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

[Melabella]

Love this thread..love all of the pictures, ideas, troubles, funny stories etc...love to listen and try to support or help all of you!!!


This doesnt belong on this thread BUT since we are all friends I want yalls opinion!!! I bought 2 Black Copper Marans pullets for $10 each and both were actually boys. They were 5 wks old when i bought them. The women said she would mail my $20 back last week and she hasnt and wont answer calls or text from me. Also one of them has a leg defect. I spent $80 in gas money to drive over there to get them too! What would you do??

Hey, no worries about a question not belonging here, we all share, and it's chicken related! oh boy that is a tough one! Whenever you buy anything from anyone it's tough, very tough. We all have heard Craigslist stories to make our toes curl. How did you find this listing? Was it through BYC? If so, report her negative feedback and no response as a rating. Sometimes, you just have to file things under live and learn, and be more cautious next time. If you did find her through some sort of advertising, I would send her a text message that you were going to put in negative feedback about her being a disreputable seller, and report her to any place where she adverstised. I guess there is always small claims proceedings, and only you can decide if you want to pursue that route. Save any reciepts you might have to prove your purchase, and gas reciepts as well to prove that you spent the $100 to get these birds, and didn't recieve what you paid for. Good Luck, and hopefully maybe she is just out of town, or busy, and will get back to you to rectify the problem. I had the exact same problem with a breeder of mini lop rabbits when I bought a pair for my daughters birthday 3 years ago. She swore she had been sexing rabbits for 20 years,,(she was only 25), and would reimburse my money if they weren't both girls. I paid $50 for each of them, they were show quality. Well, after the girl rabbits starting exhibiting certain behaviors, I called her and she assured me that females just do that to assert dominance sometimes, and not to worry, a sort of "girls gone wild, spring break addition" as she so eloquently put it. Well, one beautiful spring day when I went out to feed the rabbits, sure enough....
look what I found....
Needless to say, when I called for my $50 refund on the one mis sexed female, I never heard from her again!! Live and learn.....

 

[jtbass2756]

I am enjoying reading your post. I am getting a coop with chickens that are already laying. Until I get them all adjusted I'm going to be interested in watching your post. Loving every thing I see and learning a lot

 

[jtbass2756]

I am enjoying reading your post. I am getting a coop with chickens that are already laying. Until I get them all adjusted I'm going to be interested in watching your post. Loving every thing I see and learning a lot

 

[jtbass2756]

I am enjoying reading your post. I am getting a coop with chickens that are already laying. Until I get them all adjusted I'm going to be interested in watching your post. Loving every thing I see and learning a lot

 

[KnobbyOaks]

For some of you more experienced egg people, what is the little black speck that appears in eggs? It's only one black speck and the eggs are not fertilized. I hate having to dig that out of my breakfast eggs each morning. You don't get that from grocery store eggs, so was curious if it would go away as the pullets age.

 

[KnobbyOaks]

I am enjoying reading your post. I am getting a coop with chickens that are already laying. Until I get them all adjusted I'm going to be interested in watching your post. Loving every thing I see and learning a lot

Welcome to the thread. Keep us posted on your chickens' progress.

 

[Melabella]

Hello everyone i have a question regarding first eggs i have 5 rir pullets they are around 17 to 18 weeks 2 od them have large red combs for hens and i know thats a sign they are close to laying but o was wondering are there other signs they are close or anything i can do to coax them into laying i did buy a phoinex hen that was laying bit 3 weeks ago so they can se whAt to do you know an example but i feel like they should be ready any help would be appreciated

Hello lsutigers1809, and
to our thread! Happy to have you! May I ask if your RIR are hatchery or feed store supply? If they are, then they will probably lay on the early side. Most hatchery birds are bred for egg production and are bred selected for this desire. Bred to lay earlly, and lay a LOT. Trouble is they usually slow down a lot quicker, and production will tail off considerably after 2-3 years. I myself have 2 hatchery RIR, and my first egg came at 24 weeks old, but this was back in December. Heritage stock take far longer,, but stay productive for far longer in age. Now keep in mind, it was New Years Eve when I got my first egg, and the days had only just begun to get longer.. We have just started prime laying season, as each day your pullets are exposed to more and more daylight. Really, I think the only thing you can do if you really want to try and nudge things along would be to add artificial light to come on in your coop a half hour, or hour before the sun actually rises. This might speed things up a bit. Really, there is no magic to getting them to reach egg laying maturity, other than playing with the lights. Just like humans, they all reach sexual maturity with whatever their genetic makup is exposed to. Large red combs and waddles lets you know you are within weeks away from laying. Do you have a roo? I noticed my roo seemed to start mating each one, an egg was a week to 2 weeks away. If you don't have a roo, have they stated lowering down for you when you try to pet them, that is another sign that eggs are close by.

I know the waiting is hard, but you are so very close to collecting those eggs. Try not to be tempted to switch to layer ration until eggs come. They don' tneed it until then. Same with egg shells or oyster shell. Feed them well, lots of clean water, and hang in there!

Keep usposted, we love updates!
welcome again,
MB

 

[Melabella]

I am enjoying reading your post. I am getting a coop with chickens that are already laying. Until I get them all adjusted I'm going to be interested in watching your post. Loving every thing I see and learning a lot

to our thread from New York State! What part of the country are you from? As Knobby said, keep us posted! A lot of us are newbies ourselves, only getting chickens last year, and are on our first go around with eggs. Others are more experienced and are hatching their own with incubators or broody hens! We are all learning as we go, and ask away, if no one has an answer, we all try to find out together!

Good Luck!
MB

 

[Melabella]

For some of you more experienced egg people, what is the little black speck that appears in eggs? It's only one black speck and the eggs are not fertilized. I hate having to dig that out of my breakfast eggs each morning. You don't get that from grocery store eggs, so was curious if it would go away as the pullets age.

Knobby, I have read that those are little protein specks, and shouldn't be a worry. No harm. I have also read that grocery store eggs are candled with high powered lights and any blood spots or meat dots found are quickly discarded. This is why white became the desired color of eggs when the batter market boomed in this country. Lot easier to see through those white shells than the dark ones. Think about how many blood spots you saw when your girls started laying. I got quite a few, same with the meat spots. As the girls have laid,, fewer and fewer have been seen. Check out this picture I took of my worse blood spot to date.... I fried it up and gave it back to the girls, even though they are perfectly fine to eat.

yuckky yuckkky!

 

[KnobbyOaks]

Knobby, I have read that those are little protein specks, and shouldn't be a worry. No harm. I have also read that grocery store eggs are candled with high powered lights and any blood spots or meat dots found are quickly discarded. This is why white became the desired color of eggs when the batter market boomed in this country. Lot easier to see through those white shells than the dark ones. Think about how many blood spots you saw when your girls started laying. I got quite a few, same with the meat spots. As the girls have laid,, fewer and fewer have been seen. Check out this picture I took of my worse blood spot to date.... I fried it up and gave it back to the girls, even though they are perfectly fine to eat.

yuckky yuckkky!

Thanks for the reply. That makes me feel a little better...., I think. Meat dots maybe what it is, definitely doesn't appear like blood and not at all like that one with the blood stream. yuckky is right. But that egg is fertilized, right?