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

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Fletch83... not sure what to say. My girls never flew that high... but my run is about 6.5 feet and I did put wire across the top were there is not shade. I was afraid for my turkeys to get out and we do have birds of prey. All my turkeys I clipped... I think I clip more then just the primary flight feathers and I clip kind of short.... I am no expert though... I just don't want my thanksgiving dinner to fly off;) I do let them all out to free range in the late afternoon... and the chickens never seem to want to go that high when they fly across they yard. And don't worry about off topic here... ;) We all help when ever we can.

KilnChick you have some lovely girls and a wonderful yard... so green. It is kind of dry in my area. Not desert though... It looks like Batman is a Barred Rock or a cuckoo maran... If her eggs are really dark, then a maran. Your sweet penny and Girtie look like EE... that would explain the beautiful blue eggs you have. Red looks like a Rhode Island red (RIR)... are you sure it is a Roo? You have a wonderful flock. Can't wait to see more pics...

Happylittlehen... I think that Leghorns are meant for lots of eggs like my RIR... they could be early... Do you see the signs yet. Comb and wattle development and any sign of squatting? I have 3 BO ... I was told that they would be a 6 months old when they would start laying... Buttercup started at 5 months, 1 week of age. the other 2 have not started yet...

Tabitha our Cuckoo Maran singing for her latest egg.

Free Range time. Time to play with the water hose.

Daisy 1 of our 3 Buff Orpingtons. She is about 22 weeks old.

Dahlia is a Americana/EE. She is only about 14 weeks old.
 
CatSol....thanks so much for taking the time to comment. You are right along with what I thought from what I had read. The guy I got them from ( end of May) said he had gotten the RIR in Jan at 2 months of age and the other two a month later. Everyone on here is talking in terms of weeks. It just seemed that they were getting past what everyone was talking about for theirs. These are my first since I was a child and at that time (I'm 64 LOL) I could not have cared what age they were since we always had chickens! I remember getting in the babies thru the farm supply and getting the whole sea of yellow bubbles underneath the big brooder and then lots of eggs! (and of course the chicken killing which traumatized me since I got to pluck!) I felt by the coloring the brahma and the wyndotte were way behind but the 2 RIR's are more social and outgoing along with the coloring of the waddle, so I was getting more curious about them. They are the bossy ones. I have Frik and Frack and then comes mama brahma, then Maycee Lacy. She's the shyest and smallest. I worry more about her...don't see any signs of her getting picked on or cut away from the food. but I wish she would put on a little weight. Sorry to go on and on but its nice to talk to another chicken lover sometime.
 
I love your variety in you flock. I have 2 RIRs but had planned originally to have only 4 barred rock. However I also ended up with 3 different kinds out of 4. But it is fun watching them all learn to socialize. I think my 2 RIRs came out of the same flock because they are a close 2some. The other two (brahma/wyndotte) are having to learn to hang together. The 2 RIR can be rather bossy!
 
My Mom and I bought a house together almost 4 yrs ago... My mom had chickens when she was little. She hated them and would not eat their eggs nor did she want to eat anything when my Grandmother put them down. She was pretty adamant that she did not want any here. I got turkey chicks on a whim when I found some Royal palms on sale. After that I got some chicken chicks and my Mom feel in love with them. Unfortunately a dog attack took out 6 chickens and 2 turkeys. One turkey hen was injured and 2 chickens were fine. That was back in December... I have been rebuilding my flock. That is why i have such a wide range of ages in birds.
We did get to eat one turkey... He was delicious... That is why I wanted to do that again with a real broad breasted turkey. Way more meat. Though the way the chicks are following me around will make it tough... It was not easy for me to put down my own bird... I have 3 toms out of 4 chicks... they will get so big that they will not be able to walk. So, I can't back out of putting them down.
And please go on and on;) I love to have someone to talk chickens with... normal people get tired of hearing the stories... They do have personalities and it is funny to watch their antics... Yes... now mom will eat their eggs. She did like the turkey I cooked last year... Don't think we could eat one of our laying birds. They are mostly pets. Well some of them. That Roo.... he may meet the grill...
 
