Hamburg thread!

[PBGGG]

That's a nice mix. I like having a mixed flock...I think it's a good way to figure which breeds I'd like to add more of down the road and which breeds I'll pass on when I'm ready to expand again. I also like having such a colorful egg basket.

Thanks! Our 4 chicks we just got from them are Japanese Bantams- I've seen their mothers (and the father!). Sadly barely any of our chickens are laying lol. The only ones that are are my 3 Australorps and my one PR hen. We get about 3 eggs a day at most, and we have 19 chickens total! We have a ton of roosters though from buying straight run chicks, like we just got 4 earlier this year and 3 are boys.

 

[islandgirl82]

Thanks! Our 4 chicks we just got from them are Japanese Bantams- I've seen their mothers (and the father!). Sadly barely any of our chickens are laying lol. The only ones that are are my 3 Australorps and my one PR hen. We get about 3 eggs a day at most, and we have 19 chickens total! We have a ton of roosters though from buying straight run chicks, like we just got 4 earlier this year and 3 are boys.

Yikes! Are the majority of your girls just not POL yet or have they just stopped?

I have 6 girls and 1 cockerel. As of this morning 4 girls are laying although one lays double eggs every other day and my two 3-4 year old hens are each giving me 5 eggs per week. My GSH is 25 weeks now and is taking her sweet time...not a single egg from her yet and I thought they were one of the earlier to mature breeds. So much for that!

My youngest pullet is an Olive Egger who won't be ready to lay until late October at the earliest.

 

[PBGGG]

Yikes! Are the majority of your girls just not POL yet or have they just stopped?

I have 6 girls and 1 cockerel. As of this morning 4 girls are laying although one lays double eggs every other day and my two 3-4 year old hens are each giving me 5 eggs per week. My GSH is 25 weeks now and is taking her sweet time...not a single egg from her yet and I thought they were one of the earlier to mature breeds. So much for that!

My youngest pullet is an Olive Egger who won't be ready to lay until late October at the earliest.

Kinda both. We have 4 Tetra Tint pullets (like I said), they're about 20 weeks and should start any minute, I hope! I hope you get egg soon, too!

The only hen that we have that's not laying is Speckles, but even then she lays about an egg a month, sometimes more.

 

[islandgirl82]

Kinda both. We have 4 Tetra Tint pullets (like I said), they're about 20 weeks and should start any minute, I hope! I hope you get egg soon, too!

The only hen that we have that's not laying is Speckles, but even then she lays about an egg a month, sometimes more.

Thanks! I hope your pullets start laying sooner rather than later too!

 

[PBGGG]

Thanks! I hope your pullets start laying sooner rather than later too!

We've gotten 2 eggs from 4 so far, but that was last month. They better pick up the pace lol

 

[islandgirl82]

We've gotten 2 eggs from 4 so far, but that was last month. They better pick up the pace lol

LOL no kidding...you don't have many paying the rent but a heck of a lot of free-loaders!

 

[PBGGG]

LOL no kidding...you don't have many paying the rent but a heck of a lot of free-loaders!

Haha!

 

[chicksurreal]

I got her at 10-12 weeks (although I've often wondered if the 3 girls I got were actually younger). They were raised in a big greenhouse-like tunnel and the guy forgot to box up my order of EE girls the night before I was scheduled to pick them up so I had to help catch them...hence I had the option to trade and I'm SO glad I did. I never would have seen them had the guy remembered. They hadn't been handled much, if at all until I got them. Once they were caught, he kept handing them to me by the legs and personally, I hate that. But when he saw me cradle them each, talking to them and petting them as I put them in the crate I had brought, he kept telling them they were "off to a much better home". The coop I was upgrading to wasn't quite move in ready so they spent the first few weeks in a separate run alongside the run of my 2 hens during the day and slept in the pet crate in the house at night. Each night when I brought them in, my children and I made a point to handle them, hand feed them and my daughter would even read them bedtime stories every night. Amelia doesn't like to be caught but she doesn't struggle at all once she is. I usually wait until she's on the roost at night before handling her though. She does follow us all over and comes when she's called but is quick to avoid being touched so we let her come to us instead of the other way around. I have a mixed flock and some that will hop right up on my lap. I don't mind just sitting and observing them and interacting when they feel like it but it is nice to have some that seem to enjoy being handled.

