Been months now that we haven't got eggs regularly. One here and there throughout the summer. Im in Texas, its hot, been a hot go the last few months... so I get it. Temps are starting to cool off a hair some days which sure is nice! Im hoping my feathered friends are about ready to start laying more again, im tired of buying feed and buying eggs both!
I got some brown leghorns and "buff opringtons" I added to my flock earlier this year. The leghorns should come into laying here real soon, with the orphs not too much further behind. I quote the buff orph name because they are hatchery birds.. and dont exactly look buff, or like orphingtons to me quite yet... much more of a red than a gold color. They haven't poofed out fluffy like pictures of orphingtons I see either... look more like RR or production red to me. I need to get pics and post...
My hatch this year... 100%.... also got 99% roosters!!!! I got 1 hen out of my BCM hatch i was able to do... I havent got enough eggs regularly enough to even try again. My BCM won't lay. They are older hens though. I need to get more to replace them.. so thats my next feat if I can get more eggs.
I finally found some cream leg bars to get. I should have a basket of CLB, a few olive eggers, and a few more BCM pullets coming here in the next week or so...
I lost a hen to an aerial attack the other day... though she was a mix breed, she was one of my best layers. Then I had one we found dead in the coop the other day. Looks like she crooked on the roost at night and just fell down dead. I dont know what else it could have been.
So my chicken adventures continue. I got some predators to take care of, never ending.. got more chicks coming..
The grasshopper crip has been pretty heavy, so our birds have got alot of free ranging this summer. We see so much better health in our birds letting them free range during the day. However it does invite hawks and owls sometimes. Had a few snakes in the coop this year. One won't be doing anything again, but I still got another visiting at night. I dont leave eggs in the coop at all if I can help it... so he aint sticking around long when he does come to check for eggs, but I need to catch him in the act so he can disappear too.
I've been thinking about putting some eggs in a coon trap to see if I could catch this snake... I donno how else to catch him..
Besides that... a good spray down of permetherin every few months to keep lice and mites at bay, a DE dusting of the coop every few weeks, water always on tap... we haven't had too many issues. No health problems this year so far which has been great!
I got some brown leghorns and "buff opringtons" I added to my flock earlier this year. The leghorns should come into laying here real soon, with the orphs not too much further behind. I quote the buff orph name because they are hatchery birds.. and dont exactly look buff, or like orphingtons to me quite yet... much more of a red than a gold color. They haven't poofed out fluffy like pictures of orphingtons I see either... look more like RR or production red to me. I need to get pics and post...
My hatch this year... 100%.... also got 99% roosters!!!! I got 1 hen out of my BCM hatch i was able to do... I havent got enough eggs regularly enough to even try again. My BCM won't lay. They are older hens though. I need to get more to replace them.. so thats my next feat if I can get more eggs.
I finally found some cream leg bars to get. I should have a basket of CLB, a few olive eggers, and a few more BCM pullets coming here in the next week or so...
I lost a hen to an aerial attack the other day... though she was a mix breed, she was one of my best layers. Then I had one we found dead in the coop the other day. Looks like she crooked on the roost at night and just fell down dead. I dont know what else it could have been.
So my chicken adventures continue. I got some predators to take care of, never ending.. got more chicks coming..
The grasshopper crip has been pretty heavy, so our birds have got alot of free ranging this summer. We see so much better health in our birds letting them free range during the day. However it does invite hawks and owls sometimes. Had a few snakes in the coop this year. One won't be doing anything again, but I still got another visiting at night. I dont leave eggs in the coop at all if I can help it... so he aint sticking around long when he does come to check for eggs, but I need to catch him in the act so he can disappear too.
I've been thinking about putting some eggs in a coon trap to see if I could catch this snake... I donno how else to catch him..
Besides that... a good spray down of permetherin every few months to keep lice and mites at bay, a DE dusting of the coop every few weeks, water always on tap... we haven't had too many issues. No health problems this year so far which has been great!
