Colorado

[emptynesters970]

Sorry about the above post without a reply...
I'm no expert either, we just got our first egg 2 weeks ago. So far only one BR has been laying. Right before her first egg, my husband was ready to take her to the vet because her "song" sounded more like a distress call. Now she occasionally sings a high pitched song right before she heads into the egg box. Good luck!

 

[cluckylady812]

hey there guys! I have a quick question!

I was wondering what an egg laying song sounded like. This is our first time owning chickens and we got our Rhode Island Reds in April, I'm thinking they were born the first week. We've been (Im)patiently waiting for our first eggs and tonight one of the girls was on top of the coop making A LOT of noise. The other three were roosting inside but Sweety was SCREAMING haha we were worried something was in the chicken area hurting the ladies. My husband freaked out thinking we had a roo, but I'm 99% sure she's a hen. She does hen things, looks like a hen, and has never seemed rooster-ish, but what do I know. I'm definitely no expert haha. Is her screaming her beautiful song that will give me an egg soon!? Please say yes haha. You know, just in time for shorter days

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This is my first flock but i translate it to approximately " bok bok bok BAGOCK!!! Repeated in slightly varying styles and LOUD. A few sing just before laying, they all announce the accomplishment after. Im sure my neighbors love it lol. But it makes me smile every time.

 

[lindzkg]

Haha! Ok! Hopefully tomorrow is the day! Thanks for all of your help.

 

[COChix]

Good to hear from you DK, and good to hear your summer was good, and the neighbor is better to you too.
Sorry about your birds mountain mom. I can't imagine how it would feel to lose 1/2 my flock.

...well..that said...I am thinking of really, really reducing my flock this winter. I have 24 birds (I have 7 bantams I don't count in the flock  ) I am thinking of going down to 12 or so. 
I have  6 birds that are three  years old, 13 birds that are two years old, and 5 that I hatched this early spring. They are all different breeds, mostly mutts. 
The two and three year olds are molting and a few are trying to be broody, but are pretty easily broken. I am still getting 20 or 22 eggs a day. I know that will slow down, but for the most party, these are pretty good laying hens.

My question is this, or my statement I would like to get some feedback on is this; I feel awful killing hens that are still laying pretty well. I don't need all these eggs. I sell the extra eggs, but I am barely breaking even because I feed organic feed. It will be much easier this winter to keep a smaller flock and cheaper to feed too. 
In the past I have sold my extra layers. I cook and can (meaning canning food) a lot so I like to have lots of broth. I found myself buying someone else's stewing hens and selling my layers...the stewing hens I sold were organic and big and fat. The stewing hens I bought weren't organic and were scrawny and I paid about as much for the stewing hen as I got for my layers. 
Should I feel bad killing a perfectly good layer just because I have too many? 

What do you guys do this time of year? 

Given all the issues with buying poultry from someone who you don't know, it is a crap shoot in my opinion. You have no idea what could be in the meat, given the AI scare last year and seeing the cost of both eggs and poultry rise, plus areas restricting the amount you could buy, no way would I feel at all guilty or even give a second thought to using an extra layer for feeding ourselves. You raised them for this, fed them and gave you time energy and love. It is the ultimate circle of life.

 

[rf12345]

1gr per 5 chickens, every other day.
when they are molting bad up to 0.5gr per chicken.

 

[michaelpivola]

Molting is going strong here too. Many many feathers all over the pen. I give mine Mackerel as well. It seems to help.

Sometimes the egg eaters are eating the ones that are defective in the shell category. At least that is what happens here. I have one hen that always lays a soft shelled egg and I have seen the others pacing while she is in the nest only to also see them dive in right as she exits. Not sure why she lays bad eggs but there it is.
She is a blue wyandotte by the way. The EE that also laid soft shelled eggs or very thin shelled ones passed away at the age of 5. That was about 6 weeks ago.


Processing a lot of tomatoes off the plants today. I think I have about 10 or more quarts worth going on the stove.
I like to cook them down a bit before canning them.
The raspberries did not have enough support for the long canes and broke in the wind. Lost a lot of berries that way. Next year I will have frames for them that are taller.

The young chickens are now ALL laying including the 4 Brahma. Funny for such a large bird to start out with the same tiny pullet eggs as the smaller breeds. Boy do they eat a lot too. Big piggies for sure. But I like them since they are a mild mannered bird.

That is about all that is happening here except the new huge flower bed getting ready for a lot of bulbs to come in the mail.

so to stop the egg eating try feeding them oyster shell in the grit. we know the oyster shell has calcium and we know that grit is needed as well but mixing the to ensures that all the birds will get and even amount.

 

[uzisuzuki]

Mine also make that stereotypical chicken noise (bok bok bok BAGOK) for egg laying. I had 1 pullet really going to town with it earlier today because the peacock had followed her into the coop & was just staring at her while she tried laying her egg. It sounded like she kept getting louder because he wasn't getting that he shouldn't be in there because she was busy.

Speaking of eggs, 1 of my youngest pullets laid her first. I'm not sure which one the egg came from, but it is tiny.

L to R: newest pullet egg, 6mo pullet's egg, 1yr old hen egg, egg bought at the store.

