Crazy Chickens Daily (hopefully)

[Cloverfluff]

Well, it was egg candling day today. I'm pretty sure it's about day 21? I've had Franny (my silkie hen) sitting on 5 eggs, 3 from my hens and 2 from my sister's flock. Looks like the silkie prefers to hatch singles. Only one showed any significant signs of growth. So now it's just daily life and health checks until hatch day. Best guess would be first or second week of October. Fingers crossed for no complications.

 

[Cloverfluff]

Ugh, rotten eggs are the worst! I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday and noticed a not so nice odor near the eggs. I had some issues with a couple of eggs that I had given my mom, so I took the time to check the ones I still had. I candled all of the eggs and found 1/18 in one carton and 3/18 in another that looked somewhat suspicious. I put them aside to check this morning. Three of them were definitely rotten and the single one that was still good ended up being fed back to the chickens. I highly recommended checking them outside if you are suspect that they are bad, the smell was awful .

 

[cavemanrich]

Ugh, rotten eggs are the worst! I was cleaning the kitchen yesterday and noticed a not so nice odor near the eggs. I had some issues with a couple of eggs that I had given my mom, so I took the time to check the ones I still had. I candled all of the eggs and found 1/18 in one carton and 3/18 in another that looked somewhat suspicious. I put them aside to check this morning. Three of them were definitely rotten and the single one that was still good ended up being fed back to the chickens. I highly recommended checking them outside if you are suspect that they are bad, the smell was awful .

How old were the eggs,, and were they stored room temperature washed bloom off.??

 

[Cloverfluff]

How old were the eggs,, and were they stored room temperature washed bloom off.??

Probably no more than 1-2 months and no I don't wash them until I'm ready to use them. Honestly I was probably due for some anyway. I've have really good luck with my eggs in the past.

 

[Cloverfluff]

Oh the rainy days. You would think that with my coop and run and the upper side of the slightly sloped yard I wouldn't have any trouble with flooding. I probably need to consider adding some sand or dirt to the run since if there is a quick and heavy rain I usually end up with standing water at the front of the run. The girls did not fancy walking around in the rain when I put them up this evening. I was able to get 6 of them in the big run, but the other 6 decided to hunker down in the smaller run and old coop. Oh well, everybody has access to a bed and safety for the evening. Works for me.

 

[Cloverfluff]

I wonder if the younglings are getting closer to laying? I went out to put them to bed and Crown was already in the coop. I spent about five minutes looking for him in the tree, that of course he blends into. Keep in mind I use "he" very loosely since I haven't looked into sexing the chicks myself and he is not the most social or easy to catch due to being raised by the Franny, the silkie.
Time sure has flown by, I remember when all of them were tiny little things, that could fit in one hand. Actually, I know that Crown hatched in June and the twins were purchased a day or two later. How old are chicks when they are shipped to feed stores?

 

[AnneGirlGG]

I wonder if the younglings are getting closer to laying? I went out to put them to bed and Crown was already in the coop. I spent about five minutes looking for him in the tree, that of course he blends into. Keep in mind I use "he" very loosely since I haven't looked into sexing the chicks myself and he is not the most social or easy to catch due to being raised by the Franny, the silkie.
Time sure has flown by, I remember when all of them were tiny little things, that could fit in one hand. Actually, I know that Crown hatched in June and the twins were purchased a day or two later. How old are chicks when they are shipped to feed stores?

I got chicks from Tractor Supply and Rural King this year. They both get chicks from Hoover’s. In an email exchange I had with Hoover’s, they said they hatch chicks out on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and they ship out that same day for an approximate 48-hour transit to most store locations. So your chicks are probably about 2 days old when they get to the store. Which is usually Wednesday through Friday, going by what Hoover’s told me. So depending on what day of the week you bought your chicks, you can probably get pretty close to guessing their hatch dates. I hope this helps!

 

[Cloverfluff]

I'm not sure what's going on with Franny, my broody hen. She has been sitting on the nest for three weeks now, so we should be pretty close to hatching. I went out to lock everyone up to mow the yard and noticed an egg in the broody coop. It looked like a silkie egg...I'll take a closer look later... but from all I've read, broody hens don't typically lay. Never mind, I just got a closer look and it was one that she had been sitting on. I picked it up and it was really light, but didn't look cracked like it had hatched. I assume it had cracked slightly and she booted it out of the nest. When I opened it, there was a tiny amount of yolk and very little white inside. I picked her up to look underneath her and she is still sitting four, so hopefully the one I had candled last Sunday is still one of them. Also still pecking at me, so definitely continuing to be broody.

 

[Cloverfluff]

I had a song run through my head this morning. It was from "Shrek: The Musical," specifically the song Fiona sings, "I Know It's Today." She is talking about waiting for her prince and repeats the phrase "the waiting" multiple times. I feel like singing that every morning I check on the broody hen and find no chicks or every evening I check for eggs and none of the twins have started laying yet. They are near full grown size!!!

 

[Cloverfluff]

I'm back! Guessing that one of my Easter eggers is a roo. They stared down the down when we when out this morning and ran after him towards the middle of the yard. When Jack stopped to use the bathroom, the chicken was about 2-3 foot away, giving him a long stare.