California - Northern

[tommysgirl]

It's my understanding we gave them NH to make up for our soldiers eating all their chickens during the war.

They just kept working with them and developing the breed. Here, NH fell out of favor and were relegated to the hatcheries and the quality degraded.

OK so totally another reason for me to have some. I am a history teacher and I love anything with a story!

 

[renegade_hens]

Corgi's and any other herding breeds are great with chickens. They are super smart and quick to train. Any of the Livestock Guardian breeds would be good as well.
Of course my little 4 pounder yorkie chihuahua gets along great with my chickens.....as far as he is concerned they are little treat machines

. and my girls think he is just another chicken.

Training is always key. It takes a ton of work.but is worth it in the end.

Cheyenne, my Dobie/Cattle Dog mix, is the best dog we have ever had. At night she will sit on the back step watching the backyard or patrol it for critters during the summer. Even if she is inside the house she instinctively knows when something is in her yard so we let her out to chase it out of the yard. Only thing we need to worry about are those darn skunks - she hasn't figured out that they don't play nice. My chickens think that she is part of the poultry posse, so when I let the dog out of the house they come a running. The only thing the chickens don't like is having their bums sniffed at by the dog.

 

[liz9910]

Quote:
No unfortunately I haven't ridden for 15 years or more, no time, money etc. It's a real bummer living in town doesn't help things either. I hope one day to be able to get a ranchette and have a horse for myself and a pony for my daughter, that would be so much fun.

 

[debs_flock]

Are these single yolk? Are double yolk eggs always larger than standard eggs? I, too, am in egg envy. My 3 pullets are 14-15 week range so will be a while.
Quote:
Yes, single. That is just their typical egg. And they very quickly go from pullet sized egg to jumbo. Seemingly within days.

Quote: I've usually found double yolk eggs to be longer and extra large for the breed, you can generally spot them, but not always. Selfishly, when I notice one it usually ends up the egg I'm having for breakfast. Being the cook has to give you some advantages,

Can't say I've ever seen before about two shells seaming together. A double yolk egg is caused by two yolks releasing together as they develop and the shell is applied around both yolks with albumen added around the two.

Q: What causes double yolked eggs?
A: Egg production in the hen is controlled by the release of specific hormones, which in turn stimulate the release of a single egg yolk from the ovary. After the yolk is released from the ovary it continues its journey through the hens reproductive tract where it develops into an egg with a hard outer shell. Usually, only one yolk is released by the ovary in a given day. However, sometimes two egg yolks or on rare occasions, even three yolks may be released at the same time resulting in the formation of a double or triple yolked egg.
This release of more than one yolk at a time is due to an over stimulated ovary which occurs as a direct result of the increased level of reproductive hormones in the hen. This phenomenon appears more commonly in young hens and is also seen more frequently in meat-type strains of hens verses egg-type hens. Genetics may also be a factor involved with some hens naturally producing a higher percentage of double yolked eggs than others.

 

[MossyoakLane]

My little Buff Orp (the problem child who freaks over everything and runs around like the sky is falling, who also wasn't eating, and we had to put on broiler food to gain weight) started laying yesterday.. The egg had small streaks of blood which I understand is normal. Todays egg had the same, so now I am concerned.. Should I be worried or am I being too much of a mother hen? She is smaller than I would like, but is gaining nicely. I was hoping she would lay later to give her a chance to grow a bit more....but it wasn't meant to be.

 

[debs_flock]

Speaking of strange eggs, I brought one home from State Fair.

I was the clerk at the youth show, so of course I got to follow the judge around and hear all her comments.

We got to a bantam Wyandotte cage. When she pulled out the bird, she said "What the heck is that?" and gave the thing in the cage a shove. I said I had no idea. She then suggested "An onion?". So then my thought was a member of the public had placed something in the cage to feed the bird, so I picked it up.

It was wet, icky, nasty, did I say icky? It looked like a brownish rotten onion. So then I took a close look all over.

It was a wet, slightly bloody egg membrane and inside it was a second fully formed (apparently) normal egg. The membrane had a torn spot, so there was no albumen. It looked like if it wasn't torn, it would have been a shell-less egg with a normal egg inside.

I have it sitting on my counter, I'm hoping it will desiccate and I can keep it.

I'll take and post a picture of it.

 

[debs_flock]

My little Buff Orp (the problem child who freaks over everything and runs around like the sky is falling, who also wasn't eating, and we had to put on broiler food to gain weight) started laying yesterday.. The egg had small streaks of blood which I understand is normal. Todays egg had the same, so now I am concerned.. Should I be worried or am I being too much of a mother hen? She is smaller than I would like, but is gaining nicely. I was hoping she would lay later to give her a chance to grow a bit more....but it wasn't meant to be.

I wouldn't worry about it if she has just started to lay. It can indicate a problem (such as vent gleet), but I'd just keep an eye on her barring any other symptoms.

 

[MossyoakLane]

I wouldn't worry about it if she has just started to lay. It can indicate a problem (such as vent gleet), but I'd just keep an eye on her barring any other symptoms.

Thank you! She is utterly healthy, other than being small for her age. She is acting her normal self, and seems to be eating fine....

 

[lawatt]

news from the hatching: interesting that both broodies seem to be having exactly parallel hatches, with three unhatched eggs (so far, no pips -- i've moved them all to underneath the "new" broodies to see if anything more happens), one strong active chick, and one weaker chick that doesn't seem to follow mama, just sits still and cries if left alone. absolutely identical hatches!

i've given all the chicks Poly-Vi-Sol drops (which seemed to have an almost immediate improvement on the weaker chicks), and there's Save-A-Chick electrolytes in their water for when they start drinking. hopefully all four will become healthy little chicks, and i suppose i don't really need more than 4 anyway (since i have two silver campine pullets already, that are older).

 

[Grandmas Basket]

Great info. I recall fairly regularly seeing double eggs Grandma would guess the doubles before she cracked them open and was usually spot on. I recall a big hoopla when she found a triple yolk egg! Funny, I thought I might have imagined that as I was probably age 8-9. Reading your citation makes me think I didn't imagine it after all. I'll be excited for any eggs I get. With each of my little hens laying different color shells, I won't have to wonder who is laying

.

Yes, single. That is just their typical egg. And they very quickly go from pullet sized egg to jumbo. Seemingly within days.

I've usually found double yolk eggs to be longer and extra large for the breed, you can generally spot them, but not always. Selfishly, when I notice one it usually ends up the egg I'm having for breakfast. Being the cook has to give you some advantages,

Can't say I've ever seen before about two shells seaming together. A double yolk egg is caused by two yolks releasing together as they develop and the shell is applied around both yolks with albumen added around the two.

Q: What causes double yolked eggs?
A: Egg production in the hen is controlled by the release of specific hormones, which in turn stimulate the release of a single egg yolk from the ovary. After the yolk is released from the ovary it continues its journey through the hens reproductive tract where it develops into an egg with a hard outer shell. Usually, only one yolk is released by the ovary in a given day. However, sometimes two egg yolks or on rare occasions, even three yolks may be released at the same time resulting in the formation of a double or triple yolked egg.
This release of more than one yolk at a time is due to an over stimulated ovary which occurs as a direct result of the increased level of reproductive hormones in the hen. This phenomenon appears more commonly in young hens and is also seen more frequently in meat-type strains of hens verses egg-type hens. Genetics may also be a factor involved with some hens naturally producing a higher percentage of double yolked eggs than others.