California - Northern

[TheKeeper]

Your welcome.

They are very pretty eggs too.

Yes! The picture does not do their soft light blue color justice.
They are 2 marans & 1 turken egg on the bottom.

 

[EZFarms]

Its been cold up here and i think everyone is done moltting sp why arent my girls laying? They laid through winter last year. what can i try to maybe make them lay?

 

[ronott1]

Its been cold up here and i think everyone is done moltting sp why arent my girls laying? They laid through winter last year. what can i try to maybe make them lay?

Pullets that hatch in time to start laying in late summer to fall will often lay through the first winter. During the second winter they will stop laying when light goes below 12 hours; usually mid October until hours go back up--mid January or so.

This is not true for winter laying breeds, like Rocks, Orpingtons and etc. They will slow down but keep laying during the second winter.

The good news is that the day light hours are increasing so you will start having eggs again soon.

 

[OR4-hmom]

Its been cold up here and i think everyone is done moltting sp why arent my girls laying? They laid through winter last year. what can i try to maybe make them lay?

Young and dumb only applies the first year, their bodies have matured enough to shut down with the shorter days. The eggs will be bigger they start up again.

 

[tommysgirl]

Seremas do have a tendancy to die, when they are tiny. The freeze uer quickly too, its jsut a hard breed to keep alive even in ca weather.
See how much they are moving around when they little one is ready to go back. ideally you put it with the original mother before its a week old. Might even just put her in at night so they bond and take her back out later.

Chiqita do you mean putting her in at night and taking her out in the morning until the egg sack drops off?

As you might guess I've tried a few things and am still looking for a long term solution…or maybe there is no such thing as a static housing situation with chickens...

True dat!

Both will work.

The egg sack does not look infected so It is likely not Mushy chick disease.

That is what I thought. Thanks!

You need some Pita Pinta! My Pita Pinta pullets and Pita Pinta mix pullets are cranking out the eggs. I have so many that I'm feeding them back to the girls.

This is good to hear.

I didn't have enough spring hatchers ( just an rsl and a bantam) so I had to get eggs from a friend throughout Nov and Dec. Now most molts are over and I have a couple of my early July girls laying so hopefully we are over the drought. But for next year and to the end of time... I plan to have at least 6 LF winter/spring hatchers to lay for me through the winter.

 

[Kaylish]

Thank you so much everyone. Thank you Neal.
The neighbors are working to fix the fence and paid 80% of the vet bill. Curly Sue survived the night and hopefully will regain the ability to walk.
Thought today would be better because Curly survived the night, but nope...girlfriend's dog was diagnosed with terminal cancer today. He has a month or less to live. This month has just been absolutely horrible. I am hoping the worst is over for this month, for both my girlfriend and I. Please keep her in your thoughts, she is devastated.

I'm so sorry to hear about your birds (glad Curly Sue is doing better)

I am VERY sorry to hear about your girlfriends dog;

it is the worst feeling. I lost my sweet old girl two weeks ago today and I'm still crying about it.

We would need to carry around name signs saying BYC MEMBER or put on a name tag lol

Good Idea!

DH and I spent the 20-22 over in Fort Bragg for my b-day. It has become a tradition. It is so nice to get away and it forces me to get my act together well before Christmas Eve.
Happy Late Birthday!

My DD who is looking for work in the dog training/handling world had an interview for a company in the city who uses beagles to sniff out bed bugs.

It sounds like it could be interesting. keep a good thought for her please! Thanks.

Interesting opportunity! Hope it works out for her.

Name tags are a good idea. We usually arrange a time to meet for lunch.

I'm trying to get my DH to drive down with me and our daughter. I'd love to meet everyone; please keep me in the loop if lunch plans are being made.

Do you have the entire flock together when they are on winter vacation? Do you find that the roosters are competing for the hens and stirring up trouble?

Does anyone move breeding roosters back and forth between a rooster run? i.e. keep all the roosters together except when in a breeding pen?

As you might guess I've tried a few things and am still looking for a long term solution…or maybe there is no such thing as a static housing situation with chickens...

I'm also curious on how/if others move roosters thru a breeding pen. I'm trying to figure out potential problems with rotating 2 roos between my layer and soon-to-be-built breeding pen.

 

[EZFarms]

my phoenix hens give me maybe one egg a month i. gpt one from a RIR hen and my orpington and everyone else has yet to give me any. 20+ chickens and -20+ eggs lol xD

 

[TheKeeper]

Hi group!
Has anyone seen "whiskers" on their chickens' leg feathers?
I have 1 black copper marans (out of 3) that has them.
They are not attached to any other feathers or thick like a feather shaft.
They grow from the upper thigh region.
I asked on the Marans thread with not much response.

Here's a close-up of the "whiskers":


This pic shows the location better:

They are really neat.

P.S. I got 2 blue eggs today! Thanks to my UofA blue ladies. Well, now that I think of it, it could be my cream legbar pullet too.

 

[ronott1]

Hi group! Has anyone seen "whiskers" on their chickens' leg feathers? I have 1 black copper marans (out of 3) that has them. They are not attached to any other feathers or thick like a feather shaft. They grow from the upper thigh region. I asked on the Marans thread with not much response. Here's a close-up of the "whiskers": This pic shows the location better: They are really neat. P.S. I got 2 blue eggs today! Thanks to my UofA blue ladies. Well, now that I think of it, it could be my cream legbar pullet too.

Yes, I have seen those on cockerels I process. They are normal but not usually that long.

 

[TheKeeper]

Yes, I have seen those on cockerels I process. They are normal but not usually that long.

Marans cockerels? Or another breed?
This is a pullet. Hmmm...
They're really neat - shiny silver on a black bird (very little copper so far). They are about an inch longer than the other feathers.
She hatched June 2014.
I need to get more (& better) pictures.