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

[Redangler]

So this morning I was trying to see who was laying. About every 15 minutes I would check the egg boxes. A couple times I heard strange noises, no means an egg song, and would check it out only to find no egg. I thought maybe I was putting a little to much pressure on them so I decided to leave them alone at about 9:30. About 10:15 I eased out there with my daughter and when we opened the box, Lucy(ISA Brown) had just finished laying the egg. She took a glance at us, hopped out of the box, jumped out the coop and started to graze, all without a single sound! At least I know who is doing the laying. Still no other eggs today. I would not have thought Lucy would be laying because her comb and waddles are not nearly as red as some of the other hens so go figure.

MB, when we went to go get our rooster he was the nicest of the 4 roosters we had to choose from. He would let you hold him and pet him and did not even bat and eye. Then we brought him home! Apparently when he got to our house he decided to put on his big boy pants and take control over our hens. We had several incidents where he chased my kids and wife. He even ran from the back of our property to the street to chase a jogger going down the road.

I had even considered him for the soup pot. One morning he decided to get a little frisky with me and I ran him ragged chasing him all over the run. We did this for about 10 minutes. I did the same thing on different occasions with all of my kids chasing him as well. Since we did this we have had no further problems with him. I now hold whichever hen I want, whenever I want. He still gives me the evil eye but goes no further than that. I have also had the same experience when I leave the run that he is mounting the girls. He also earned his keep after we had a hawk fly down by the run and he charged the fence and scared the hawk away. So I guess Pepper has now earned his keep and is a member of the family. While I was gone last week our chicken sitter(who has no experience with chickens) had no problems from him so maybe he decided that having tens hens by his side is far better than carrots, celery and onions!

I also did a side by side comparison with a store bought egg and one of our fresh eggs this morning and was shocked at the difference between the two. Our egg is firmer, creamier, and has much more flavor. I can't wait till I get some more hens laying.

 

[Melabella]

So this morning I was trying to see who was laying. About every 15 minutes I would check the egg boxes. A couple times I heard strange noises, no means an egg song, and would check it out only to find no egg. I thought maybe I was putting a little to much pressure on them so I decided to leave them alone at about 9:30. About 10:15 I eased out there with my daughter and when we opened the box, Lucy(ISA Brown) had just finished laying the egg. She took a glance at us, hopped out of the box, jumped out the coop and started to graze, all without a single sound! At least I know who is doing the laying. Still no other eggs today. I would not have thought Lucy would be laying because her comb and waddles are not nearly as red as some of the other hens so go figure.

MB, when we went to go get our rooster he was the nicest of the 4 roosters we had to choose from. He would let you hold him and pet him and did not even bat and eye. Then we brought him home! Apparently when he got to our house he decided to put on his big boy pants and take control over our hens. We had several incidents where he chased my kids and wife. He even ran from the back of our property to the street to chase a jogger going down the road.

I had even considered him for the soup pot. One morning he decided to get a little frisky with me and I ran him ragged chasing him all over the run. We did this for about 10 minutes. I did the same thing on different occasions with all of my kids chasing him as well. Since we did this we have had no further problems with him. I now hold whichever hen I want, whenever I want. He still gives me the evil eye but goes no further than that. I have also had the same experience when I leave the run that he is mounting the girls. He also earned his keep after we had a hawk fly down by the run and he charged the fence and scared the hawk away. So I guess Pepper has now earned his keep and is a member of the family. While I was gone last week our chicken sitter(who has no experience with chickens) had no problems from him so maybe he decided that having tens hens by his side is far better than carrots, celery and onions!

I also did a side by side comparison with a store bought egg and one of our fresh eggs this morning and was shocked at the difference between the two. Our egg is firmer, creamier, and has much more flavor. I can't wait till I get some more hens laying.

