Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

Yes. I have a Welsumer, but her eggs aren't nearly as dark, and are speckled more, so it is pretty easy to tell the lovely dark brown eggs from the green and white and lighter brown ones. I had read that sometimes the mark was a problem for the hens, so I didn't mark them since I didn't really need to.

Hechicken I am sure Sharol can probably keep these eggs straight. They are all Maran eggs but it is a good idea to mark eggs like you said. I have done that before. But I always mark at least both sides with a large mark. Those girls are notorious for moving an egg just so to hide a mark!

 

[chicken danz]

Really late and really rough night last night. I had severe leg cramps all night and couldn't sleep or even consider resting. I have someone coming to get just 3 guineas this morning and maybe the person taking the black copper Marans some time today. She wanted to wait until Monday but I asked her to come today if at all possible. I think I am down about 200 chickens from just days ago. I need to call one guy back on guineas.
I am so done chasing birds for a while. Here's the rub though. I didn't reduce the amount of pens at all. I still have birds in every pen and I need to do a little more separating before I am done. That means as many feed an water containers as ever. That stinks!!! If I can pull my financial backside out of the dirt I have got to get that trailer put in and operating. It would be so nice to just have a couple of places to maintain.
Sharol I just feel you are going to have an awesome little hatch. I personally like Marans. They are easy going and good layers. After I gathered all the eggs yesterday about 2:00 PM, by 6:00pm when they came to get birds I had at least a dozen more from them.
they plan to breed the Marans
I was thinking last night how much more profitable it is to sell chicks than adults. I was only asking like $8 for the younger red stars and $6 for the older ones. If you buy a chick it will normally cost around $3 to $5 depending on breed. That isn't a drop in the bucket considering how much money you put in birds to raise them.
Sapphire, good to see you here again. I can't tell you what that is. Is there any chance she is a cross? Looks like of something crossed with an orpington.

 

[HEChicken]

Sharol, you will love the Marans - I really like mine and love the dark brown eggs. I had a gorgeous BCM who was unfortunately killed by the fox. She was my highest quality bird at the time - her breeding really showed. They are quiet and gentle, and really good layers. My Cuckoo Marans is in her third year of laying and still lays two out of every three days. She has always, since she started, laid two days then taken the third off. I figured that would slow down over time but she's been very consistent and still lays in that pattern now.

I've never heard of a mark on the eggs bothering them, but yes, if the eggs are easily identifiable already its not necessary to mark them. I usually mark with a sharpie, an X on one side of the egg and an O on the other, so I can easily see an identifying mark when I check. On chicken eggs that's not a problem but I did have a little issue with the duck eggs that because their surface is different, the marks got rubbed off and the ones I have marked under broodies now are so faint I really have to look closely to see them.

So closely that I gathered one by accident and brought it in and set it in the egg carton. A few days later I decided to set some of the duck eggs in the incubator and while doing that, I noticed the mark that meant I had carried in a developing egg. Darn. I decided to put it in the incubator anyway. I didn't know how long it had been out of the nest but I do know it was at least 3-4 days. I figured I didn't have much to lose putting it in the incubator, but knowing it wouldn't develop. Here's the thing. I candled a couple of days ago and it is developing! I had no idea you could interrupt incubation for DAYS and the fetus would continue to develop upon resuming incubation. I'm sure that's only the case this time of year when the days are so warm, but still, I was stunned when I candled and realized I was seeing movement in that egg. Amazing.

I wrote a couple of days ago that there were a couple of wild turkey poults hanging around but I had seen them from a distance. I now think they are juvenile ringneck pheasants! They have continued to hang around and I see them everyday when I'm out doing my chores. I think they are attracted to my flock and the prospect of free grain. Heck, I wouldn't even mind if they jumped down and got a little food - I'm just tickled to see them!

