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

[BroosterSpringsteen]

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

Crafty Chick is right. They'll also start checking out the nesting boxes, and their butts will get really fluffy (also known as 'filling out').

 

[chickens44]

16-18 weeks not to sure and wyandotte bantams also one crouched for the cockerel today but hes a bit young and dosent quite no how to mount them but he still tries ha

 

[debbie_nibbles]

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!

Oh no, weight loss Wish is was easy as raising chickens LOL The dark egg is from our Welsummer (Stella) I love it too! I didn't know other breeds besides the Marans had the dark eggs I am so happy that I have a little variety on the colors! Can't wait for the blue / green eggs to start!!!

 

[Crafty chick]

Either way, that hens sounds close! Mine have been laying about 3 weeks, and I saw one run up next to my roo and squat for him. I would have your nest boxes ready. Mine were checking them out a couple days before they laid

 

[Melabella]

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.

And you are giving me serious chick envy!

Love what you ordered, so want some cream legbars, and the blue ameraucanas are beautiful! Blue Laced red Wyandotte. whoo hoo! Have you ever had silkies before? Those are adorable...heard they are great broody mamas...

Has anyone noticed the chooks starting to eat a LOT more? My flock has been going through feed like crazy. Someone on another thread said they are gearing up for prime laying season, brooding, and also raising chicks. Holy moly.. makes me consider the fermenting feed too. People who use it, swear they eat less of it.

Oh, hearing about 8 roosters makes me nervous, I can't handle the one I have! lol....Do you have any experience with processing birds? Another thing I would love to think I could do, but wonder if I would ever be able to.

MB

 

[chickens44]

Cheers - crafty chick

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

And you are giving me serious chick envy!

Love what you ordered, so want some cream legbars, and the blue ameraucanas are beautiful! Blue Laced red Wyandotte. whoo hoo! Have you ever had silkies before? Those are adorable...heard they are great broody mamas...

Has anyone noticed the chooks starting to eat a LOT more? My flock has been going through feed like crazy. Someone on another thread said they are gearing up for prime laying season, brooding, and also raising chicks. Holy moly.. makes me consider the fermenting feed too. People who use it, swear they eat less of it.

Oh, hearing about 8 roosters makes me nervous, I can't handle the one I have! lol....Do you have any experience with processing birds? Another thing I would love to think I could do, but wonder if I would ever be able to.

MB

These will be our first silkies. Honestly, I think they look pretty silly, but my daughter has been begging for them. She has a silkies poster on the wall of her bedroom.

My chickens have been flying through their feed! I do fermented feed, and it really does stretch it a lot further, and the chickens are crazy for it.. I have a pretty good fermented feed system going. I should post some pictures if anyone's interested.

I have some experience processing roosters. I actually took a local class. I think I've processed maybe 10 in total? I'm no expert, and it takes me a while to do it. I'm kind of hoping to train my BF, and knock them all out in one day in early summer. It's the set up and clean up that takes time.

 

[Melabella]

These will be our first silkies. Honestly, I think they look pretty silly, but my daughter has been begging for them. She has a silkies poster on the wall of her bedroom.

My chickens have been flying through their feed! I do fermented feed, and it really does stretch it a lot further, and the chickens are crazy for it.. I have a pretty good fermented feed system going. I should post some pictures if anyone's interested.

I have some experience processing roosters. I actually took a local class. I think I've processed maybe 10 in total? I'm no expert, and it takes me a while to do it. I'm kind of hoping to train my BF, and knock them all out in one day in early summer. It's the set up and clean up that takes time.

Right, I bet it would take me forever too! Then there would be the fibbing to the family that the chicken soup is not made with the chickens that used to give us eggs!

 

[KnobbyOaks]

Just normal room light is all that is needed. I went to my feed store and told them that i needed wheat seed. She ordered in Gore Wheat for me. I have no idea if it is GMO.

I dont know about your girls but mine will knock you over for a handful of scratch. I found out that you should never throw scratch in the coop as well. We happened to be leaving early one evening and I wanted to put the girls up before. e left as we were not going to be home till late and i wantrd them secure. I figured i would throw some scratch in the coop and that way I could lock them up. It worked like a champ....until I got home. They had completely moved every square inch of pine bedding and relocated it in every nook and crany that was not meant to hold the bedding. I had to dig out all the nest boxes, grit and oyster shell container, etc. This behavior continued for almost a week until they were satisfied that they had gotten every grain of scratch. Oh well live and learn.

I stopped by a feed store today and they don't carry wheat seed. I'll check another tomorrow. That's really funny about the bedding; mine do that too but I thought that was supposed to be a good thing because it helps to keep it aerated if you use the deep litter method. But of course getting in nest boxes, feed containers is not desirable.

 

[Crafty chick]

I went to rural king this evening... they literally have thousands of chicks!!! I heldmy ground and didn't get any though. I showed them to my kids and showed them their differences. The bantams were sooooo cute! Tiny little buttons.