California - Northern

[debs_flock]

Happy Friday morning of holiday weekend to all! DH and DS are at Burning Man this week. This is their third consecutive year attending and could be their last. Took 14 hours from Sac to the gates. They drove up in wee hours Monday morning through lots of eye stinging smoke on 80. Meanwhile, I manned the home front and tackled refreshing our three rooms with oiled hardwood floors. I recently invested in a used smaller commercial buffer off Craigslist. After spending hours over two days, that little machine and I bonded. And the floors look amazing again. Will kee the dogs off them until DH returns to allow max curing. Don't know if fumes from flooring oil and/or fatigue got to me (windows wide open and heat thankfully not too bad). But when I did a check of my pullets at dusk last night I opened the nest box and my heart swelled with pride, only momentarily. Then I realized I was admiring the wooden egg I'd placed in the box. Duh!!! Don't my darlings know that they've passed the 20 week mark and at least one should cough up something? All in due time, huh. DH and I go to Giants game 9/11 and will return home via the Heirloom Expo http://www.theheirloomexpo.com/. For those of you who went in the past, any tips on what to see and eat are much appreciated.

I don't think I'd want to eat anything a chicken could cough up!

 

[ronott1]

Happy Friday morning of holiday weekend to all! DH and DS are at Burning Man this week. This is their third consecutive year attending and could be their last. Took 14 hours from Sac to the gates. They drove up in wee hours Monday morning through lots of eye stinging smoke on 80. Meanwhile, I manned the home front and tackled refreshing our three rooms with oiled hardwood floors. I recently invested in a used smaller commercial buffer off Craigslist. After spending hours over two days, that little machine and I bonded. And the floors look amazing again. Will kee the dogs off them until DH returns to allow max curing. Don't know if fumes from flooring oil and/or fatigue got to me (windows wide open and heat thankfully not too bad). But when I did a check of my pullets at dusk last night I opened the nest box and my heart swelled with pride, only momentarily. Then I realized I was admiring the wooden egg I'd placed in the box. Duh!!! Don't my darlings know that they've passed the 20 week mark and at least one should cough up something? All in due time, huh. DH and I go to Giants game 9/11 and will return home via the Heirloom Expo http://www.theheirloomexpo.com/. For those of you who went in the past, any tips on what to see and eat are much appreciated.

It sounds like you have been productive!

The average age for the first egg is 22 weeks for all breeds.

I hope you get one soon!

The expo is fun!

 

[gryeyes]

. Then I realized I was admiring the wooden egg I'd placed in the box. Duh!!!

Hehehehe. Dunno how many times I've gathered a faux egg, myself. I finally marked them with a Sharpie so save myself from carrying 'em back to the coop again.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Very Nice!

From what I have read, it gets harder to maintain the Olive color in the following generations. You may be able to make the color darker by breeding back to a Dark egg layer. Remember, not all of the next generation will get the Blue Gene and lay Olive colored eggs and some may not get the Brown gene and will lay blue.

Gott get that genetics chart back....

Oh so all of my olive eggers may not lay olive eggs? I have a few and this is just the first egg. I have been getting a tiny Marans egg that's very light maybe that's from one?

 

[ronott1]

Oh so all of my olive eggers may not lay olive eggs? I have a few and this is just the first egg. I have been getting a tiny Marans egg that's very light maybe that's from one?

Yes, they have to get the blue egg shell gene, which is not guaranteed unless the blue egg layer parent has two. If only one is present, then the shell can be white or blue in the offspring. Brown is more complicated since there are more Genes but the darkness would be variable based on what was inherited by the offspring.

 

[juststruttin]

Hehehehe. Dunno how many times I've gathered a faux egg, myself. I finally marked them with a Sharpie so save myself from carrying 'em back to the coop again.

I use golf balls instead of faux eggs because I can feel the difference between the two when I need to feel around under a hen. They work great, and are cheaper.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

 Yes, they have to get the blue egg shell gene, which is not guaranteed unless the blue egg layer parent has two. If only one is present, then the shell can be white or blue in the offspring. Brown is more complicated since there are more Genes but the darkness would be variable based on what was inherited by the offspring.

Ah I see. Thank you

 

[chiqita]

Only f1 cross olive eggers are a sure thing. Then it gets tricksy.

If you want a gurenteed olive breed back to blue. If you want a darker egg breed to fcbm. Back to blue eggs will be lighter but should produce some hens with 2x blue gene nessiary for repeatable oes.

If your light egg is from an f1 it would have a blue shell. If you are on f2 or later it could be an olive egger. But my guess is its a narans with a light paint gun. Are they all black copper or do you gave other colors?

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Only f1 cross olive eggers are a sure thing. Then it gets tricksy.

So better to just make new f1s every year haha

 

[chiqita]

So better to just make new f1s every year haha

Until they get tfe genetic egg test yes. I'm hoping that is soon and I can steal muffler 2 back and get a true OE line. ...