LOLOL........yea, I told a friend of mine that I couldn't do the "deed" when they finally got too old to lay... She was raised on a farm and promptly said she could. I've made her a deal that I would bring her the hens and she could keep at least half..maybe 3 of the four if she would clean me at least one..freeze it so it would look nothing like it did as my pet. So we'll see when it comes time if I can do that. I always said I would never have any chickens but genetics must be pretty strong because both of my grown kids/families have chickens. My son (military) also has 4 different kinds of chickens as well as a blood hound, a dalmatian and a beagle. He would have more but they have moved too often. Just now getting into the chickens (loves his Silkies). My daughter on the other hand, came up thru the 4-H and has has lambs until she was married. Since then she has accumulated 1 horse, a herd of cows, 3 mules (2 trained to pull a wagon and one saddle broke), 3 miniture donkeys (one jack and 2 jennies with new colts), and of course....the chickens. Her hubby is the one who made me my coop. It was a birthday/mother's day from them. I like to buy pullets because I don't want to end up with with roos. I may go to one later and I may go to chicks but I just had a certain amount of room and didn't need any surprises. I do like within a city limit of a small country town...still in the country so I really don't have to worry about one rooster. I just wanted to start slow until I got all the ins and outs straight. I double wired our coop. It had reg chicken wire on it which I knew a racoon could get thru as well as some big dogs. So I redid it with 1/4 in hardware cloth (wire) over it, buried it about 10 in down and then put pavers around the perimeter. My hubby just shook his head and said I was being a little OCD about my pen. I told him that I just didn't want to go in there and have to pick up the pieces one morning. I went out today, did the kitty litter scooping (I have sand in my coop and run)....but it was time to clean so I in with a rake to do a good cleaning. Then used a shovel to turn the sand for fresh sand to come to the top. My girls love their fresh sand. ! Also went ahead and hung my feeder and waterer. I worked hard to get it all done inbetween our rain storms. Trying to get it finished before the rains from the hurricane moves up to us. Now I don't care if rains all weekend! My girls are set. The sand is a great way to do the inside coop/run.....drains great and no mud! Alright, talked enough...on my way to bed ! Hope you have a great evening and weekend!
 
Ariekannairb said:
Does anyone have a photo of what your leghorns looked like the week they started to lay? I am interested in seeing the comb and wattle changes as compared to where my nearly 16 weekers are.
Click to expand...

This is my leghorn that just started to lay. We have gotten one white egg from her.
celebrate.gif
She is 19 weeks old. Such a pretty girl.
 
Nice. I have heard of brown leghorns but I had not seen one yet. very pretty...

jtbass... wow your family has a lot of creatures. That is wonderful. I have a few;) We did have 2 pigs and a lamb... they were delicious. A friend of mine put them down for me since I do not have any guns. The turkey ... well my friend could not come down though I wanted to do it... So I know I could. But the turkeys are not pets. These ones are a little like it but I refuse to name them... my chickens are pets. The Americana/EE Roo was an accident. There were all supposed to be sexed as females... oh well. Mistakes happen.
It was horrible to find the girls gone. And to clean up after... I buried them... I felt horrible. They had all just reached 20 weeks... and they were pets. I have re-enforced my pen. It is solid back wall.. Chain link fencing with u nails all along the bottom into heavy wooden boards. I have also ran my horses hot wire all the way there and around it.. I also check them at night. We do have coyotes and birds of prey... but no raccoons. I am near the city but un-Incorporated area. I have an acre and a half... Technically I can have one Roo per acre... I had not wanted any. We will see how he turns out. Lose dogs are an issue... people seem to dump them out here. It's not the dogs fault... but they become an issue when they go after livestock and pets.
I have very sandy soil. There is part of the pen has the perfect sand that the girls like for dust bath and to peck at... I am very lucky.
Well time for bed. Have a wonderful weekend.
 
CalSol, these are a few of the photos I have with my little coop. Its small but fortifide! LOL It was originally made to sit on the ground but my old back just needed more room. (Really wish I had put it on posts to be able to have it raised more.) We raised it with a tall cinderblock. I had already covered the areas of the coop that were chicken wired. This shows a skirting that we put around the bottom of the base and the paving blocks around the perimeter. I also have a buried about a 10" layer around the bottom, One pict shows where the doors are open. We set this up under the front wing of the shed and this is positioned up against the front wall. That presented a problem due to the door of the coop was on that wall. So my DBIL cut a door on the front if the shed that aligned wtih it. So if you look closely you will notice there are two doors. The last pict just shows the back of the coop where I will one day get my eggs! Hopefully!!!



 

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