting for me. I also caught her chirping like my boys do when they have a treat for the hens. (I do have some older hens that do this, too, though...) She does have spurs coming in and she's bigger than the rest of the pullets, but she's more than 5 months old and has no pointed feathers like that of a cockerel. She also behaves like the other pullets do, pretty meek and mild. I've never seen her actually chest bump like the other pullets do, though she's usually chased off by all of them except Margaret. Maybe she's just confused right now with all the hormones and it'll pass once she lays..?

Speaking of, Huka has spurs as well! Maybe that part is just a white egger thing!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Pictures! I got pictures of the little ladies today! Let's just call them 5 1/2 months old.

Huka:

Ihi:

Marama in a flower pot

Rangi

Roha, who is not amused by how cold it's been:

The lovely Whiri:

And fabulous Margaret:

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Huka--my mom pointed out to me that she has eyebrows. Can't unsee that.

Marama! I love her eyes!

Marama's comb is all wavy now:

Rangi again! My silly girl!

Action shot!

My beautiful Whiri

Margie!

Margaret doesn't like the cold, either:

What are you lookin' at?

 

[Chickenfan4life]

You seem to have lots of crowing hens, Pipd. XD And I have never had one. Great pics, thank you for the updates.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I do seem to attract them, I guess! The one that crows before laying, Biddy-bird, just does the last '-doooo' syllable of the crow, but Rosie, the girl that crows after laying, really sounds like a rooster! It's funny, too, she doesn't seem to expect it to happen and then, like she has no control over it, she's crowing! Rosie's a Sebright, though, and I guess it isn't unusual for Sebright hens to crow.



[VIDEO]

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Margie laid an egg!!

:yiipchick e :cd​

 

[redrooster99]

WOO HOO
congrats

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay, it's been a long week and I'm so, so busy right now, but I wanted to post it here for the record if I ever want to look back for approximate ages at certain milestones.

So Marama squatted a few days ago, and though I haven't yet confirmed it, I think she may have laid her first egg on Thursday at 24 weeks and 4 days! Ihi squatted for the first time yesterday, too, so I'm watching for signs of interest in the nest.

Margie, Whiri, and Roha have all been laying like professionals, about 5 eggs a week from Whiri and Roha and 3-4 from Margie. I'm not seeing any signs of Huka and Rangi laying. I'm still watching Miss Rangi. She is squatting, but crowing occasionally and doing the tidbit chirp. She's a strange one.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

This morning, Ihi was looking desperately for a way out of the chicken yard. My assumption was that she wanted to find somewhere out in the woods to lay an egg, and so I took her in to the nest boxes. Immediately, she picked the one remaining box in the top row of my nest box structure, and she's been nesting in there since!

Margie's also nesting in her usual box, the bottom left. She gets very upset when someone is in 'her' nest when she wants to use it. Silly girls!


ETA: Ihi was trying to nest back behind the poop bucket ( ) shortly after this. I moved her back to a nest, after which I found a little white egg that had been smashed under the bucket. So apparently, Ihi began laying before this post and I just didn't know.