Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Iwantchickens, I do have Araucanas but won't have chicks for awhile. I got my very first egg from them today. Unfortunately I have just one pullet that is older than the others so I doubt very seriously it is fertile. There's a cockerel and a couple more pullets that are maybe a month younger with her. In fact I was super surprised she laid already. But I was thrilled to finally see something from them. I have a bunch of young ones in the brooder still. They are super slow growers.
True Araucanas are extremely rare. Lots of people confuse them with Americanas and Easter eggers when they are nothing like either one of them. An Americana is a breed of it's own and an Easter Egger is a combination of breeds that have the blue egg laying gene. Easter eggers are not purebred and can be any number of combinations. True Araucanas have no tail at all and will either have or not have tufts.
I've been busy moving birds. I moved 35 English Orpingtons out to their new house and pen today. I hope they'll be okay. Some of them seem really small to be outside. I am a worried mama!!! I sprayed it down yesterday then swept, shoveled and washed out the coop today, then resprayed with permethrin before I put the young birds in there. I need to be sure to spray again in a week to make sure there are no residual eggs or anything in there. I had had a mite problem on the birds that were there before and although they were treated I just want to make sure no eggs are left behind.
I had visitors come take a tour today that has been on hold for at least a year. I sold a couple dozen hatching eggs while they were here. Not for profit. Just because one of them is a very sweet widow woman whom I just adore.r
I hatched my first three bourbon red turkeys today too.
After I moved the English from the brooder I moved two bin fulls of chicks to the brooder house. I always worry when I move chicks because I know it's a change of atmosphere temperature and every thing.
I kept the youngest ones in here and separated some so they had more room and then put the three little turkeys in with one group.
I have some more goose eggs pipped I think will hatch tomorrow so I need to clean up another bin and move this one baby goose and any new ones that hatch to a bin of their own.
I still have to get out and finish feeding and watering. I just can't seem to get enough done in a day to get caught up.

 

[Iwantchickens6]

Lawrence (Larry)
Welcome to the thread.

Lawrence. had no clue, thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Iwantchickens6]

hey chicken danz when will you have Araucanas? I am just in love with those birds and haven't even met one yet! I am ready to begin my new family. Any help appreciated. I don't have any yet and this seems like a fast paced spring. I grew all my garden plants from non gmo seed under lights in the house. I feel the same way about them going outside to prepare them for the new climate outside. Wow I'!m going to be a nervous new mom to my chickies ! Thanks for the info

 

[ashncarson]

Thank you Chicken Danz on advice on the chicken! I added some more grit for the other girls in hopes that it was not the problem! some of the other combs don't look some perky :/

Now I have another question. We gave our broody chicken 8 eggs, and I marked them with X's. Last night (day 12) I went to check them and found that she only has 7 now under her???? She had one extra egg with no X and it was empty...do I search the coop for it and try to find it? I also have other broody in the nest boxes on empty nests, can they "take" eggs?

 

[chicken danz]

Iwantchickens, I would guess I will start hatching Araucanas by June. Unless this young cockerel in there can figure out what to do now. I have a couple other girls that should be getting ready in a month or 6 weeks to lay. Who can guess the mind of a chicken? I do love them too. They aren't anything like my other birds since I have gone with the biggest heaviest birds I can raise but I love their quirky looks. They even sound a little different to me. The other ones I have are still really small and it will be at least another 3 months before they could possibly lay. I won't incubate this first egg but I'll start doing test incubations for fertility with all the rest.

AshnCarson, I didn't mention earlier. Have you wormed your chickens lately? This can also kill a chicken without any warning. You mentioned the combs don't look too perky. That worries me a little. I think if you haven't done so before I would recommend Safeguard goat wormer. Its called a drench I believe, and comes in a small white bottle. You use 4ccs per gallon of water. Also add some sugar to the water because they DON'T like the taste of it. Make sure that is their only water source and give it to them for 3 days in a row. It's about $11 a bottle. Also what are you feeding? Is it a commercially prepared food? This time of year the chickens are really needing greens. If they don't have access to the outside throw in some greens of some kind.
Its supposed to be a nice day today and I'm anxious. I need to get a lot done outside. I'm not going to have any time tomorrow so I really need to get on the stick. We didn't get any of the rain forecast yesterday or the night before. I can't say I'm really disappointed but I am sure we need some. I'd just like to enjoy a few days of warm sunshine. Of course tomorrow is going to be the best day all week for the weather and I am going to be tied up all afternoon and not able to enjoy it.

 

[ashncarson]

ise but I love their quirky looks. They even sound a little different to me. The other ones I have are still really small and it will be at least another 3 months before they could possibly lay. I won't incubate this first egg but I'll start doing test incubations for fertility with all the rest.

AshnCarson, I didn't mention earlier. Have you wormed your chickens lately? This can also kill a chicken without any warning. You mentioned the combs don't look too perky. That worries me a little. I think if you haven't done so before I would recommend Safeguard goat wormer. Its called a drench I believe, and comes in a small white bottle. You use 4ccs per gallon of water. Also add some sugar to the water because they DON'T like the taste of it. Make sure that is their only water source and give it to them for 3 days in a row. It's about $11 a bottle. Also what are you feeding? Is it a commercially prepared food? This time of year the chickens are really needing greens. If they don't have access to the outside throw in some greens of some kind.

are eggs unsafe for a period of time after this? they eat nutrena w/ calicum. and we try to let them out a few times a week to free-range but they also get greens and treats daily. I am all new to this, there is more to it lately with them all being broody!

 

[chicken danz]

Yes I'd withdraw from eating eggs for a week or two. Its off label so there are no real set guidelines. I have wormed and treated several times and forgotten and eaten eggs with no adverse effects but I can't say it's a good practice...particularly if you have kids that would eat them. The same medication is used in human preparations but of course you have no way of controlling how much would be in the egg. The flip side to this though is if the birds are wormy it decreases their egg production, their health declines and it will eventually kill them. I'd say buy eggs for a couple weeks as opposed to not making sure your birds are healthy. Your feed should be fine. Spring is really a vicious time for worms and mites as well so it sure doesn't hurt to treat them. It is recommended to treat again in about 10 days as well.
Also try adding a little cayenne pepper to their feed now and then. This is said to help their immune systems and kill worm eggs. I don't know if it's true but I certainly have good results with it.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Danz, I've been using the cayenne pepper since I saw a post that recommended it and my hens laid well all winter. I think it makes them drink more water.

I get my cayenne pepper at a local Dollar Tree store for $1.00 a bottle. I refill the bottles with Sevin or DE and use them for dusting.

 

[chicken danz]

I bought 5 pounds of cayenne over a year ago and I still have tons of it. I use a lot of it too. My turkeys in particular love the cayenne. It's strange because I've given them pieces of dried hot peppers in feed and they didn't eat them but they gobble up the powder.
I went out earlier to check on birds and all the bigger birds are fine. I had one tiny chick that died but considering I moved probably 75 to 100 of them out there they seem to be doing really good.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I've got a question about my birds... I had been getting 3 ducks eggs per day (from 3 females). Yesterday, I didn't get any eggs from them, but I did let them out to free range, so I figured that maybe they had just laid later in the day than usual and waited until after I let them out (even though they usually lay in the wee hours of the morning). Today, I decided to not let them out until I found some eggs so I'd know that they were still laying. It is almost 5 hours past the time that I would usually let them out, and I still haven't found any eggs. Any ideas?

I do have one goose that is laying, and I found one goose egg this morning, so I just let the geese out a few minutes ago. I had kept the geese in to be relatively sure that the other female wouldn't hide her egg somewhere in the yard.