You sound exactly like me... I did that dance all morning. Everytime I go into the run, I get the stink eye from you know who. How wonderful you caught your girl in the act! Don't you love how warm the egg is when you catch it that early? Thanks for sharing your experience, it made me realize I should practice moving Duke with my daughter, nieces and nephews as well. Today I let my LSGD enter the run with me, and we moved him together. He really didn't like that! I hope Duke heeds his lessons as yours did.. I do want to have him around as I have observed his noises, and they all run for cover. They really haven't been out of the run in a week, even though the lsat two days I left the run door open,, they don't like all the snow on the ground . I covered all the snow in their run with hay, and sprinkle scratch on top. It has kept them busy all day.. picking and looking for it on the ground. I have been reading how high egg production months really heat up in February. Maybe we will be rolling in eggs by the end of January. I swear, if I saw one more girl go up and down that ramp today I was going to scream! Up down, Up down, Up down! lol.. made me loopy! Watch, we will be cursing where to put all the eggs by March!!


MB

 

[nakstk]

I love getting warm eggs especially on the cold days. They become my hand warmer. lol I got a warm egg today my Wellies have been doing more consistent laying this year! They only missed 1 day so far. I would just like to get more then one egg a day. It's been since November 11th since I got 2 eggs and October 14th since I got 3. It would be nice if they could earn their food. Last month eggs were costing me $1.12 each egg.

 

[Spikes Chooks]

I love getting warm eggs especially on the cold days. They become my hand warmer. lol I got a warm egg today my Wellies have been doing more consistent laying this year! They only missed 1 day so far. I would just like to get more then one egg a day. It's been since November 11th since I got 2 eggs and October 14th since I got 3. It would be nice if they could earn their food. Last month eggs were costing me $1.12 each egg.

Ouch!!! At least you know no chickens were harmed in the production of your expensive eggs!!!

At 6 months old I still only have 3/4 laying, the Barnevelder is proving reluctant. A notorious breed for late layers so I still forgive her. Hot summer here. Some of you (at least!) will call me crazy but it is forecast to be 43C (which is 109.4 F) tomorrow in Sydney. And I've decided to bring them into a separate bathroom which is about 3m x 2.5m and is air conditioned. I know the move will stress them, and maybe put them off laying but I am so worried about them being out in that heat, even with ice cubes in water etc. Even at 10C lower than that they can pant and hold their wings out and look stressed. I think next summer, when they are not so young (don't run around like stupid things in the heat!) they might be better. But for now, I am setting them up for a day in air conditioned luxury.

We're in suburban Sydney (not rural) and these are my first chickens so I just can't be tough as nails and do the farmer thing and hope they make it through. We're at "extreme danger" rating for bushfires so I can only hope that doesn't happen as there is nowhere we can evacuate to which would take chickens. I guess if things get that bad, we will just do what we have to do..... Leave and hope for the best.

I wish I could send some of you folks with snow a little of our heat! Then you could oblige with a swap in six months!

 

[Melabella]

Ouch!!! At least you know no chickens were harmed in the production of your expensive eggs!!!

At 6 months old I still only have 3/4 laying, the Barnevelder is proving reluctant. A notorious breed for late layers so I still forgive her. Hot summer here. Some of you (at least!) will call me crazy but it is forecast to be 43C (which is 109.4 F) tomorrow in Sydney. And I've decided to bring them into a separate bathroom which is about 3m x 2.5m and is air conditioned. I know the move will stress them, and maybe put them off laying but I am so worried about them being out in that heat, even with ice cubes in water etc. Even at 10C lower than that they can pant and hold their wings out and look stressed. I think next summer, when they are not so young (don't run around like stupid things in the heat!) they might be better. But for now, I am setting them up for a day in air conditioned luxury.

We're in suburban Sydney (not rural) and these are my first chickens so I just can't be tough as nails and do the farmer thing and hope they make it through. We're at "extreme danger" rating for bushfires so I can only hope that doesn't happen as there is nowhere we can evacuate to which would take chickens. I guess if things get that bad, we will just do what we have to do..... Leave and hope for the best.

I wish I could send some of you folks with snow a little of our heat! Then you could oblige with a swap in six months!

Holy MOLY Spikes,,

That is darn awfully hot! I never thought Sydney saw those kind of temps. Yes, I wish I could package up the foot of snow I have all around me that heats up during the day, and melts a slight bit, and then refreezes down to the single digits at night. I have an old knee injury giving me a hard time, and the twisting, turning, and slipping is NOT fun!