How are the roosters' dispositions? Obviously flighty but I know some breeds are more aggressive than others...where would you say the hamburgs rank in that area? And Amelia is rather quiet. She's chatty...although she doesn't always sound like a chicken but she has a quiet voice. Are they generally quiet like her?

Our rooster is really good with his girls, very protective and even finds them nesting spots. When each girl laid her first egg, he got in the box with her and crooned to her while she was laying, it was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.. He's always looking for food to give them and is always trying to keep them together.
He's sort of stand-offish with us (although he will take treats from my hand and give them to the girls), but he will be a little aggressive if he doesn't know someone.

I've noticed that they have all gotten louder as they get older. His crow is high and pretty loud. The girls don't sound like other chickens, but they can definitely get loud during egg laying. Everyone gets in on the eggs song when someone lays an egg. It's pretty funny to hear, but it might not be amusing if you live in town. We're way out in the boonies, so it's fun to hear them.

 

[chicksurreal]

As far as egg laying goes, we have 11 pullets right now and we get anywhere from 8-11 eggs a day. They are great egg layers!

 

[islandgirl82]

As far as egg laying goes, we have 11 pullets right now and we get anywhere from 8-11 eggs a day. They are great egg layers!

I was really excited to learn that they're such good layers but my girl is now 25 weeks old and NOT ONE SINGLE EGG from her. I do let them free-range (although I've caught them twice now in my closest neighbors' yard. I immediately herd them home and close them back into the run. My neighbors don't seem to mind but I worry like crazy about pesticides and everyone around me seems to love them along with weed killers. UGH. Anyway, I've scoured the tree lines and gardens and shrubs and haven't found any hidden nesting areas. Finding alternative, more natural places to lay was one thing I read about them...which I do find endearing that they are still wild enough to prefer but not convenient for we caretakers. What's the average age your pullets start laying?

Our rooster is really good with his girls, very protective and even finds them nesting spots. When each girl laid her first egg, he got in the box with her and crooned to her while she was laying, it was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.. He's always looking for food to give them and is always trying to keep them together.
He's sort of stand-offish with us (although he will take treats from my hand and give them to the girls), but he will be a little aggressive if he doesn't know someone.

I've noticed that they have all gotten louder as they get older. His crow is high and pretty loud. The girls don't sound like other chickens, but they can definitely get loud during egg laying. Everyone gets in on the eggs song when someone lays an egg. It's pretty funny to hear, but it might not be amusing if you live in town. We're way out in the boonies, so it's fun to hear them.

I used to raise ducks in addition to chickens and I love how chivalrous the male birds are of all types can be. Each drake had his mate and they would team up when keeping watch...one would take the first shift while the other grazed with the girls and then they'd switch. It was a beautiful sight. My first rooster was very quiet and respectful of all creatures but he died fighting for his ladies.We were all heartbroken when we lost him. I don't mind the stand-offish personalities of the Hamburgs...It makes for much harder targets to predators than so many other breeds. It's no surprise that they get loud when laying...from what I understand, their eggs can be quite large in relation to their size. I don't envy them!!

I'm not in town either but also not currently set up for an additional breeding flock. I had only two hens for about a year and a half before I finally upgraded coops and added 5 more to the flock, one of which is a cockerel hatched from one of my hens; we tried a roo early on this year and he didn't work out (he had my hens so stressed they stopped laying and he was constantly chasing them out into the road to keep them away from me but they were hand-raised and wanted no part of being kept away from us). The first egg we got after rehoming him we hatched in my son's kindergarten class so he has a special place with us and will hopefully remain with us for the long haul. I'm happy with our flock of 7 which is more than enough to provide eggs for my family but I added as many as I did so I could share with neighbors. Although, being at my personal limit to the number in my flock hasn't stopped me from looking into other breeds I'd like to get into once my two oldest have lived out their lives and bid us farewell.

How long have you been raising Hamburgs and what variety/varieties do you keep?