 

[chicken danz]

That's awesome, Hechicken. I have raised various pheasants for years. If they start coming for feed on a rugular basis and feel safer there they will stick around. I could even venture they might nest in that line of trees on the west side of your property next year. Cool beans!
Well another wrench in the works here. The guy that was coming to buy the Swedish and the Cream legbars and help me butcher tomorrow had his truck break down. He is a fireman/EMT and working today, so it's not like he can run somewhere to get it worked on.
That means I have a load of birds to feed for at least another week because he can't come back down due to his work schedule until then. He was also going to pick up 10 of my ducks he sold to another friend of his for me. He lives like 5 hours away anyway. ( That my fellow BYCers is a good friend!) He is buying birds from me I am sure more to help me out than because he wants them, and has offered to drive that whole distance and help me butcher ducks and roosters. He made a trip down this fall and butchered my turkeys for me too.This is a really young guy. Mid 30's. I am so impressed that a guy younger than some of my children is such an terrific friend.
If it weren't going to be so hot I could probably butcher the roosters myself. I just don't like doing it.
Well better get around and prepare to catch some dumb guineas.

 

[chicken danz]

Just for fun. 6 reasons to love ducks:

 

[Frizzled Pink]

Can anyone identify this breed? Lays brown eggs, great layer.

maybe Basque?

 

[lizzyGSR]

My birds didn't handle the heat so well today. I'm hoping they're all okay. I heard one that sounded like possible sneezes this evening. I'll check on him/her again in the morning and make a decision from there. What puzzles me is that I had a pool up for them, and they didn't spend much time anywhere near it. Meanwhile, the water in their pen ran pretty low today, and I didn't catch it until 5pm. I've thought about putting some water in the coop with them tonight but worry that they'll make more of a mess than it's worth. GRRR. I hope tomorrow isn't as stifling hot as today was.

With the pool, the only reason I can think of that they didn't use it was that it was getting dirty and was due for a change today, which I didn't get to until this evening because I waited around on the horse farrier this morning and didn't get to it as early as I wanted to. I didn't want to be emptying the pool during the day when they'd need it the worst, so I waited 'till this evening.

How are everyone else's birds doing? Stay cool everybody!

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Lovely duck pictures, Danz. Are they Cayuga? If it's not because I'm out of room,ni would love to get more ducks from you.

Well, I got another broody. Sigh... My barred rock hen went broody a couple of days ago. I wasn't sure at first but she has Bern fitting in the next box for at least 3 days now. DH said there are 4 eggs under her. I so don't need a broody, not with this high temp and 1 less nest box for my other hens. Besides this, I haven't had much luck with broody raised chicks. DH feels Bsd yo take away her eggs and devices to let her sit. Oh well...
I've not done much in terms of cleaning the chicken coop do I'll have to do it tomorrow. I have a pinched nerve down my right hamstring right now and it makes walking and bending difficult.

Danz, you do have a good friend there. Hopefully he can get his truck fixed soon.

 

[chicken danz]

Yep Tweety. She came from the nest with 6 little cayuga ducklings. So cute. I can feel for you on that nerve. Sounds like your sciatic. I've been in that boat way too often ...terrible pain and so hard to walk. Work on those back muscles. You might be straining your back with the moving and stuff.
I'm kind of down tonight. I sold all those darned birds yet I still went through as much feed as normal and still have as many pens as I did. I just don't have an egg business any more. Of course I still have a lot of birds to get picked up. I have that one rooster who probably isn't going to last a week. He must be mad cause I sold all the girls cause he came after me today again... twice. Second time I threw my bucket at him as hard as I could and hit him good and hard. He had been leaving me alone and just going for DH.
The computer went out of my friend's truck so the bird pick up and butchering got postponed for a week. I would rather have it done but I so don't feel up to all that work either. I got to the point of getting sick later in the day today just dealing with back and joint pain. The meds weren't cutting it.
Lizzy I would guess your sickness as being changing weather and the stress it causes. Several people have been having the sneezes and such show up in their birds recently. I had some young pheasant all get sick today. I've never had a sick pheasant. They all have swollen sinuses. I put them in a hospital brooder in the basement and started them on medication. I also have one hen in a hospital cage. She was egg bound a few days ago. I watched her for two days and finally intervened. I gave her a nice long warm bath and massage and then let her suck some olive oil up her vent. The next day she was doing so much better and up and moving around,but the next day she appeared to have a cold. I think she got herself too worn down with the egg. She isn't doing very well even though I have her on Tylan. Very depressed acting. Of course she is one of the ones I was planning to keep for a breeder.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

If anyone is interested in barred rock pullets (3 1/2 months old), let me know. I was given a bunch of free ones by Hoovers this spring and really don't need this many. Send me a PM if interested... I also have a few SLW pullets I might consider selling.

If nothing else, they'll be great in the crock pot later