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

[kacklinkelly]

Am still living vicariously through everyone whose chickens are laying at this time.
Have told myself that I am no longer checking daily. Then just before the sun goes
down I run out to see if there is anything waiting for me. (Crazy woman)

The only thing I have found in my chicken tractor other than my pullets is our
dog. That made me laugh so hard. She is a 13 yo collie/shep mix with one
eye (surgery required due to glaucoma) and lumps and bumps all over.
She has gotten so much more energetic since the chickens have arrived.
I love to watch their interactions now that the chickens are no longer afraid
of her and she is more weary of the chickens. A few pecks on the nose and
our 50 lb dog was cast into the lower end of the pecking order

 

[nakstk]

Am still living vicariously through everyone whose chickens are laying at this time. 
Have told myself that I am no longer checking daily.  Then just before the sun goes
down I run out to see if there is anything waiting for me. (Crazy woman)

The only thing I have found in my chicken tractor other than my pullets is our 
dog.  That made me laugh so hard.  She is a 13 yo collie/shep mix with one
eye (surgery required due to glaucoma) and lumps and bumps all over.  
She has gotten so much more energetic since the chickens have arrived.
I love to watch their interactions now that the chickens are no longer afraid
of her and she is more weary of the chickens.  A few pecks on the nose and
our 50 lb dog was cast into the lower end of the pecking order 

Your not a crazy chicken lady for checking once a day. I was checking 5 to 6 times a day when my girls were close to laying.

 

[Redangler]

Hey MB, Just in case you didn't notice, we are starting to get near that 2000 mark!

 

[Melabella]

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for your opinion. I have four different size/shape/color eggs. I'm thinking that this means four different chickens are laying. Am I correct in my assumption?

Large/Dark, Medium/Light/Pointy, Medium/Dark/Roundish, Medium/Light/Roundish

I agree with everyone's responses before. If i had to make my totally uneducated newbie opinion, I would say these 4 eggs are from 2 different layers. I still don't claim to know what eggs totally come from which pullet, I know 4 for sure. I have a narrow egg every day from one of my barred rocks, she is the only one who lays it. The color varies slighty, very light shades of brown, the lightest eggs in my basket. Then, I have two red sex links that give me ex large eggs, sometimes jumbo. They are so dark, with one of them actually giving me a spotted egg like a welsummer. Somedays, usually after they have skipped a day, the eggs are so dark, they are almost like a Marans egg, but then they get progressivly lighter through the week. Your 1st and 3rd egg seem very similar, even though the size is different. Same with 2 and 4. We all need to get those cameras! That only would work though if we were watching it as they lay, as there are often 3 and 4 eggs in the same box when I check! When it is warm out, I swear I am going to get a good book I need to catch up on, and head out with a comfortable lawn chair, and camp out for the day. I will do it after one of my six egg days, so I know the chances are good that a 9 egg day is coming! Every time a girl lays an egg, I am going to run in there and get it! Then the great mystery will be solved!

Hey all, I went into the run today and found blood everywhere, found my larger barred rock with a tear to one of the points of her comb and blood dripping. At the same time, I found my other barred rock attacking her everytime she went near. I cleaned up the comb and put a little neosporin on it. It quit bleeding but after that, every time she went near my other barred rock, the other one would attack her. So, I played referee for quite some time--i'm still frozen-- they all went in the coop and went to bed together in peace, but OMG, is this a new behavior that I'm going to need to worry about? I don't know if the injury was caused by the crazy one or if she may have gotten it hung on something?? I don't know, what the heck is happening? The crazy one would be the "top chicken" and the other one has always been 2nd in command. Thoughts? Suggestions?

