2018 Newbie Chat!

[Cbarr00]

@llombardo @Cbarr00 @Wohlen We had a second duck egg this morning, laid in exact same place in the duck house as was yesterdays so I'm assuming same duck laid both and I wish I knew which one, although not important really. My grandson asked to have one for his breakfast, he had it hard boiled on toast, he loved it, says he wants one for breakfast tomorrow as well, which I'm delighted about. I took a little taster, wasn't unpleasant but is too strong tasting for me. I might try one fried in the future when both are laying but I'll see.
The egg is about the same size as Lilah's eggs, which surprised me b'cos I was always under the impression that duck eggs are bigger than chicken eggs - Pedro's eggs are bigger, she lays the biggest of all my pullets too.
The shell is a blueish colour, from pics I've seen online are not very clear but from what I see they looks more like a Runner egg than a Khaki Campbell, however my girls are Khaki x Runners although they look just like Khaki's, so that could be why. @llombardo any chance you could post a pic of one of Lucy's eggs please, just so I may compare these against a Khaki Campbell egg?

I think my chicken eggs have a strong flavor and now when I try to eat store bought for breakfast I think they taste like water. When I was a kid I tried fresh eggs and hated them. Now I cant imagine ever going back

 

[Cbarr00]

It was me but theres no explanation besides possible mareks or mites. Just didnt know if anyone else had thoughts. She still has water diarrhea

Oh no I'm so sorry. How long has she been acting this way? I'm definitely no expert at all but I can help you google. Can you link your thread here so I can read through it?

 

[No More Empty Nest]

It was me but theres no explanation besides possible mareks or mites. Just didnt know if anyone else had thoughts. She still has water diarrhea

I thought Marek's at first but I'm no expert, just read the illness forum a lot. These are my first chickens and they're only 18 weeks. Has she been treated for mites? I have no idea if it's true for chickens but humans who are treated for lice or bedbug bites will still have itching for a while even though the bugs are gone, similar mosquito bites-no more mosquito but still itchy. I don't remember how long Marek's symptoms take to go away, but it seems to be a disease that manifests in different ways sometimes.
If she's been treated for mites and you've done whatever you were told to try in the other forum, has nothing on the bottom of her feet bothering her, and it eating ok, I guess I'd watch her. But again I'm not very knowledgeable and have no personal experience to draw from.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been on in awhile. I quit getting notifications for this forum! Weird.
Pig my young cockerel just turned 13 weeks last Thursday. Today I’m rehoming him. Having 3 cockerels and only 17 hens was pushing it. I went to work yesterday and found a wanted rooster sign on our bulletin board. Best part is he’ll be getting his very own flock. They free range and wanted a cockerel for breeding and protection. I think pig will do wonderfully. I’ll ask for picture updates regularly as well!

 

[TwitchysChicks]

Oh no I'm so sorry. How long has she been acting this way? I'm definitely no expert at all but I can help you google. Can you link your thread here so I can read through it?

Oh no I'm so sorry. How long has she been acting this way? I'm definitely no expert at all but I can help you google. Can you link your thread here so I can read through it?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-acting-weird.1281840/
The new ones have been here for two months. Their heads started shaking first and then mine did.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-acting-weird.1281840/
The new ones have been here for two months. Their heads started shaking first and then mine did.

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Whatever is affecting them, it’s bad. If I were in your situation I’d cull all of them. Sand and deep clean the coop. Replace anything you can (ie, roosts, nesting boxes, droppings boards) & start fresh this spring with a brand new flock. I don’t think you can feesibly save them and not go bankrupt. I’m so sorry. This is only my opinion. I nearly lost my rooster to a respiratory infection this summer. If I hadn’t acted immediately I would have lost my whole flock to it in less than a month.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

The duck eggs are defintely bigger

This picture is from the first week I had a chicken and duck lay

View attachment 1619200

Wow, big difference! Your duck egg is way bigger than the two which have been lain, however they are slightly bigger than the chicken egg you have in the picture. As I said before Pedro's eggs are bigger and bigger than the chicken egg you have pictured but no where as big as your duck egg but bigger than ours. When whoever is laying, lays again I'll get a snap of it and post for you to see and perhaps you could give me your opinion on it, if you don't mind.
I've searched online, not really much info on this subject but I did see some pictures of a Runner egg which look similar size to ours but can't really tell for sure. I've searched possible reasons for small duck eggs, not really anything found, however, when Jellybean first laid, for about a week her eggs where smaller than they are now, although she still lays the smallest, so maybe its the same with the duck - I just hope nothing is wrong, I'm not in it for the eggs, just worried there might be a problem.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Oh yes I agree! If I had known what they were we wouldn't have purchased them. Poor things. We are a meat eating family but those poor chickens are bred to have no life at all unless they're practically starved. There is a thread somewhere on this site of people having them live as long as 2 years I believe. But you have to restrict feed and free range so they exercise. I think it was Chooks who made me feel better about them by telling me at least I knew I had given them a happy but short life here. They got to free range and act like normal chickens unlike their counterparts that are raised in facilities in small cages and never see daylight. My husband was a truck driver and actually delivered corn to Sanderson Farms here in Texas before.

I totally agree, it is plain to see on your picture how happy they are and I can only imagine the heavier they got the worse it would be and I find it hard to believe they wouldn't have eventually ended up in pain, i.e. legs, knees, their backs even. I'm glad they had their time with you, at least they had a quality of life before they got too big to not be riddled in pain and caused suffering by the heat. I'm glad you feel better about the situation, you did right by them and so much better for them compared to their counterparts.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I think my chicken eggs have a strong flavor and now when I try to eat store bought for breakfast I think they taste like water. When I was a kid I tried fresh eggs and hated them. Now I cant imagine ever going back

I am not a big egg eater any way and I rarely bought eggs at all, however I do remember the taste of the store bought eggs, they always had a tang to them which reminded me of chemicals. I'm still not a big egg eater but I eat more now than I did before, the taste is way better.
We know which chicken lays which egg b'cos they are different in colour, I like the taste of them all but prefer Lilah's eggs, hers are not as strong tasting as the other two's, but the other two's are nice tasting too. My daughter prefers Jellybean's eggs. My daughter hardly ate eggs before as she didn't really like them at all but she really likes the taste of Jellybean's eggs and has one for breakfast quite a few mornings in a row, which I am well pleased with beings as they are so full of goodness. My grandson is more picky, he might take a bite or two but that's it but now we've discovered he really likes the duck eggs, we will keep them for him.
Funny how you didn't like them as a child but that you do now, might even be that your chickens lay better eggs too.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been on in awhile. I quit getting notifications for this forum! Weird.
Pig my young cockerel just turned 13 weeks last Thursday. Today I’m rehoming him. Having 3 cockerels and only 17 hens was pushing it. I went to work yesterday and found a wanted rooster sign on our bulletin board. Best part is he’ll be getting his very own flock. They free range and wanted a cockerel for breeding and protection. I think pig will do wonderfully. I’ll ask for picture updates regularly as well!

Awwww this is wonderful news! So glad you've found him a good home It's lovely to hear from you again too
As for notifications, this happens to me a lot too, and others on BYC have the same experience. I have two favourite threads I follow, this one (my most favourite) and one on BYC for people from the UK - although anyone is welcome and there are lots from other countries too which is nice. I often end up scrolling through to see new posts as I didn't get notifications. Has been times too when I see someone has replied to a comment but the actual comment is nowhere to be seen - obviously a glitch somewhere.
By the way, I didn't get a notification for this post you posted, I found it by scrolling through