Any one want to join me in waiting for eggs, posting and comparing notes?

[kdwag]

Kdwag~ I hear you about the rain... might be snow now, but I'm not going back out. Mine have a great roost area, but their floor is a muddy mess. Going to put in a wood floor soon. Maybe this weekend. I also need to cover my run. There are billboards near us, just waiting til I see someone out there tearing them off.

Today it's light rain/snow, and my large puddles have gone down some and left me with large piles of wet nasty smelling straw.. there is still one big puddle left, and it's everyone's favorite place to be. LOL I don't think the sun is supposed to shine until Sunday. The covered run does help a great deal. The bad weather didn't dampen their spirits, everyone laid today. I gave them an apple (core removed) and put it on a stick that originally had a forage cake on it. I put the stick through the apple and hung it and it gives them something to peck at for a little while, they usually make quick work of it.

 

[kdwag]

I got my first egg ever from one of my white leghorns yesterday!!! I did a dance and everything about it lol. Today she gave me another egg...but it was cracked

...The first egg was layed underthe coop...and that was a hassle for me to get that! The second egg was laid on the coop floor....and I was late getting the girls out today so they stepped all over it. Now if my other leghorn, maran and barred rock would start laying everything would be right with the world!

Oh and I got new chicks yesterday! 2 Cuckoo Marans and 2 Barred Rocks.

The first egg is on the right and today's egg is on the left

I want some new babies....they are so cute..


There are 4 chicks here, but 1 is hiding behind the one in the middle

 

[kdwag]

Oh, I am aged! lol...going to be 54 this year, yikes ,how does that happen!

Yes, I agree with you, it shouldn't have to be this hard. He makes the girls on edge too. They used to come around much more often, now they act as if I'm something to stay away from. Biggest reason I am going to get rid of him is, he is really roughing up the girls now. They are starting to show beginings of bare backs... that I don't want.

Thanks for the compliment on Jackson, he is awesome!

He's beautiful, is he a border collie? How does he do with the chickens? My dogs currently are 10-11 yrs. I'm thinking I would like to get a dog that will do well with my chickens so I can let them free range more often. I had considered a collie or some sort or other herding breed. I am partial to the sporting breeds but they and chickens don't mix. LOL Sorry that rooster is such a pain in the you know what. I want a rooster but don't want the headaches that sometimes come with.

 

[Melabella]

He's beautiful, is he a border collie? How does he do with the chickens? My dogs currently are 10-11 yrs. I'm thinking I would like to get a dog that will do well with my chickens so I can let them free range more often. I had considered a collie or some sort or other herding breed. I am partial to the sporting breeds but they and chickens don't mix. LOL Sorry that rooster is such a pain in the you know what. I want a rooster but don't want the headaches that sometimes come with.

Oh gosh, **gets out soap box, climbs ontop**

Bear with me, I am a nut about this breed, so here goes. Jackson is an English Shepherd. Yes, it's a real breed, not AKC,(the way their breeders want it) and they do look at first glance like border collies. They are superior herding/guarding/tracking/companion dog. They herd upright, and loose eyed, not preditorially as a border collie does. They are often reffered to as the old american farm collies, like the ones you saw on dairy and cattle farms all along the early american mid west. I can't tell you how many times people used to tell me that dog is a lot like the one my grandparents used to have. Another wonderful thing an ES has is a turn off switch, providing they get proper excersice, they also have a wonderful companion quality about them. What is their owners, they guard and protect. Jack is amazing with the chickens, after day 1, I showed him each one, and said.. mine.. put my body beteen him and the chick,, and that was it... he never touched one ever. He knows they belong here, but hates the crows, and ravens that sometimes land on the property. Here is a copy of a link that I put on another thread that someone asked me about him... has some useful links....
If you do ever get the courage up to get another dog,please,please consider an English shepherd in your possiblitlites. The one thing I truly love about an ES is their all around quality of being a guardian, but also being an amazing family dog as well. Their herding style is loose eyed, not preditorial as some herding breeds. Jackson is forever my "english shadow". Despite still being intact, he never roams. Never is "studdish", is the perfect gentleman. He knows my entire routine, and by the way, yesterday Duke, my rooster, really took a run at me, and I used Jackson to move him for a good 10 minutes. He kept him outside the fenceline per my orders, and just back and forth, and back and forth. Wouldn't let him on property while I sat and gave the girls a treat. He was beside himself, but that dog kept him off me. Understood fully what I wanted, and wouldn't let him enter. He has killed two possom this year. They just have an amazing sense of what belongs, and what doesn't . That goes for people too. I socialized him intensly as a pup, almost too much I thought as I have a lot of small children here at all times. I thought I had made him "too nice". The other day he wouldn't let the oil man out of the truck until I came out of the barn to see what the racket was. I can't say enough about him, and so many owners of these dogs say the same things. Jack also puts the chickens up if I ask him too. Easy enough to be companions, but serious enough to do any farm work needed