kdwag
Loghousemom gave good advice. I would cover that spot with some BlueKote asap, and try to mask any spot of red that still is present this morning. If you don't have a tube of NuStock around, look for it at the local feed stores or order one to keep handy online. The stuff tastes nasty, and I've been trying to keep some on one of my BA's combs to deter Duke from grabbing her while mating. It's wonderful for cuts, scrapes, and nasty vents after cleaing them up. We all know once blood is around, what happens! Please give us an update today as to what is going on in there. It might be as simple as she cut it, and due to a chickens nature with blood and raw meat, they all couldn't resist. IF it is a pecking order thing from only one particular bully, please watch closely and see if it keeps going. Combs do bleed quite a bit, and the blood makes it seem a bit more serious than the wound actually is, but if the pecking order thing keeps up, it can totally get out of control. I had a situation last November where one of my girls turned bully very quickly. They are all from the same hatch date, and arrived together from Meyer. One day one of them just went bonkers, and was picking on one of my RIR's. I couldn'ttake watching it, and saw where it was heading, so I removed the bully in a temporary pen away from the flock. No one else picked up bullying her, so I knew it was just the bully bird. She spent three days in isolation in my feed room in a nice temporary pen. On the third night, I put her back up on the roost at night before I head to bed. It was enough to shake up the pecking order, and nothing else has gone on since that day. She has worked her way up to 3rd in command from my judgement but she has left the girl alone that was on the bottom of the totem pole, (and still is). Do your chickens have a large enough run? Do they free range? It'a amazing the peace of the flock when they are all free ranging. It gives me the same feeling when I used to take my three boys when they were little to the beach, and we would shower off in the outside shower get all the sand off, powder them up and put their jammies on. They would all come home peaceful from playing all day, being outside in the sun and fun, and get along wonderfully in the playroom while waiting for the bowl of ice cream before sleep. Miss those days!

So, how many chickens do you all have, and what are their ages?

I am pretty new to the whole chicken thing (picked up the fluffies in may as a Mother's Day gift) I had 5 then, and a couple months later we picked up some year olds from my uncle. So now I have 9 hens and 1 roo. We have 1 welsummer, 1 buckeye, 3 white Cochin, 1 barred rock, 1 white leghorn, 1 EE, and another that is supposed to be an americaunas but I think is also an EE. The babies began laying between 21 and 25 weeks.

I am getting 6 eggs a day between the 9 hens with only one or two laying every single day. I am waiting till spring kicks in around here and then will make the decision of which to hold onto and which need to go. I know one of the EE are not laying, and hasn't all winter... But I am having a hard time figuring which it is. I also think one of the young'ns are not laying. We get some pretty cold and short days up here, so I am trying to be patient and wait it out.

I am donating some of the fertile eggs to a local preschool for a lesson in farms and they will attempt hatching them, so hopefully come April, we will have babies again.

Let's get out the ol
banner and Welcome Loghousemom to the thread!! Happy to have you, and another flock to keep up about! I have the exact flock makeup of 9 pullets and one roo. My roo was a mistake from the Hatchery, but he has managed to stick around, and if he ever joins up and behaves he might get to stay on, but he has been making it difficult lately! He is a Columbian Wyandotte. What breed is your roo? The rest of my flock you can see in my signature below my post. They are from a July 23rd hatch, and are 7 months old and I got my first egg New Years day and they've been coming steady since about January 8th. Such exciting thing, I never get tired of collecting those eggs! How do you like your Buckeye? I have read that as a breed they are amazing, but just learned they need a bit more protein than some other breeds. Maybe feeding some raw,(or cooked for saftey) chop meat every now and then is a good idea, or extra BOSS. I have also heard they are wonderful mousers. Welcome again to the thread!

Your not a crazy chicken lady for checking once a day. I was checking 5 to 6 times a day when my girls were close to laying.

^X2

Hey MB, Just in case you didn't notice, we are starting to get near that 2000 mark!

Hi Red, you just reminded me I didn't total my February egg count!

Oh yes,, 2,000 here we come!!!!!! You all have made this a wonderful, peaceful place to come.

Have a great day everyone! SUn is out, but the clouds are coming in... boo!