I would probably be doing the same exact thing. Thankfully I have a basement that stays fairly cool, even on sweltering days, and I would probably be dragging them in there! Keep us posted, I hope it lets up soon with a good rain. How many do you have?

In the meanwhile, I will send you a nice pic through the internet to send you cool thoughts.


MB

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Ouch!!! At least you know no chickens were harmed in the production of your expensive eggs!!!

At 6 months old I still only have 3/4 laying, the Barnevelder is proving reluctant. A notorious breed for late layers so I still forgive her. Hot summer here. Some of you (at least!) will call me crazy but it is forecast to be 43C (which is 109.4 F) tomorrow in Sydney. And I've decided to bring them into a separate bathroom which is about 3m x 2.5m and is air conditioned. I know the move will stress them, and maybe put them off laying but I am so worried about them being out in that heat, even with ice cubes in water etc. Even at 10C lower than that they can pant and hold their wings out and look stressed. I think next summer, when they are not so young (don't run around like stupid things in the heat!) they might be better. But for now, I am setting them up for a day in air conditioned luxury.

We're in suburban Sydney (not rural) and these are my first chickens so I just can't be tough as nails and do the farmer thing and hope they make it through. We're at "extreme danger" rating for bushfires so I can only hope that doesn't happen as there is nowhere we can evacuate to which would take chickens. I guess if things get that bad, we will just do what we have to do..... Leave and hope for the best.

I wish I could send some of you folks with snow a little of our heat! Then you could oblige with a swap in six months!

Whoa! 109? I'm already tired of snow, but I wouldn't trade any weather for that kind of heat. My chickens don't mind snow at all, but they really hate hot weather. We occasionally have days over 90 in July, and my chickens are always miserable. They hide under the trees panting for water, and they sometimes stop laying. I think it's good you're putting them in air conditioned luxury. I imagine that kind if heat could be really dangerous for them (and you!)

 

[Spikes Chooks]

I might print that photo and hang it up for the girls to drool over.....

Thankfully, I just have the four so it is plausible for them to stay in there, even overnight if necessary. I will set up a roost and a nesting box. I'm sure they'll complain noisily - they hate to miss their free range time - but they will have no idea that outside will be feeling like an oven.

The cat will hate them being inside (he wants us to draw the line somewhere!) but we can shut them off and they will all be fine just as long as we don't get fires closeby.

 

[Spikes Chooks]

Whoa! 109? I'm already tired of snow, but I wouldn't trade any weather for that kind of heat. My chickens don't mind snow at all, but they really hate hot weather. We occasionally have days over 90 in July, and my chickens are always miserable. They hide under the trees panting for water, and they sometimes stop laying. I think it's good you're putting them in air conditioned luxury. I imagine that kind if heat could be really dangerous for them (and you!)

You're so right, it is dangerous for humans too. DH is staying home instead of building a retaining wall at work. Heat exhaustion can be a killer. I think chooks handle cold much better than extreme heat, so I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

[Melabella]

I love getting warm eggs especially on the cold days. They become my hand warmer. lol I got a warm egg today my Wellies have been doing more consistent laying this year! They only missed 1 day so far. I would just like to get more then one egg a day. It's been since November 11th since I got 2 eggs and October 14th since I got 3. It would be nice if they could earn their food. Last month eggs were costing me $1.12 each egg.

Oh my word, I would hate to sit down and practise my math skills and figure out what the 7 eggs I have received have cost thus far! gggrrrrrr..

Some woman want for diamonds, nice clothes, fancy cars, etc.... just give me my animals!

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Oh my word, I would hate to sit down and practise my math skills and figure out what the 7 eggs I have received have cost thus far! gggrrrrrr..

Some woman want for diamonds, nice clothes, fancy cars, etc.... just give me my animals!

Amen to that! Although, my boyfriend might hide my incubator if I keep adding more animals to our household. Do any of you guys raise ducks? I'm thinking of hatching a flock of ducks later this spring. Don't tell my BF. He probably won't notice. Ducks are pretty quiet, right

I try not to think of the cost of my eggs, since chickens are primarily a hobby for me. I do sell eggs and chicks when I have extra, but at this point, I acknowledged the fact that I'm never going to make or save more money than I spend on them.

Spikes Chooks, stay cool and safe!