Esther and Winnie~ Emerald ~ Momma Time~ UH-OH Egg Overload P46

[kengia2]

Barg~
I just wanted to let you know that I've been rivited to your chicken raising and integration process (for two hours, from page 1-38). My husband and I are getting our first bunch of chickens next week and it DOES help to see the growth, changes in coloring, and the challenges of integration, situating the tractor, and waiting for the layers to lay (fully formed, edible eggs!)

AND, thanks to all who participated in this thread, because the ideas and insights are all here for everyone to benefit from!

You said earlier this month:
"There is no giving up". I commend you...all the dynamics and the way you explain and deal with them reminds me of how we care for our human children! I guess I'm soft-hearted...can't stand, and won't put up with the bullies.

Thank you so much for sharing your love, interest, and committment to the care and well-being of your chickens!

 

[barg]

Quote:
Thank you kengia2 , I really appreciate that.
Were you able to see the pic's? My ISP is getting ready to make changes in web stuff and the servers keep going down.

 

[kengia2]

Yes, I've been able to see, I think, most of the pics! You're quite the photographer! And I like the animal conversation captioned pics as well. My husband and I often do that while watching wildlife, quite the hoot!

 

[barg]

Week 20 Moving Day
For those who didn't notice, I did not make a post for Week 19, so to make up for it I'll have plenty of pics today

Quote:
Over the last two weeks the integration has continued to move along with slow progress.
The chickens are still well defined in two separate groups but the younger ones are able to move around a bit more freely then in the past.

The older chickens still see them as second class citizens in the coop, and usually the younger ones are only able to eat when the older ones have finished.

They have made enough progress however that we were able to cram them all into the tractor today and move the entire coop.

There was very little in the way of aggression during the transition, despite the very limited space they were all in.

I am posting some information regarding the future of this thread and its integrity, at the bottom of this post.

Their Combs at 20 weeks have not changed much yet, I'm still waiting for this first sign that will indicate that they are getting ready to lay.

Quick get some food while they are distracted.
Domineak, Mrs.Nezbit and Esther

Time to eat

Time to stop, Hazel is lowest in the older pecking order, here she disaplines Winnie and lets her know "who's the boss"- at least for the moment.

The younger girls look on while the older girls get the greens outside the coop door.
From the back to front: Esther, Winnie, Mrs.Nezbit and Emerald(emerald can be identified by her green band, her upright tail and her slightly smaller size)

Sometimes the hostility stops and there is time for quiet pecking by all.
Esther surveys a field of rear ends.

The move begins and the flock is relocated to the small tractor but are rewarded with fresh new greenery.
Esther, Winnie, Domineak and Emerald

My ISP is making changes to my personal web pages.
If you look at the addresses that my pictures come from, you can see that they originate from 7 different locations) especially the older posts) When my isp finishes with the changes they are making, all of my chicken pictures will be consolodated on one website, as a result, many of the older picture links will become invalid. I will be taking steps to resolve this issue in the best way I can, however there my be a period where some of my photo's are down for an extended period, again I will do what I can to resolve this.Additionally, There have been periods where my web pages have gone down while my isp has made changes and I have also noticed that there is some sort of glitch happening that makes my pics not show up, I'm not sure if thats happening to others or just to me, if your having problems with the pics, at this time, send me an email and let me know, so I can resolve that issue.

Thanks
steve​

 

[barg]

Post move
for anyone that had any questions about the efficiency of chicken scratching.

We left them with dirt in most of the main run to allow them to dust bath,

but gave them grass in the tractor and extension.

 

[thndrdancr]

Yup, they are very efficient scratchers.

It took two days for 2 grown chickens to totally tear up the grass in a 4 x 8 area. sigh....
I wished I could fence the whole yard, then they would hopefully be efficient lawnmowers instead of tearers.

 

[barg]

Quote:
Strange events today with the older girls.

Esther got a good work out today while Mrs. Nezbit spent a good deal of time chaseing her around.
Mrs. Nezbit made the loudest noise ive heard out of our chickens today, she was makeing a loud growl sound, louder then the normal growl and eventually topped the whole thing off by standing at the top of the coop ladder and making an extremly loud Boking sound, I thought she was gonna start crowing.

We got what appears to be four eggs today.
One may have been left over from the day before but I can't be sure.
I found one inside the entrance to the coop, I saw Emerald lay an egg, I saw mrs.nezbit go in later to lay an egg but come out with nothing, and then saw Domineak go in to lay.

The eggs look like 2 aussie eggs and 2 Dom eggs, so maybe hazel has finally started, or maybe it was a leftover from yesterday, and then of coarse there is the outside chance that it came from one of the younger girls.

If I solve the mystery I'll post it here.

 

[ozark hen]

Well, glad to see things are finally progressing in your little coop. Wow, eggs now they are coming along nicely.

 

[barg]

Quote:
Well, three of the older girls are laying - maybe four of them, and there is a very small chance that one of the younger ones are laying, but I really seriously doubt it is one of them... but who knows.

Thanks for dropping by again

 

[barg]

This post removed for miscalculation purposes.