MB

 

[kdwag]

Got the blu kote, applied to all areas of injuries which now include her ear lobe. Coop is 4 x 4 and run is 8 x 8 x 6. Crazy one is confined in a large dog crate in the barn with straw, food and water, no roost covered with blankets and the front exposed. Do I leave her in day and night and will she be warm enough at night without the others, or should I put her in the coop to sleep. Last night everyone went in to bed ok and roosted but it was right back at it today as soon as they came out. This is making me a nervous wreck. OK, i've tried posting this 3 times w/o success so sorry if it ends up showing up multiple times!!! ARRRHGGGGG

 

[nakstk]

Got the blu kote, applied to all areas of injuries which now include her ear lobe. Coop is 4 x 4 and run is 8 x 8 x 6. Crazy one is confined in a large dog crate in the barn with straw, food and water, no roost covered with blankets and the front exposed. Do I leave her in day and night and will she be warm enough at night without the others, or should I put her in the coop to sleep. Last night everyone went in to bed ok and roosted but it was right back at it today as soon as they came out. This is making me a nervous wreck. OK, i've tried posting this 3 times w/o success so sorry if it ends up showing up multiple times!!! ARRRHGGGGG

After you put the Blu Kote on the injured one the crazy one should stop pecking at the injury because it wont see it anymore. I would put the crazy one back in there and just keep an eye on them. This is probably just a change in rank taking place which seems brutal to us but it is natural to them.

 

[KnobbyOaks]

Got the blu kote, applied to all areas of injuries which now include her ear lobe. Coop is 4 x 4 and run is 8 x 8 x 6. Crazy one is confined in a large dog crate in the barn with straw, food and water, no roost covered with blankets and the front exposed. Do I leave her in day and night and will she be warm enough at night without the others, or should I put her in the coop to sleep. Last night everyone went in to bed ok and roosted but it was right back at it today as soon as they came out. This is making me a nervous wreck. OK, i've tried posting this 3 times w/o success so sorry if it ends up showing up multiple times!!! ARRRHGGGGG

I had one that was pecked on by the others and I wound up leaving her in a dog crate in the garage for about 4 days and then I let her reintegrate during the day with the others, beginning with just a few hours the first day. They still picked on her but she tried to avoid them and after a couple days it was much better. Then I let her sleep with the rest and it's been fine ever since. She healed up nice and I kept putting Blu-Kote on every day, whenever it looked like it was wearing off. It was funny to watch her at night when the rest put themselves to sleep. That first night, she was the last to climb in. I almost wanted to run out and put her in the dog crate because she looked so lost. What's funny is that she used to love to come to me but after that, she's very stand-offish, almost to point of avoiding me. She stands up for herself very well, now even instigating some of the squabbles.

 

[kacklinkelly]

KnobbyOaks, as I was reading your post, I was reminded how I used to feel about my
children riding the school bus to school.

I would worry and pray every day that
they would be fine and that the bus driver would be responsible. They came home
with some crazy stories and hurt feelings once in a while. finally, they became the ones
instigating some of those stories. They got a little tougher skin, I learned that they
were wiser than I gave them credit for and we all made it through just fine.
(that was 20 years ago - thanks for the trip down memory lane)

 

[Melabella]

KnobbyOaks, as I was reading your post, I was reminded how I used to feel about my
children riding the school bus to school.

I would worry and pray every day that
they would be fine and that the bus driver would be responsible. They came home
with some crazy stories and hurt feelings once in a while. finally, they became the ones
instigating some of those stories. They got a little tougher skin, I learned that they
were wiser than I gave them credit for and we all made it through just fine.
(that was 20 years ago - thanks for the trip down memory lane)

so true, and so sweet....

 

[kdwag]

The blue kote didn't seem to matter, she was right back at her, just as fierce, so, today crazy girl is back in the time out cage and i will leave her in all day.
I thought I'd let them work it out, but after watching her attack the other one, more injuries were sure to follow, so, what's worse, separating crazy girl for another day or constantly attending to wounds? If I do put her back in tomorrow with everyone and the fighting continues, how long do i wait it out to see if it gets resolved?