2018 Newbie Chat!

[llombardo]

I enjoy cooking!
But I usually just follow a recipe. Sometimes I change things around. I've gotten so good at quiche I can just eyeball the eggs-to-milk ratio. I also learned to cook my quiche at a lower temp for longer. Not sure if it's my oven or just my preferences but I think it gets done more evenly, less watery in the center and not burnt on the top or edges.
When baking you can almost certainly add bits like chocolate chips or oatmeal to just about any recipe.

I also tried making soy sauce eggs recently and that is definitely a winner. It makes a wonderfully sweet and salty hard boiled egg to take to work!
It's just a regular hard boiled egg, peeled, and soaked in a soy sauce brine similar to pickling brine. I just put them in jars and into the fridge, but I wonder if they could be preserved...

My husband has ulcerative colitis and eggs are unfortunately one food he does not tolerate well. So I do most of the eating of eggs. I have to get creative so I don't get tired of eating them all the time.

I made hard boiled eggs last night....lol

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I enjoy cooking!
But I usually just follow a recipe. Sometimes I change things around. I've gotten so good at quiche I can just eyeball the eggs-to-milk ratio. I also learned to cook my quiche at a lower temp for longer. Not sure if it's my oven or just my preferences but I think it gets done more evenly, less watery in the center and not burnt on the top or edges.
When baking you can almost certainly add bits like chocolate chips or oatmeal to just about any recipe.

I also tried making soy sauce eggs recently and that is definitely a winner. It makes a wonderfully sweet and salty hard boiled egg to take to work!
It's just a regular hard boiled egg, peeled, and soaked in a soy sauce brine similar to pickling brine. I just put them in jars and into the fridge, but I wonder if they could be preserved...

My husband has ulcerative colitis and eggs are unfortunately one food he does not tolerate well. So I do most of the eating of eggs. I have to get creative so I don't get tired of eating them all the time.

I don't like shop bought quiche but I love home made quiche and while reading about how you cook your quiche I realised my mouth was actually watering lol, so wish I lived near you so I could sample your lovely quiche!

 

[No More Empty Nest]

View attachment 1536955 View attachment 1536956 View attachment 1536958 Hello everyone! Me and my wife are brand new to chickens as of a week ago lol I turned a big 7x7x7 dog house into a chicken coop and bought four 6 month old RIR pullets. Was hoping they would be laying by now but 3 outta 4 are late bloomers and one is very close!

Welcome! This is a wonderful site with lots of great information. And this is a wonderful thread with lots of friendly helpful people.
Nice looking birds you have.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

My silly chicks. Yesterday it was hot and sunny, nobody came out of the coop. Today was cool and rainy, everyone was out all day. I worried a lot about Diamond because she still has so few feathers. I went out with them a few times and cuddled her a bit in case she was cold, but she felt warm. And she was running around with everyone else. I finally went out a little before dusk and shooed them into the coop again. It was getting cold out and I was still concerned about Diamond. Pretty soon all the others will be fully feathered. Amber is already. The other 3 just have head feathers left to get. Then there's Diamond, she needs head, body, neck, and tail feathers. Well, she has a few tail feathers but they are short and not all there. She does have a lot of feathers on her feet and legs however. Silly cochins! She's also the smallest.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

We took our broody Rosewood off her nest today. She is so thin, poor thing would have sat until she died. The remaining egg she was on had a chick inside. It was only partially developed on day 24 so we made the right call. Unfortunately with her time spent in the box for the last month her flock mates no longer recognize her. They all started attacking her as soon as I put her in the run. I’m having to do a slow re introduction with her now. Wally just had his last treatment for possible yeast infection. Wednesday is his last antibiotic treatment. He doesn’t sound completely the same yet, but with a few more days of recovery he should be back to normal.

Awwww poor Rosewood, but what a good dedicated mother she is!
Great news about Wally - would love to see a picture of him, any chance you could post one when hes better?

 

[Anna Ranieri]

SO.
I have had an eventful week. The cracked tip of Belle's beak came off completely, after I tried superglueing it. 9.9 I was worried she wasn't eating, because I never seemed to see her at the feeder. But last night I checked her crop and it was full. Today she laid an egg. So she is fine. Beak is a little short but it'll grow back.

