Egg Song! Glorious Egg Song!

[pfields]

Okay, this is strange. Three times now my BA hen has gone into the coop and sings the "egg song" but there are no eggs. She doesn't even get in a nest box, she's up on the roost singing away like she's just laid a huge egg. Is she practicing?

 

[evemfoster]

How funny, I sit and talk to my girls all the time!!! They eat out of my hand, when I go out I start with Good morning girls and they all start bawking...Like as to say good morning what yummy treat do you have for us today!! I have had them now for 4 weeks and they are now trying to follow me out of the run, so I told them this evening I will let them out to explore!!
Quick question for the seasoned chicken ppl here...How long to let a 50lb bag of feed stay around?? I have had this one 4 weeks and its still 1/4 left...should I toss it and buy a Fresh new bag?? They dont seem to be to interested in it unless I am just not seeing them eating it....

Your feed is just fine, the chicken feed won't spoil unless it gets wet, and even then it may ferment instead of spoiling. Fermented feed can still be fed to the chickens.

Remember all the grain that your feed was made with is grown annually. The feed mills make the feed a batch at a time or one big batch that is expected to last for the entire year. If you toss out the feed you have and purchase a 'new' bag of feed that bag of feed was probably milled on the very same day as the bag you just tossed out.

If there is a date on the bag its more of a reference to the date the bag was filled than the date the grain was harvested or milled. But it's definitely not a expiration date. Grain has "Best By" dates. A "Best By" date on any product is the storage 'half life' date for the best flavor of the product. For example; in the case of grain "Half Life" means the storage "Best By" date is 6 months from harvest, and you have another 6 months to use it up. Or in real life math the grain is expected to be good a full year from harvest. Interesting enough if grain is milled into flour at the end of that year you reset the 'best by' date for another 6 months on the flour. That is why all the flour in the country isn't suddenly considered expired come March.

To make sure your feed will stay in good shape just take steps to protect the feed. A metal trash can will protect it form the weather and rodents and the feed will be fine for a year or more.

 

[evemfoster]

And here's a hen laying her egg...watch really really closely at the back-underside of her...you'll see it!!

I love the way the chickens on both sides of her are looking her way as she lays the egg.

 

[pfields]

Where's the picture?

I found the video on the previous page. Cool, I watched my hen lay her second egg yesterday. Thanks for sharing. I love the egg song!

 

[evemfoster]

Where's the picture?

Sorry it was the YouTube video on the last page.

And here's a hen laying her egg...watch really really closely at the back-underside of her...you'll see it!!

And I just figured out how to quote from more than one comment. : ' )

 

[LoveOfChickens1]

We got 8 eggs today. The most in one day, so far. 8 out of 12 -- not bad! I have 2 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes that aren't quite old enough yet. Maybe another 2 weeks for them. Like I said, they have been singing up a storm out there today.

 

[LoveOfChickens1]

Oh, one of our Easter eggers is laying pink eggs too! We have 3 EE's altogether. The other 2 lay mint green eggs. I love the pink ones!

 

[pfields]

I just went out to the coop and one of my GSL hens was in the nest. She was there forever and nothing happen. I went outside the coop to open the egg door to see her from behind and she got off the nest and ran out of the coop. I felt bad but thought she was just practicing. Her waddle and comb are not very developed and not red at all. When she stopped to get a drink under the shade tree and egg fell out of her. A nice size brown egg. Earlier today I thought her behide looked strange, kind of a low bulge. Running must have helped dislodge it. She didn't sing the egg song either.

 

[MarcoPollo]

Quote: Yes, I would definitely let them get to the nest boxes. Let them get in there so they can start practicing making a nest.
I love the squatting behavior when I want to pick up my hens. It just makes them look cute for some reason. Maybe it's because the alternative of them running away from me is not so cute!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I didn't want to toss my feed, too expensive, so I bought one of those Rubbermaid large containers with a lid.  It stays airtight and fresher.  I do this for my cat's dry food and it stays fresh.

I have a ziplock airtight container that I use. I swear that thing can hold a good 75 lbs of feed. But on top of that, I have a chest freezer that I store feed in until the ziplock container is empty. I get organic soy free food and the mill that I get it from is a good 3 hours away so I load up at least 500 lbs at a time

for all of you taking to your chickens, you're all nuts. ... but so are we lol. My husband got over me taking to animals LONG before we got the chickens and often talks to them too. I talk to any animals just like they're people lol. Sometimes though, I swear they can understand