➡I accidentally bought Balut eggs: 2 live ducks! Now a Chat Thread!

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Where is Puckers?
He wants a treat!

You mean he wants to eat the chickens?
He can have the scraps after I'm done eating them

 

[littleprairieheartsfarm]

Good on you for helping! Did anyone call an ambulance, or just her emergency contact? I had to let my professors know that I’m seizure prone, and asked them in the unlikely event to call my husband and NOT 911 lol.
I’m more scared of that ambulance bill than I am of falling and cracking my head open..

LOL. On that note, I’ve been seizure free for just about 4 months now.

We called campus police/nurse and her emergency contacts. Luckily in the building it happened that is where the EMT classes are so the EMT professor came in to help too. I didn’t want to call an ambulance if I didn’t have to, those bills make me light headed.

That’s so great to hear though Tes! How have classes been?

 

[littleprairieheartsfarm]

What about Isa browns or "brown leghorns "?

Isa browns are production reds right? And brown leghorns I think lay white eggs.

 

[R2elk]

Isa browns are production reds right? And brown leghorns I think lay white eggs.

Correct.

 

[littleprairieheartsfarm]

My Wyandottes are not bullies ( colors are CW, black, white, blue, barred). They all come running to greet me when I go outside to feed. I have some that are talkers. A couple are cuddlers, but most will tolerate a gentle petting.


I had some Buckeye several years ago. Great birds that laid big eggs that were brown and pinkish. Very friendly to both birds and people. One hen would try to hitch a ride on my feet when I walked into their pen. Their pea combs were nice during freezing temperatures. Noted for their succulent meat...great flavor.


My Marans roosters were the bullies. The hens are better.
The eggs were very dark and hard to candle when hatching.


Yes, Minorcas have nice white earlobes. There is a buff color variety too. I found the black to be more weather tolerant and longer lived.
Do not confuse Minorca with White Faced Black Spanish. The WFBS are way too flighty. A breeder friend had some and the roosters were very mean...one actually attacked him. He bought them to show.

Breeds I have had ... That I liked ...
Wyandotte of course is my favorite
Cochin...big birds, feathered feet...brown eggs. Not the best layers, but good mothers and nice meat birds. Very gentle.
Minorca...already described
Buckeye...would get them again
Orpington...I've had the hens only. Nice eggs. Nice disposition. Get along well with others. I have two buff and a chocolate hen.
Turken or Naked Neck...sweet birds...medium eggs. My current hen is smaller than others I've had.
Australorp... I liked these a lot...just didn't have a breed pen for them. Nice sized eggs, mostly gentle.
Jersey Giant... Only had roosters...purchased at Atwood's. Made nice meat birds. Would like to try hens.
Leghorns... Had these years ago. Nice flock. Roosters varied from man friendly to rude. Hens were thrifty feeders, gentle and good layers.
Rhode Island Reds... Good layers of medium to large eggs. Good feed conversion. Nice moms. Rooster was okay.
I have had many Bantam breeds..OEGB, d'Anvers, Rosecomb, Speckled Hamburg, and Delaware. All are sporadic layers. My favorite is the Bantam Delaware.

My marans hens are bullies to the hens under them in the pecking order, and not very reliable layers (and only one lays dark), they love to be broody. When they do lay though the eggs are in between large and XL.

I know the candling thing sucks, I’ve hatched out a couple of the dark ones. I couldn’t see in them after day 5, thought they were dead and almost tossed them but I kept them in the incubator..good thing I did lol! Luckily now that we have our Australorp hens laying we are only setting those for ourselves to hatch out. While we offer a “barnyard mix” to people they have said they just throw them in the incubator and see if they hatch or not.

 

[BantyChooks]

I have mostly Buckeyes. I love them as well, but my chanteclers are my favourites.

The Buckeyes don't lay for me in the winter, but the chanteclers do. Mind you, I'm a lot further north, which makes the daylight hours much shorter than in Texas.

 

[Molpet]

Isa browns are production reds right? And brown leghorns I think lay white eggs.

ISA browns are a red sexlink
I have 2 someone gave me as chicks in 2016. they were the best layers the first 18 months.. one laid every day until molt and then she laid 5 eggs a week during molt. The other laid 6 days a week until molt then she laid a couple a week. fall 2018 one is laying unassembled eggs during molt and the other quit laying... I am getting a couple eggs a week from the 2 girls now... friendly birds since they were brooder raised.. I should have made soup out of them last fall, but I am a wimp and have cockerels that are emotionally easier to process

eta I got 4 cinnamon queens 2017 , they are also a red sexlink but do not lay as well as the isa.. 5 medium eggs a week.. Isa were ex large eggs and now they are so big they don't fir in a carton

 

[littleprairieheartsfarm]

ISA browns are a red sexlink
I have 2 someone gave me as chicks in 2016. they were the best layers the first 18 months.. one laid every day until molt and then she laid 5 eggs a week during molt. The other laid 6 days a week until molt then she laid a couple a week. fall 2018 one is laying unassembled eggs during molt and the other quit laying... I am getting a couple eggs a week from the 2 girls now... friendly birds since they were brooder raised.. I should have made soup out of them last fall, but I am a wimp and have cockerels that are emotionally easier to process

eta I got 4 cinnamon queens 2017 , they are also a red sexlink but do not lay as well as the isa.. 5 medium eggs a week.. Isa were ex large eggs and now they are so big they don't fir in a carton

Thank you! That’s really helpful, as I was looking at the cinnamon queens/amberlinks but it sounds like they don’t quite have the size that they claim.

We already have a couple hens that have reproductive issues that aren’t even production birds so I understand, and I understand the hesitation to cull. I don’t think I would have it in myself to do that to such reliable layers.

 

[CSAchook]

ISA browns are a red sexlink
I have 2 someone gave me as chicks in 2016. they were the best layers the first 18 months.. one laid every day until molt and then she laid 5 eggs a week during molt. The other laid 6 days a week until molt then she laid a couple a week. fall 2018 one is laying unassembled eggs during molt and the other quit laying... I am getting a couple eggs a week from the 2 girls now... friendly birds since they were brooder raised.. I should have made soup out of them last fall, but I am a wimp and have cockerels that are emotionally easier to process

eta I got 4 cinnamon queens 2017 , they are also a red sexlink but do not lay as well as the isa.. 5 medium eggs a week.. Isa were ex large eggs and now they are so big they don't fir in a carton

The first two hens I ever got were ISA browns that I raised from chicks. My experience was very similar to Mo's. The hens are not very large but they are super sweet and friendly to people and phenomenal layers in terms of both size and frequency. The only (very very minor) negative I noticed with their eggs was that the yolks never got quite as orange as the eggs of my other birds, no matter what I fed them. But the eggs were still miles better than grocery store ones.

I did find that they can be bossy, if kept in a very small mixed flock with limited space. I eventually rehomed mine when they were about a year and three months old. But that was really my fault for not having enough room to get through that first winter without squabbling. Plus all my other birds had bottom of the pecking order type personalities. My MIL was thrilled to take the ISAs off my hands and has never had any problems with them in her flock. One did pass recently but the other is still laying up a storm at 2 years old.

As someone else pointed out, you could always sell off your production birds at a year and a half old or so. I know that the people I used to buy hatching eggs from did that with their sex links and never seemed to have trouble finding buyers.

 

[The Farmers' Daughter]

Back atcha sistah!