How is your flock today?

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@BlueBaby That is so funny you bring up their egg color. I thought that when a person knows who is laying what color of egg, that was a sign you are spending way to much time with your flock! :lau

I think colored eggs have a cool factor to them also over just white or brown eggs. Our two little Mallards hens Miss Piggy and Porky each lay a slightly different colored egg. Miss Piggy has a light greenish egg and Porky's egg is more a lighter gray egg. Then our Larger Rouen/Pekin hens lay the plain white eggs.

I do agree, different colored eggs would be an easy way to know if there is any issues or not? I would still pay to see the lipstick method used! :gig:lau

As for any major egg laying issues, I feel we have been very fortunate. One day Miss Piggy was not acting her normal active self and I thought she was possibly egg bound? So an oral dose of Calcium Gluconate fixed her right up within 24 hours. Then one of our Isa Brown hens had a soft broken egg shell in her vent. So a couple of light vent flushing's with a vinegar water solution and she was back to normal in a few days and was laying eggs again. :) So all in all yes we have very fortunate so far with our new layers.

I think it really helps a person to spend enough time with their flocks to know how everyone acts on a normal daily basis, so when one of them is acting a little off their game it is easier to spot and start treating the issue sooner over later. :)
 
@416bigbore I have a used pickle bucket that I bought from Firehouse Sub's that I turn upside down to sit on out there by the run. They sell those with the lid when they are empty. They are food grade and only had those pickles in them, and the little bit of money that they charge goes to help the fire department. Anyway's I store my chick starter feed in some of the other bucket's from there in the house when I do a hatch.
 
@BlueBaby Those buckets are so handy and yes make a very quick and easy seat out by the coop. I have one that I sit on also to have morning coffee when I let our flock out to free range. :) It can be quite interesting at times when the chickens think they need to have a little coffee also and keep trying to jump up into my lap. LOL They can be a little too friendly at times.

Yesterday morning was quite chilly, it got down to 18F at 6am and everyone done just fine through they first real cold night. They all had fresh wheat straw that evening which they really enjoyed so most of them were all bedded down in it.

We still had a nine egg day, two of our chickens must have been to lazy to jump up and use their nesting boxes, so they laid them in the same nest the ducks used in the straw. Maybe because it was a nice warm place for them to drop their egg? :confused:

Then I wish I would have had my cell phone handy to take a few pics when I let them out to free range. They were used to their pool having a thin layer of ice on it that they all could break up and nibble on. That morning it was fun to watch them skate around on top of the ice trying to figure it out? :gig

I almost forgot to mention, what a nice change it was to walk out to the coop in the morning and not sink up to my ankles in mud! LOL
 

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@416bigbore It's funny how they think that every container that is brought out there near them is supposed to be for them (including the coffee cup).

I have been animal sitting for the people next door, and yesterday there was no water at all for them over there for me to refill all of those container's. Lucky for them we had a couple of those 100-ft. hoses so I was able to run them from my chicken run through the fence that divides the properties over to where the goats water container is at.

Then last night at about 9:30, there was a big bang outside that sounded like something exploded. My dh and I both looked out there trying to figure out what it was, and let the dog back in the house. We didn't see anything, no fire or whatever and the electric stayed on. I still don't know what it was.
 
Well, at least we now know why there was no water next door for those animal's. A irrigation pipe broke 2 properties down from me by the back road. The water that I have going to my coop comes from my house, because my DH had them shut off the irrigation water feed to our property year's ago after he sold the horse's. The next door neighbor run's the water feed to their animal's on the irrigation system. Lucky for them the way that mine is set up, or the animal's over there would have been going the 3rd day without water?
 
@BlueBaby Did you ever find out what the big bang was the other night? Hopefully it wasn't anything serious.

It's crazy how some people take water for granted until they go to use it and there is none. No water in your part of the country is bad news if you have animals who depend on it daily.

I am familiar with the big canal that runs through Phoenix, is this that same water source you are talking about?
 

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