HOOSIERS Only - INDIANA - Ru1?

[heksa]

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This cracked me up for some reason...
I only have six birds, and have lots of spare time, so it was easy to figure out who laid what egg with my girls. I've read about using a medicine dropper to place just a bit of food coloring in the vent... But you'd need a different color for each bird, and that process could be a pain in the...well...in the butt...lol. I say just listen for the egg song (got a baby monitor?) and run out to see who's doing all the cackling.

Mine don't do the egg song.

Well, for the most part. Once in a while my Buff Orphington will and then everyone joins in, but that's like once in a blue moon.

I would probably had them figured out if I was at home, but I miss everything sitting at work.
I will try on the weekend with the coloring, but do not put much hope in it. ;-)

 

[pbirdhaven]

This is strange--today is the first time that I have received an email about posts on this site for weeks. Thought everyone was just too busy in December to be posting but find that there have been several.
December had its ups and downs. Connersville was my second time showing; it's still a learning experience. On the plus side, my buff-laced Polish pullet did well and my silkies and bantam cochins were all 1's or 2's; the sebrights only 3's, but I wasn't sure about them anyhow and had pretty much decided I'm not going to keep them. Also, I got a nice trio of WCB Polish bantams from Kathy Troxell and a nice pair of white cochin bantams. On the down side, as we were cooping in Friday evening, my sis came over to me and said, "You'd better come look at Lacey" (my gold-laced Polish pullet--really special to me). She was lethargic, and when I took her out of the carrier and set her down, she stumbled and lost her balance--Marek's. We had just brought her in and so took her out immediately; she had seemed fine when I put her in the carrier about 3 hours earlier or would never have taken her around others. She died two weeks later.
So now I have everybody in various "isolation wards"--never exposed, too old to get it, possibly exposed, and definitely exposed. What a pain. I purchased vaccine while at the show and will definitely be using it in the future. Never vaccinated before as haven't had the problem, but somebody in the flock must be a carrier.
So those are my stories. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are beginning a great 2011!

 

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

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Sorry to hear about your pullet, maybe it was just some thing with her. Hope you others do ok

 

[bluebird]

Wow, pbirdhaven, sorry about your little polish girl.

 

[heksa]

So, I food colored my chicken’s vents over the weekend. The process was very easy and fast. I used syringe and squirt a little bit inside. It actually worked. Well, for the most part - two of the green eggs came purple and blue stained for a few days, so we know for sure that both of my silver EEs, Pepper and Cinnamon, are the green egg layers. However, none of the eggs came out with red and yellow streaks … so Emily and Olidia are still in question – Emily is a white EE and Olidia is the most redish – probably crossed with RIR. So they are either brown egg layers or have not started laying, since all my older chickens lay brown. Heh, either way I have identified the “green girls”, so that’s good.

 

[heksa]

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pbirdhaven, sorry about your bird. Are the others OK?

 

[pbirdhaven]

Thanks, Heksa. So far, so good. I thought that my buff laced Polish cockerel had it--he was stumbling. So I brought him into the house for isolation, but he perked up and began acting normal after a couple of weeks. I took him out of the crate and set him on the floor to see what he would do, and saw that the toes of one foot were frostbitten. The silly thing had evidently stuck his foot in the water cup during those frigid days in December and his foot hurt. It's healed now, but he's spoiled by being inside--starts crowing whenever he hears me and thinks he needs attention.
I didn't think to check the feet at first--just assumed the worst because of recent experience.

 

[bockbock2008]

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Hmm. Interesting! I have never heard of this before. Do you use straight food coloing or dilute it?

 

[heksa]

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I didn't dilute it. It was coloring in a liquid form in small bottles and I used a drop or two. I didn't think it was going to work. I thought it would dry up before the egg was laid ... but I guess not, a few eggs did come out with traces of paint, even a few days later.

 

[bluebird]

WooHoo! Will soon be getting 2 pullets -weather permitting- from Frank Reid in Alabama...a bantam black OEG and a bantam dark cornish.

Also have one bantam dark cornish coming from Adam and Christine Hady in Wisconsin! Can't wait!

Setting up quaranteen pens in garage this weekend.