In other news, the fox was in the neighbors yard the other night and husband chased it away. We reinforced our underground predator proofing significantly, and got a small radio to play talk shows in the coop at night. So far it isn't bothering the chickens. He read that the sound of human voices will also be a deterrent to foxes. He was very worried about the fox, it was really sweet of him to help me out

I also saw a rat on my chicken cam overnight. Just one, but if I saw one there are many more I'm not seeing. I got a rat trap and planting mint around the coop. Every little bit helps

And now for my favorite troublemaker Kida.
View attachment 1487496
Kida has not been laying eggs. She seems healthy and she is not broody and nothing is going on so for over a week I've just been letting it go, because I had other issues at the forefront of my mind. Today after I put them back in the run from a bit of free ranging, Kida mounted Moana. I brushed it off because I know it can be a dominance thing, and I know she's not a rooster. Then I remembered a thread I came across many months ago when I was reading up and preparing for getting chickens. It was about a hen who, in the absence of a rooster, stopped laying eggs, and mysteriously fertilized eggs started appearing from the other hens. That's right, hens can actually sex-change given the right environment.

While I know it is really a long-shot, I'm going to be watching her very carefully.

Hi, I hope you don't mind me saying but, I was scrolling back looking for a past post I wanted to check something on, and I came across this post of yours - I don't know how you got on with this situation but I thought I'd inform you that sex change chickens cannot fertilize eggs. As embryos all birds have both sex organs and of a female she grows the left ovary and the right "would be" ovary or gonad remains dormant. When for what ever reason (typically cysts or illness) the left ovary is damaged and no longer functions the dormant sex organ on the right grows and causes the sex change, however, although the bird takes on the appearance of a male, genetically they remain female but will no longer produce eggs. I am no expert at all but I have studied this subject extensively.
I have heard of chicken hens mounting other hens to dominate them but I've only ever seen this behaviour in ducks - my alpha duck hen regularly tries to mount the two highest ranking chicken hens, but they just shrug her off and move away - her aim is to gain dominance over them but they are too big, too fast and too smart for her to succeed lol.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

@ChooksNQuilts Look who's learnt how to roost

 

[No More Empty Nest]

Well, I just realized why it's taking Amber so long to grow out her floofy head feathers on the back of her head. The others have been pecking them out. I had suspicions but I never saw anyone pecking at her. Today I did. I wouldn't have if it wasn't for the camera in the coop. They go up on the highest roost, preen their feathers and when Amber sits down the 2 nearest her peck the back of her head. I put blu-kote on it but noticed one peck at her again afterwards. They aren't stressed or over crowded. I read some Polish threads here that say that this sometimes happens with Polish, those floofy feathers are just too tempting. I'm not sure what to do if they continue. I saw pictures of Polish her age and she should have a nice head of feathers by now. She does in the front but not the back. I've seen every one of the other 4 peck at her head. Poor thing. I feel so bad I didn't realize it. I just thought that maybe her head feathers come in strange like Diamond's cochin feathers.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Feather picking won’t ever stop once it has started. It’s a precursor to cannabalistic birds so keep an eye out for any wounds. Mine feather pick, I’ve tried everything. Mine do it as a social behavior and the girls being picked seem to enjoy it even. My Ameraucana always loose their beards due to their beardless flock mates. I feed high protein feed always in hopes that they won’t become harmed due to it. Good luck, I hate the feather picking in my flock. Would get rid of it if I could.

 

[CannedMonster]

Awwwww sweet lil babies I am so glad you have them, you are such a lovely person, I am glad they bring you the joy they do.
I know exactly what you mean about these beautiful birds touching hearts, mine do everyday - they don't like to be cuddled and I respect that and so never try but Pedro and Jellybean like to take naps sitting on my lap and I love it - Lilah and my drakes follow me around like puppy dogs and little Roo who doesn't like to be held will hop on my hand and doesn't mind being transported sitting on my hand or arm.
Oh dear, is Red sick or is it normal for a chicken to break their laying pattern?
Lilah laid again this morning - When I first got her from my friend he told me she wouldn't lay while mothering and he said when she does lay she doesn't do so everyday but she hasn't missed a day yet so I'm guessing they can change their laying patterns?

I love that they nap on your lap!
How sweet.
They trust you very much.
Charlotte, one of my black Australorps came up to me yesterday and I picked her up for a minute but then put her back down to do something and she continued to follow me and stand by my feet making cute little sounds.
I realized she wanted me to hold her.
I took her over to the lawn chair and she settled right down in my lap squeaking away at me and had a little nappy.

Yes they lay the most in their first and second years.
Some breeds and individuals do not lay every day.
You may get 3-4 eggs a week from some and 6-7 from others.
Their feed can affect laying as well; if they’re getting good nutrition they’ll probably lay more.
Stress can also affect things.
Many birds that have been moved to a new home won’t lay for a while but some are unaffected.
Hormones also play a role as broody mothers won’t lay until they’re finished caring for their babies.
Red did lay an egg that day.
Apparently she laid it while on the roost and it fell in the shavings and broke.
I found it a couple of days later and I’m so glad I did before it started to stink!
Thankfully none of the flock noticed it and ate it.