Look at these two videos. of some English shepherds.

The picture below is of an engish shepherd who caught a raccoon that had gotten into it's masters rabbit/chicken/goat pen.

And of course, there is my Jackson!




I would seriously consider one for animal, small farm protection. Lots of wonderful breeders I could put you in touch with, especially in your neck of the woods, tons of wonderful breeders in the midwest. Four color patterns they come in..Love em!

 

[debbie_nibbles]

Had to come home early to do some work from home and got a wonderful surprise!

Our 1st. 2 girls that started laying middle of January eggs are on left and getting bigger and bigger! Next 2 are from girls that started Feb 10th and 23rd. Last one is from Dolly who layed her 1st egg yesterday This is her 2nd. All before 10 am! Only girl that hasn't laid today is Lilly, she's later in the day but she's the one whos been laying the soft shelled one...

 

[Melabella]

Had to come home early to do some work from home and got a wonderful surprise!

Our 1st. 2 girls that started laying middle of January eggs are on left and getting bigger and bigger! Next 2 are from girls that started Feb 10th and 23rd. Last one is from Dolly who layed her 1st egg yesterday This is her 2nd. All before 10 am! Only girl that hasn't laid today is Lilly, she's later in the day but she's the one whos been laying the soft shelled one...

Love those eggs! gosh, they are getting bigger now aren't they! I started Weight Watchers this morning, have to lose this winter weight I put on, works great for me, just track what I eat, everything has a point system. I was so dissapointed that one serving of egg to them is a 50 g egg! 2pts. I have to pass up my 80/90 gram jumbos that my red sex link are giving me!

Who is laying the dark one? what breed? love it.....That is a wonderful suprise!

 

[chickens44]

Are there any other signs that i can look for to see if the young hens are
about to lay ?

 

[Crafty chick]

44~ their faces will turn bright red, and squat down when you go to pet them.

 

[Crafty chick]

Mine squatted about a week before they laid, and their faces turned red about 2 weeks before they laid.
How many, what kind, and how old are yours?

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

MB, you are giving me a serious case of dog envy. Your dog is so handsome! We do not have a dog currently. I've lost 2 dogs to old age in the last 3 years, and just haven't been able to bring myself to think about getting another. Although I know it could really help with all the predator problems I've been having. We have 2 cats who consider themselves a part of the chicken flock, but they are kind of a menace when I'm raising baby chicks. They're spoiled rotten cats.

So chicken math strikes again. I've ordered eggs for setting when my current batch is done. I ordered Cream Legbars, Blue Ameraucanas, Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, Light Sussex, Bantam Columbian Cochins, and White Silkies. I just could not narrow my choices down. There is no telling how many chickens I will own by mid April.

I'm also having a dilemma with my current chicks. I'm now quite certain I have 8 roosters. I'm only planning to keep 2. So what to do with the other 6? Do I raise them for meat, or do I save myself the cost of feeding them, and re-home them now? The benefit of waiting is that I'll see how they feather out, and can choose according to who has the best looks and personality. I'm just not terribly excited about feeding 8 roosters in the meantime.