Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

I went to check for eggs under my broody (cuz the other hens lay in her nest) and she seemed very reluctant to let me lift her up. And when I did, there was a tiny wet chick! Yay! I don't see any pips in the other eggs, though. I took this pic a few hours later.

Oh no way?? I thought your youngest child gave the dog all the eggs?? I must of missed a few post.. Oh and by the way,, blue eggs from blondiee

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

I'm filling I for my nephew taking care of mom, he is on 24/7, needs time off. I noticed that he had a lovely pot of grass.
My mom has a prescription for Mariana, but she refuses to use it. I thought it was funny.......... Wrong grass... But it is a POT and it is GRASS

My girls would make short work of that pot.

 

[maryhysong]

Thank you Gallo. My hopes of selling most of my extra cockerels as processed birds is not working out too well. I am not even making any money off them, most of them process out between 3 and 5 pounds (maybe those Barred Rocks will be bigger) so at most $25 a bird and with all the feed going into them and my labor to process...I would like to get some of my feed bill money back.

I just eat them, although through my farmer's market I have found a Filipino fellow that comes and buys live boys and does his own processing (misses the chickens he had in the Philippines). So far this year my egg sales through the market made about half of my feed bill, even tho I was growing out a huge number of young birds that of course weren't paying their way yet. Hopefully next year I"ll have more layers than young stock.

But I have not bought meat in a year, just eating my own duck & chicken instead. (well OK, I did buy some bacon and some seafood when it was on sale) And I DO credit the chicken biz for the meat. Also I will dress them out at younger ages and smaller sizes just so I don't have to feed them; Like those BCM boys that had waaaay too much copper at 3 months, went in the freezer as soon as the decision was made on them. Yes I have kept some much much longer and in fact right now can't quite decide about two of them, but that's easier on the feed bill than 7 of them.

Have you thought about putting up flyers around some of the health food stores? Some places have community bulletin boards for things like that

 

[MaddBaggins]

Oh look!

 

[MaddBaggins]

So, the egg production has really dropped off. We went from 7-8 eggs everyday since they started laying in June to only 5 on a good day and most days only 4.
I have noticed a lot of feathers in the run.
Other than the weather, nothing else has changed. Same food and so on.
They were hatched last week of January so they are nearly 10 months.
???

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Pipemom If one of the birds, in this case the hen, lays blue eggs, then more than half of the lifespans will inherit the blue eggs gene but approx 25% will not lay blue eggs. Naturally better results will come from both parents having the blue egg gene. But you could start you EE flock by using the Russian Orloff Rooster. Do you have any hens that lay blue eggs ?

???

The blue egg gene is dominant. If it is present in a hen, the bird will lay eggs with a blue eggshell. Birds who also inherit a copy from both parents likely to have bluer eggs than those that just inherit from one parent. Additional genes can cause a wash of brown on top of the shell, creating green eggs.

The gene for blue eggshells is closely linked to the gene for peacomb.

 

[maryhysong]

So, the egg production has really dropped off. We went from 7-8 eggs everyday since they started laying in June to only 5 on a good day and most days only 4.
I have noticed a lot of feathers in the run.
Other than the weather, nothing else has changed. Same food and so on.
They were hatched last week of January so they are nearly 10 months.
???

molting more than likely. Tho you should check them closely for feather mites or lice (check right under the vent, under the wings and along the neck for little bugs). A little extra protein the next few weeks will help them grow their feathers in faster. Also most birds slow down or even stop laying while molting as well as when the days get shorter. Chickens need so many hours of daylight to lay eggs.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: The ameraucana should have had two copies of the gene, therefore all her chicks should have inherited it. Now 8 chicks is far too small a sample to expect correct ratios of 50/50 if the ameraucana had only had a single copy, but I'm a bit surprised...

 

[MaddBaggins]

molting more than likely. Tho you should check them closely for feather mites or lice (check right under the vent, under the wings and along the neck for little bugs). A little extra protein the next few weeks will help them grow their feathers in faster. Also most birds slow down or even stop laying while molting as well as when the days get shorter. Chickens need so many hours of daylight to lay eggs.

I was wondering if they are molting. I have no idea when molting occurs. They are only 10 months. I've checked them for mites and such. Everyone looks good. Appetite is the same. I'll bump up the protein treats for a bit.
Thanks.

 

[Arizonachicken]

Oh no way?? I thought your youngest child gave the dog all the eggs?? I must of missed a few post..
Oh and by the way,, blue eggs from blondiee

Yes, that was the first round. This is round #2! Yay for Blondie!