Easter Egger club!

[cmccullough1390]

Well I believe it does, as well now that I've looked up some chick photos but this came from a backyard mix flock. I'm at least hoping for a hen.

I hope you get a hen as well she might be a mix however she looks mainly Australorp if she grows quick she's absolutely Australorp dominant you should post as it grows

 

[Elemes]

I hope you get a hen as well she might be a mix however she looks mainly Australorp if she grows quick she's absolutely Australorp dominant you should post as it grows

The feathering of tail and wings happened in the first 8 days, which compared to my Marans and Ameraucanas I thought was pretty fast. I'll post another picture next week.

 

[AmandaMBG]

My male Austrolorp was a very slow grower btw (he was injured by the other birds and had to be kept seperate with two bantams I got him for three weeks because he was so small)...females grew at about the same rate my other birds did. So I don't think growth rate has much to do with breed especially in a mixed flock.

The feathering of tail and wings happened in the first 8 days, which compared to my Marans and Ameraucanas I thought was pretty fast. I'll post another picture next week.

 

[Elemes]

My male Austrolorp was a very slow grower btw (he was injured by the other birds and had to be kept seperate with two bantams I got him for three weeks because he was so small)...females grew at about the same rate my other birds did. So I don't think growth rate has much to do with breed especially in a mixed flock.

Yeah, either way our best is speculation on sex until I see a big red comb or hear a crow.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Truth!! My EE Lady and Sicilian Buttercup are the most assertive in my mixed flock while my dual purpose girls are the calmest. And 1 of my TBW(which is a blue egg layer with leghorn added for egg production) follows me everywhere while the other two are the most skittish girls in the flock. So much fun how they all have their own individual personalities. My two other Easter eggers are both calm and tentative but not on the bottom of the pecking order. The two TBW other than the one that follows me are at the bottom along with the bantams.

I really do love how they all kind of have their own personalities!! It's just 2 cute and let's you grow to love each one individually. My little welsummers seem to be a bit flighty but are very curious and big talkers. We have quite a few different breeds mixed together. Mostly easter eggers amd orpingtons. I'm supposed to be picking up 4 golden cuckoo marans this weekend. We have seperate pens for our bantams and ducks but I'm thinking about free ranging the ducks here soon. geez I just love them all. They all have endearing qualities from the ornamental silkies to the super layers like the leghorn.

 

[AmandaMBG]

When the weather improves I am going to finally build a coop/run for my ducks. Ain't happening in 100+ deg weather tho so they've been stuck with the chickens until it cools off. The ducks are like pets and get to come out most days to play in their kiddie pool. My yard isn't established enough for the chickens to get out every day tho. The few plants I have would get shredded. I am contemplating a seperate pin for my bantams but for now they are fine with the others. They just stay out of everyone's way and wait for their turn to eat. And my Austrolorp Roo is best friends with the bantams actually since he was kept seperate with them. They roost together every night.

I really do love how they all kind of have their own personalities!! It's just 2 cute and let's you grow to love each one individually. My little welsummers seem to be a bit flighty but are very curious and big talkers. We have quite a few different breeds mixed together. Mostly easter eggers amd orpingtons. I'm supposed to be picking up 4 golden cuckoo marans this weekend. We have seperate pens for our bantams and ducks but I'm thinking about free ranging the ducks here soon. geez I just love them all. They all have endearing qualities from the ornamental silkies to the super layers like the leghorn.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

When the weather improves I am going to finally build a coop/run for my ducks. Ain't happening in 100+ deg weather tho so they've been stuck with the chickens until it cools off. The ducks are like pets and get to come out most days to play in their kiddie pool. My yard isn't established enough for the chickens to get out every day tho. The few plants I have would get shredded. I am contemplating a seperate pin for my bantams but for now they are fine with the others. They just stay out of everyone's way and wait for their turn to eat. And my Austrolorp Roo is best friends with the bantams actually since he was kept seperate with them. They roost together every night.

That's how we started too. We had all our chickens and ducks together to start with. We never had a problem with our standards getting along with our bantams. Unfortunately we had a stray cat kill 4 of our polish bantams. After that they went into the coop. I didn't want to take any chances. Our Silkies are also in a coop due to or predator worries. All our standards are free ranged. We have like 6 roosters so they keep the flock safe. Right now the ducks are in a pen but I'm wanting to leave the gate open so the have more room to roam. We built the duck house when we seperated them from the chickens. Now we just finished our barn conversion. All this has taken time though. We just work with what we have and build as we can lol. Now with the barn we are doing really good though.

 

[AmandaMBG]

Ya we are in the burbs and have a good amount of stray cats but my two cats and two dogs keep them away. My cats know not to touch them.

That's how we started too. We had all our chickens and ducks together to start with. We never had a problem with our standards getting along with our bantams. Unfortunately we had a stray cat kill 4 of our polish bantams. After that they went into the coop. I didn't want to take any chances. Our Silkies are also in a coop due to or predator worries. All our standards are free ranged. We have like 6 roosters so they keep the flock safe. Right now the ducks are in a pen but I'm wanting to leave the gate open so the have more room to roam. We built the duck house when we seperated them from the chickens. Now we just finished our barn conversion. All this has taken time though. We just work with what we have and build as we can lol. Now with the barn we are doing really good though.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Ya we are in the burbs and have a good amount of stray cats but my two cats and two dogs keep them away. My cats know not to touch them.

I wish we had some good guard dogs. We are training one now but it will be some time before he is ready. Our other dogs would eat them if they got out so they are kept seperate. I'm not a big cat person after the attack....

 

[AmandaMBG]

I have small dogs and they both were slowly introduced to the birds as they grew from chicks and ducklings to adults. Same with the cats. They were reprimanded harshly at any sign of aggression/predatory behavior. The first several times the birds were free ranged they were closely monitored. Only my younger dog has done anything that could hurt one (herded/chased a duck until it flew into a pile of rocks) she got her butt whooped and hasn't done it again. She actually goes outside every time they are out and watches over them. Now I can leave the ducks out for most of the day without worrying much.

I wish we had some good guard dogs. We are training one now but it will be some time before he is ready. Our other dogs would eat them if they got out so they are kept seperate. I'm not a big cat person after the attack....