Hm... no, one hen will only lay one color of egg throughout her life. The eggs may be slightly lighter or darker at times, but always the same color. A blue/green egg layer will never lay brown and vice versa.
proudchickiemom, as others have said, you almost certainly have an EE. Enjoy...
My EE hen, Thelma, is nearly 3 years old. Over the past several days she has become increasingly lethargic, not following the other girls out of the coop as quickly in the morning or showing much interest in normal chicken activities. Today I observed her for quite awhile in the morning, and...
Our EEs were pretty skittish as chicks, yeah. One of them developed quite a reputation for making daring escapes from our sinister clutches Another seemed so frightened to be picked up she would close her eyes and just sit very still. They did get much better as they got older. Those two...
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Hmm. I can't imagine it could be due to any sort of stress, they're very safe in their enclosed run and nothing frightening has happened to my knowledge. Everything has remained the same, as well (no moving, no food switch, etc.)
It's so hard not to worry! I'm afraid she's sick...
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Well, like I said, they did have a little mini-molt when they were around six months or so. Do you think this could be a molt? I think we're going to put them on natural light from now on so they do get a break over the winter. I don't want them to get overstressed. Are there any...
Our 13-month-old Buff Orp, Winnie, stopped laying about ten days ago. She seems perfectly healthy, alert, good appetite and everything. She doesn't have any mites. I've palpated her abdomen regularly and, in my inexperienced judgment, it feels normal. I don't see any signs of eggbinding or...
Definitely not the same thing. Don't use sawdust because it's, well, dust-- can you imagine breathing that at home all day? It won't be any better for the chickens. You should be able to get big pressure-packed bags of hardwood shavings at a feed store for cheap. Don't use cedar, though...
Our Buff Orp is pretty quiet, but the EEs are LOUD! I swear one of them, Beatrice, just gets louder every single day. She just likes to hear herself talk as much as possible. I also wake up most mornings to intermittent honking emanating from the closed coop that's quite a good distance from...
Our rooster crows at all hours of the day and night. We've been out in our hot tub well past midnight and heard him start up for no apparent reason. He also enjoys crowing in the morning, afternoon, evening, and sometimes-- when the mood strikes him just right-- at dawn.
Nothing to worry about
I'm trying to gauge interest in our 20-week-old Black Australorp rooster. He came from the pullet bin as a chick, so we weren't looking to have a rooster in the first place and I'm not sure it's something we want right now. He's a very healthy, handsome bird who knows how pretty he is and...
Hey Gary, you guys are really close to me! My husband and I both grew up in the Boulder area, but have found that it's quieter and less crowed just a little bit east.
Thank you, HenMama2 I've been collecting some of the nicer feathers the chickens drop, and just recently have begun to find some with a touch of green iridescence from one of our EEs, but I really can't wait until Joseph starts dropping some of those bright green ones. I'm not 100% sure what...
ChiknGurl, we only have six chickens, five that are most certainly hens and, well, Joseph. There aren't any other roosters in the neighborhood either, so he has no role model. It's funny, when one of our neighbors heard that we had gotten chicks, she said she couldn't wait to hear the rooster...
Thank you, Em. I looked around for a description of saddle feathers and I'm gathering that they are much shorter and more rounded on hens, right?
Now I'm wondering how he was mis-sexed because he was in with a bunch of other pullets when we got him. Are BAs difficult to sex? And can anyone...
Oh great. Not what I wanted to hear, but I knew I would probably hear it anyway. Please humor a newbie and explain what saddle feathers are? I've never heard of them.
This is Josephine.
Josephine is a 16-week-old Black Australorp that we always thought was a pullet, but now we don't know WHAT she is. Very early, she asserted herself as Head Chicken over our other five girls and began developing a large comb and wattles. She also has striking bright...
Hmm... cjeanean, if you've pierced hundreds of people, I'm shocked that you don't know how standard beveled piercing needles work. They don't remove any flesh; the tip cuts a crescent-shaped hole that is tapered open by the body of the needle as it passes through. I understand your thoughts on...