2018 Newbie Chat!

[CannedMonster]

We've had a rough couple weeks over here. My two Easter Eggers got over their enclosure fence. One went into our yard where our dog cornered her, but she wasn't hurt. The other, Candice, went over the fence into the neighbor's yard and was attacked by their dog and died a few minutes after we were able to rescue her. That was on the 23rd. Candice was the top pullet so there has been a little scuffling to reestablish the pecking order. Then this evening I found one of the Australorps had a torn comb and was bleeding everywhere. I got the bleeding to stop with pressure and styptic powder and then it was dusk and they went to roost, which was handy timing. She should be healing up by morning. So it's been a little stressful. We made it until now with very little chicken drama, and no deaths, and they are 15 weeks now. RIP Candice. You were a good chicken.

I had the same problem with my EE and Skye was taken by a dog in October.
Thankfully my other EE, Taka, has been staying in the yard.
I don’t plan on getting any more though because it’s hard to keep them from wandering.

 

[CannedMonster]

There were 5 eggs laid this morning, 3 chicken and 2 duck eggs. I don't know yet if both my ducks are now laying or if the layer laid two, as it is possible for a duck to lay two in the same day. If tomorrow there are two duck eggs again then I will know both are now laying.
Roo is yet to start laying and by the looks of it isn't yet at POL. If both ducks are laying the when Roo starts laying that will be all of them who can.
Not short of people to give the eggs to but have run out of egg boxes now - often people will offer me money which I always refuse but always ask that they give back the egg boxes as I have to buy them but so far only two of the people I've given eggs to have given back the box I gave them to them in and it is most annoying that the others haven't. Think I might start giving them in carrier bags as I don't mind giving out free eggs but I do when it is to my cost.
Pedro and Jellybean seem to be getting on a lot better lately and this morning laid their eggs together and later on took a dust bath together, things they havent done in a while, and I'm hoping they've sorted out their differences now as it is nice to see them getting along
Another step of progress is that they also allowed Roo to dust bath near them which is quite an achievement given that they barely let her near them at all. They still give the odd chase or two, I assume to make sure she keeps in line, however no more mean attacks and mostly they just let her be.
Roo and Lilah often run at each other and bunt however both my daughter and I have noticed they don't make contact nor peck and both look happy and look more like they are playing and always end up skipping off together then having something to eat together. My daughter wonders is Lilah may be teaching Roo and it certainly looks like she could be - does anyone know if mums teach their kids to battle?
Duck training is going slow but is working the ducks are starting to realise they don't own the joint and that the chickens have the right yo be here too. We still have some days where the ducks get sent to the run sometimes for chasing the girls but is getting less each week which is good. I no longer have to hold them down which I'm glad about, I have established myself as boss and now I only have to give my one word order and they stop in their tracks. I am so thankful for the advice the duck expert gave me as it really works and is working well.
Feel bad about taking the duck eggs though, onevof my drakes always come over and gets agitated at my taking them but there is no way we could have any eggs hatched so I have no choice but to take them, the other drake takes no notice at all though. Also I have to destroy their nest daily to stop them going broody which isn't nice to have to do, however the duck hens don't seem to be bothered by it at all nor show any care or concern that I take the eggs, it's only my drake who does.

If you charged people for the eggs, at least the cost of the boxes, then that would solve your problem because you could buy more.
Just a thought...

 

[CannedMonster]

Show me your weird eggs! Collected this weird egg today. Made me laugh so hard. Had to share.View attachment 1628223

I have a few girls that lay torpedo shaped eggs lol.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

If you charged people for the eggs, at least the cost of the boxes, then that would solve your problem because you could buy more.
Just a thought...

I prefer not to charge, however, someone suggested that I ask those who want the eggs to provide their own boxes - that way they can reuse them if they want to - I'll see how that goes first

 

[Anna Ranieri]

I have a few girls that lay torpedo shaped eggs lol.

Is it something which could happen at any time or just when they first start laying?

 

[CannedMonster]

Sorry I haven’t been around in a while.
I’m working a lot more now so it’s mostly just weekends I get time for anything.
I miss my birdies but they haven’t forgotten me.

We have more layers now!
Bootsie, of course, has been laying for a while now.
Her eggs are fairly large but she’s not 100% bantam so that makes sense.
She likes to sing the egg song and Angus answers her and runs over to escort her back to the flock.
Both of my Partridge Rocks, Paisley and Lucy, have started laying and I got two double yolkers from Lucy!
Also, Agatha, my black Naked Neck started laying again.
We actually got 6 eggs the other day.

I’ve figured out that my Speckled Sussex are my dominant birds in my juvenile flock. Especially Sweetie and Elsie.
They have pecked both Australorps away from treats before so I know they’re dominant.
I haven’t seen anyone peck them other than my older girls.
They’re not mean though so no worries there.