Memnoch continues to cause trouble in the flock & im not sure what I'm going to do since money became extremely tight recently due to my ongoing injuries/disabilities from my car accident. On top of that, I discovered my peahens have worms, so that means all the birds have worms. It's been a frustrating month.

 

[rf12345]

My question is this, or my statement I would like to get some feedback on is this; I feel awful killing hens that are still laying pretty well. I don't need all these eggs. I sell the extra eggs, but I am barely breaking even because I feed organic feed. It will be much easier this winter to keep a smaller flock and cheaper to feed too.
In the past I have sold my extra layers. I cook and can (meaning canning food) a lot so I like to have lots of broth. I found myself buying someone else's stewing hens and selling my layers...the stewing hens I sold were organic and big and fat. The stewing hens I bought weren't organic and were scrawny and I paid about as much for the stewing hen as I got for my layers.
Should I feel bad killing a perfectly good layer just because I have too many?
What do you guys do this time of year?

I'll try to figure our how to send pm, as I'm new. why don't you send me pm about some of your last year hens.

 

[mountain mom]

Holy Bananas! There are feathers EVERYWHERE!
Molt is in full swing. 4 hens, all molting together.

I was wanting to get everything squared away for the winter and give the coop a full clean out, but I believe I will be holding off until the molt is over.

The mackerel is a great suggestion, thanks! The girls have been getting into the turkey grower when I let the turkeys out, so they have been getting some extra protein, but I know they would love the fish!

I have been rethinking my decision to wait for spring to add to the flock. Since everyone is molting, we have no eggs. No eggs at all. It makes me sad, and I refuse to buy from the store.

We also recently had the discussion about processing the hens in our layer flock once they are older. My daughter cried and cried. I told her it was the circle of life. It will be hard, just like it always is when we process our meaties. But they will have lived the best life possible. It isn't fun taking their lives, we don't do it out of cruelty. We do it to provide our loved ones with the best food we can. And to provide the animals we eat with the best life they can have.
Anyhow, I know how you feel Mo.

 

[COChix]

Mine also make that stereotypical chicken noise (bok bok bok BAGOK) for egg laying. I had 1 pullet really going to town with it earlier today because the peacock had followed her into the coop & was just staring at her while she tried laying her egg. It sounded like she kept getting louder because he wasn't getting that he shouldn't be in there because she was busy.

Speaking of eggs, 1 of my youngest pullets laid her first. I'm not sure which one the egg came from, but it is tiny.

L to R: newest pullet egg, 6mo pullet's egg, 1yr old hen egg, egg bought at the store.

Memnoch continues to cause trouble in the flock & im not sure what I'm going to do since money became extremely tight recently due to my ongoing injuries/disabilities from my car accident. On top of that, I discovered my peahens have worms, so that means all the birds have worms. It's been a frustrating month.

Congrats on the pullet egg, how exciting. Love the shot of you and Ody (I think or is that Memmoch?). Anyway, how many girls do you have again? I ask because given Memmoch's age it is no wonder he is starting to cause issues. After all now he is in a battle for winning the flock for himself. That is what roosters are programmed to do, breed and have a flock. The decision you have to make is what were you hoping to do with him? Keep him and have two roo's? If so then having enough space and enough hens is crucial. If you don't have either of those then having two roosters will not be along term option, trust me I speak from experience. They will only be peaceful for so long. Are you wanting to keep Memmoch and have him in his own area with hens and a coop? Sounds like you should process him if he his upsetting the balance of the flock. Amazing how things change once the balance is restored. If you don't think you could process him maybe you could take to Long Shadow or maybe a few of us could come and help you process. I would be willing to come and help, but don't have availability until late October.

Holy Bananas!  There are feathers EVERYWHERE! 
Molt is in full swing.  4 hens, all molting together.

I was wanting to get everything squared away for the winter and give the coop a full clean out, but I believe I will be holding off until the molt is over. 

The mackerel is a great suggestion, thanks!  The girls have been getting into the turkey grower when I let the turkeys out, so they have been getting some extra protein, but I know they would love the fish!

I have been rethinking my decision to wait for spring to add to the flock.  Since everyone is molting, we have no eggs.  No eggs at all.  It makes me sad, and I refuse to buy from the store.

We also recently had the discussion about processing the hens in our layer flock once they are older.  My daughter cried and cried.  I told her it was the circle of life.  It will be hard, just like it always is when we process our meaties.  But they will have lived the best life possible.  It isn't fun taking their lives, we don't do it out of cruelty.  We do it to provide our loved ones with the best food we can.  And to provide the animals we eat with the best life they can have.
Anyhow, I know how you feel Mo.

We have molting going on still we have several girls that have pin feathers regrowing now but they are looking pretty rough. Will need to check out some mackerel. On the issue of your daughter, while she ultimately will struggle with the process, she will hopefully appreciate the full circle of life. Maybe not now but eventually she will get it, it will be all in your approach and process with her. I would suggest hanging cones and slitting of the throat, it is a much more humane and calm way to process the birds. Good for you and having your children experience this. Many children and adults are very disconnected to their food sources and the full circle of life.

I am expecting our first pullet eggs anyday, combs and wattles aremore red and I witnessed Rocco mounting one of the pullets this am. Not sure how I feel about witnessing Rocco mount his own daughter......