My hatchery Welsummers, both my 5 year old and my 1 year olds. have periocially given me speckled eggs. I have a lot of other breeds as well, but only the Welsummers seem to splash their eggs with darker pigment on occasion. Not sure why, of course.
I too vote for smacking that husband of yours upside the head. Also, he should get down on his knees before your hens and beg their forgiveness . It has been my experience over the years that a chicken will lay an egg ANYWHERE they want to, if they want to (even in the middle of the feed...
For large fowl I vote for any Wyandott variety, Black australorps and Speckled Sussex. However, my best egg layers are still by far my Sicilian buttercup, which still lay me a small (store size medium) white egg everyday during their egg-laying season. This is their fifth year. As for the...
26 eggs out of 33 hens. Oops, that was day before yesterday. Today, 36 eggs, which includes yesterday's eggs too. DS too lazy to get them yesterday. Its a good thing I have one HUGE nesting box (cantalope crate filled with pine shavings). No eggs anywhere else but in the nest either.
I sell my eggs and, beings as it is so wet and muddy around here, I have to wash just about every egg. My nest box is kept very clean with clean pine shavings, but my birds' feet are so muddy still by the time they get there. I just use warm water and a veg brush designated for eggs only to...
Without reading any of the other replies, I'd have to say a big, "no it won't keep them in." I'm speaking from my own personal experience. I've clipped wings, got them in a 5-1/2 ft chainlink fence and covered, with the exception of the cherry tree, with bird netting looped over PVC pipe...
Get some of that gripy stuff that is used to line kitchen drawers and staple it to the ladder board between the steps. You know, the mesh-like stuff. This makes for good traction and prevents splinters that might hurt their feet. Look at the black board to my roosts, which are about 4-1/2...
Don't worry about them getting wet. They won't stay out in the rain unless they want to, as long as shelter is available. About the BOs, confine them to the coop for at least a week and they should start thinking of it as "home." As for roosting, start with a 2x4 on the floor, turned on the...
I have a timer that is at the least 30 years old and still in its original and unopened package. I connected it this morning to the light in the coop set to come on at 4 am and go off at 8 pm. I'm keeping the light on all day long because the days are so cloudy now.
I chose to believe that DJmooney just missed the fact that we are discussing a 3-week-old chick here instead of a full-grown floggin rooster (of which I have kicked with no harm done as he kept coming back for more). I chose to believe that nobody in their right mind would counsel kicking a...
I got 2 pullets from Ideal this last April. One of them never developed a tail. Unfortunately, my worthless neighbor shot and killed the Orloff with a tail, leaving me with only the tailless one. Here is a pic ofone of them, but I don't know which one.
The breeder from Ideal is going...
That is a really great set up you've built for your birds. Wonderful job. Now, if you were really addicted, like some of us are, you could build yourself a little "hatching hut" to house baters full of eggs and brooders of babies, complete with power and water. Then, you'd always have a...
Here is a list of the 26-week old pullets that I have. I know that only 6-7 of them are laying currently. I have 34 of these pullets and consequently feel I should be getting a lot more eggs per day. Can those of you in the know please offer an opinion on the age that each of these breeds...
Does it make a difference whether you turn extra light on earlier as in 4 am or just keep it on later as in til 10 pm? In other words, should I be waking them up earlier or just letting them stay up later? Which would be optimal for continued egg laying throughout the winter months? I have...
That would make such a great henhouse/ccoop. I says it's made of resin material? Did I read that right? That doesn't sound like it has much "framework" involved to me.