Baby Cleo is getting big! She has a little tail now.
She’s 4 weeks now.
On Christmas Day I took her and Pippin and let them go in the yard while I supervised.
It was in the high 30s/low 40s and we had some sun.
Cleo actually started falling asleep in the sun a little bit.
I was out there with them for an hour and a half.
Pippin showed Cleo the grass and scratched the leaves and found interesting tidbits to sample.
Frodo came over for a look and gently pecked little Cleo when she got in his space and she ran back close to mama.
Cricket also came over and gently pecked Cleo to teach her how much space to give an older bird.
Pippin actually allowed Cricket to be right next to them without running her off which says a lot about their relationship. They’ve been BFFs for a while and I could totally see them co-raising chicks together.

Just about everyone in the flock came to check out baby Cleo.
Pippin would only allow them to get so close and if they pushed that boundary she would jump at their heads with her feet and they’d move away.
She did get into a short scuffle with Minnie and she defeated Minnie and ran her off.
Bootsie came over but didn’t attack Pippin like last time probably because Pippin submitted last time by retreating with the baby.
A couple of my juveniles had to be taught not to get close to Cleo also but I stepped in and helped with that because I didn’t want Pippin to become exhausted from constantly having to run them off.
Oliver was not allowed too close by me.
I don’t trust him with young chicks yet and I know he would only want to try to breed Pip.
Angus was allowed close by both me and Pippin and he simply lowered his head and looked at his daughter and moved on.
I also wouldn’t allow Emily close because she is harsh with newcomers and although, genetically, she’s Cleo’s mother she doesn’t know that.
Cleo quickly learned that giving the older birds plenty of space is best.
She also learned to pay attention to where mama is and stay close.
DH has been putting the two of them in the prefab run when the temps permit so they can get used to the flock and be seen by the flock.

I’m noticing that my juveniles and older birds are behaving more and more like one flock instead of two.
It takes a while but it works especially when they roost together.

I’m thinking about getting some Quail Antwerp Belgian bantams in the spring.
I’ve fallen in love with them!
They’re a variety of the Belgian Bearded D’Anvers breed.
This is what they look like:

 

[CannedMonster]

Is it something which could happen at any time or just when they first start laying?

Each girl lays her own shape of egg.
I can tell Pippin and Crickets eggs apart by shape not color.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Well, we've had a bit of a hoo-ha the other day - The door of the duck coop has warped slightly, is quite stiff and lately has been quite hard to open and close. The other night when putting them to bed I couldn't get it to close properly so decided to give it a big hard whack with my hand, doing so caused the top frame to crack, the door went inward and got stuck so it couldn't be opened nor moved at all, I tried to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge and the door fastener broke off in my hand - there was no point in trying to fix it that night, the ducks were in bed, were already unsettled by my fiddling with the door so decided it best to wait till morning. When it came to letting them out at 6:30 the next morning, I had to get my daughter to take the roof off so I could lift one of my drakes out! She had unscrewed a plate on the side which although small is just about big enough for them to get through but Napoleon was frightened and wouldn't use it, so had no option but to get him out through the roof. I am so glad my daughter is so good at DIY, after replacing the roof and side plate, she fixed the door frame, sanded the door on the side it gets stuck on and has added a handle to make it easier to pull open and replaced the broken fasteners, so I now have a working door again.

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Sorry I haven’t been around in a while.
I’m working a lot more now so it’s mostly just weekends I get time for anything.
I miss my birdies but they haven’t forgotten me.

We have more layers now!
Bootsie, of course, has been laying for a while now.
Her eggs are fairly large but she’s not 100% bantam so that makes sense.
She likes to sing the egg song and Angus answers her and runs over to escort her back to the flock.
Both of my Partridge Rocks, Paisley and Lucy, have started laying and I got two double yolkers from Lucy!
Also, Agatha, my black Naked Neck started laying again.
We actually got 6 eggs the other day.

I’ve figured out that my Speckled Sussex are my dominant birds in my juvenile flock. Especially Sweetie and Elsie.
They have pecked both Australorps away from treats before so I know they’re dominant.
I haven’t seen anyone peck them other than my older girls.
They’re not mean though so no worries there.

Baby Cleo is getting big! She has a little tail now.
She’s 4 weeks now.
On Christmas Day I took her and Pippin and let them go in the yard while I supervised.
It was in the high 30s/low 40s and we had some sun.
Cleo actually started falling asleep in the sun a little bit.
I was out there with them for an hour and a half.
Pippin showed Cleo the grass and scratched the leaves and found interesting tidbits to sample.
Frodo came over for a look and gently pecked little Cleo when she got in his space and she ran back close to mama.
Cricket also came over and gently pecked Cleo to teach her how much space to give an older bird.
Pippin actually allowed Cricket to be right next to them without running her off which says a lot about their relationship. They’ve been BFFs for a while and I could totally see them co-raising chicks together.

Just about everyone in the flock came to check out baby Cleo.
Pippin would only allow them to get so close and if they pushed that boundary she would jump at their heads with her feet and they’d move away.
She did get into a short scuffle with Minnie and she defeated Minnie and ran her off.
Bootsie came over but didn’t attack Pippin like last time probably because Pippin submitted last time by retreating with the baby.
A couple of my juveniles had to be taught not to get close to Cleo also but I stepped in and helped with that because I didn’t want Pippin to become exhausted from constantly having to run them off.
Oliver was not allowed too close by me.
I don’t trust him with young chicks yet and I know he would only want to try to breed Pip.
Angus was allowed close by both me and Pippin and he simply lowered his head and looked at his daughter and moved on.
I also wouldn’t allow Emily close because she is harsh with newcomers and although, genetically, she’s Cleo’s mother she doesn’t know that.
Cleo quickly learned that giving the older birds plenty of space is best.
She also learned to pay attention to where mama is and stay close.
DH has been putting the two of them in the prefab run when the temps permit so they can get used to the flock and be seen by the flock.

I’m noticing that my juveniles and older birds are behaving more and more like one flock instead of two.
It takes a while but it works especially when they roost together.

I’m thinking about getting some Quail Antwerp Belgian bantams in the spring.
I’ve fallen in love with them!
They’re a variety of the Belgian Bearded D’Anvers breed.
This is what they look like:
View attachment 1628697
View attachment 1628698

 

[Anna Ranieri]

Sorry I haven’t been around in a while.
I’m working a lot more now so it’s mostly just weekends I get time for anything.
I miss my birdies but they haven’t forgotten me.

We have more layers now!
Bootsie, of course, has been laying for a while now.
Her eggs are fairly large but she’s not 100% bantam so that makes sense.
She likes to sing the egg song and Angus answers her and runs over to escort her back to the flock.
Both of my Partridge Rocks, Paisley and Lucy, have started laying and I got two double yolkers from Lucy!
Also, Agatha, my black Naked Neck started laying again.
We actually got 6 eggs the other day.

I’ve figured out that my Speckled Sussex are my dominant birds in my juvenile flock. Especially Sweetie and Elsie.
They have pecked both Australorps away from treats before so I know they’re dominant.
I haven’t seen anyone peck them other than my older girls.
They’re not mean though so no worries there.

Baby Cleo is getting big! She has a little tail now.
She’s 4 weeks now.
On Christmas Day I took her and Pippin and let them go in the yard while I supervised.
It was in the high 30s/low 40s and we had some sun.
Cleo actually started falling asleep in the sun a little bit.
I was out there with them for an hour and a half.
Pippin showed Cleo the grass and scratched the leaves and found interesting tidbits to sample.
Frodo came over for a look and gently pecked little Cleo when she got in his space and she ran back close to mama.
Cricket also came over and gently pecked Cleo to teach her how much space to give an older bird.
Pippin actually allowed Cricket to be right next to them without running her off which says a lot about their relationship. They’ve been BFFs for a while and I could totally see them co-raising chicks together.

Just about everyone in the flock came to check out baby Cleo.
Pippin would only allow them to get so close and if they pushed that boundary she would jump at their heads with her feet and they’d move away.
She did get into a short scuffle with Minnie and she defeated Minnie and ran her off.
Bootsie came over but didn’t attack Pippin like last time probably because Pippin submitted last time by retreating with the baby.
A couple of my juveniles had to be taught not to get close to Cleo also but I stepped in and helped with that because I didn’t want Pippin to become exhausted from constantly having to run them off.
Oliver was not allowed too close by me.
I don’t trust him with young chicks yet and I know he would only want to try to breed Pip.
Angus was allowed close by both me and Pippin and he simply lowered his head and looked at his daughter and moved on.
I also wouldn’t allow Emily close because she is harsh with newcomers and although, genetically, she’s Cleo’s mother she doesn’t know that.
Cleo quickly learned that giving the older birds plenty of space is best.
She also learned to pay attention to where mama is and stay close.
DH has been putting the two of them in the prefab run when the temps permit so they can get used to the flock and be seen by the flock.

I’m noticing that my juveniles and older birds are behaving more and more like one flock instead of two.
It takes a while but it works especially when they roost together.

I’m thinking about getting some Quail Antwerp Belgian bantams in the spring.
I’ve fallen in love with them!
They’re a variety of the Belgian Bearded D’Anvers breed.
This is what they look like:
View attachment 1628697
View attachment 1628698

Nice Birds, very grand and noble looking