I Built A Bridge!

[lizgarf]

@MistyMountain , I think you and Jan must be psychically linked! There was a 47-gram blue/green egg with plum speckles in the nest box this afternoon! I never even noticed her in the box! Bettina, on the other hand, took the day off.

Hey there, @16 paws ! I know I said it's hard to sex chicks in pictures, and I hope for your sake that was right, but boy oh boy, Hope sure looks like one!

 

[Teila]

Good morning Bridge Club

Sounds like you are keeping busy there MM

Beautiful pictures of your chickens in that lovely green grass!

I totalled up my eggs for the month of September and apparently the girls laid 62 eggs; I have no idea what I did with all of them!

I did give a couple of half dozens to the neighbours and once a week I cook the girls scrambled eggs; but no idea what I did with 62 eggs!

Liz good news with Jan’s eggs!

I still have everything crossed that Frankie is a pullet

16 paws your decorations are amazing! They look great!

While Halloween is not really ‘celebrated’ in Australia, originating in the UK and now being more of an American celebration; in the past few years we have had local children participating in trick or treat and our shopping centres have been decorating with pumpkins, witches, spiders and webs etc.

Hope is absolutely adorable!!

That she is a pullet also. How old is she now?

I will take some more pictures of ‘Gloria’ and ‘Spot’ this weekend but I am thinking ‘Gloria’ is a Frizzle. ‘Spot’ is feathering out a lot slower in comparison to ‘Gloria’ so still waiting to see what he/she is planning on being

Again, I have no news! Tina and the Jelly Beans are doing very well and now spend their afternoon supervised free range time in the extended run.

Liz I remember your pictures of the curious Aunties and how my gals never really seemed interested in the past. Yesterday Cilla, LuLu and Dusty were all up against the divider talking to Tina and the Jelly Beans, so cute!

In a couple of weeks, if/when Blondie’s eggs hatch I will move the run extender to her broody coop and Tina and Jelly Beans will have full free range of the garden.

Blondie is doing well; still very cranky and attacking all and sundry when she joins the free range; my toes included! She has heaps of straw in her nest but she has built it up so high that the eggs are sitting on the timber floor; probably how #6 got broken. I have placed some padding between the timber and the straw so the eggs have something ‘softer’ to sit on. She was not a happy girl while I was doing that and Joel had to chicken wrangle for me

Cilla, Dusty and LuLu are as gorgeous as ever and seem happy and healthy.

Back to work for me!

 

[Teila]

I snapped a couple more pics this afternoon concentrating on the markings and feathering and thought I would share.

I think I can tick the box marked 'Frizzle' next to 'Gloria' .. anyone agree?





'Gloria' is way more advanced down the 'feathering track' than 'Spot'. In the next few you can see that 'Spot' has probably 6 or so little feathers on the wing and that's it:



I love 'Spot's' markings; it is going to be interesting to see how he/she feathers out:

 

[MistyMountain]

@MistyMountain , I think you and Jan must be psychically linked! There was a 47-gram blue/green egg with plum speckles in the nest box this afternoon! I never even noticed her in the box! Bettina, on the other hand, took the day off.

Hey there, @16 paws ! I know I said it's hard to sex chicks in pictures, and I hope for your sake that was right, but boy oh boy, Hope sure looks like one!

Haha! Way to go Jan! And speckles? An added bonus. Darth lays a sage green egg with plum speckles. They are brown if you wash the bloom off. Is her shape consistent? I ask because DV's eggs are always that same shape, although yesterday she laid a larger egg with a different shape (I was in the coop when she laid it, otherwise I would have thought maybe someone else was randomly laying a more green egg).

I snapped a couple more pics this afternoon concentrating on the markings and feathering and thought I would share.

I think I can tick the box marked 'Frizzle' next to 'Gloria' .. anyone agree?





'Gloria' is way more advanced down the 'feathering track' than 'Spot'. In the next few you can see that 'Spot' has probably 6 or so little feathers on the wing and that's it:



I love 'Spot's' markings; it is going to be interesting to see how he/she feathers out:

Yup, my untrained eye would say check that Gloria Frizzle box with a big red marker! I LOVE that last pic, teila! That is one I would blow up and hang on the wall!

No pullet eggs yesterday, but I was concerned at lockup. I did my counts: 4 in the tree, 18 in the big coop and 4 in the small coop… oh wait that should be 5. I check the tree, nope, only 4. Hmm.. oh wait… Maude the tree roosting BO is not in there and one more of the youngsters is up there. Oh no, not Maude. Where is she? I checked all trees. I checked the big coop again. Nothing. She is a BIG girl so it would have taken a gutsy big hawk to get her. A quick pass of the flashlight didn't hint that there were any problems. I went to bed hoping she had chosen a different tree. Yup. There she was this morning, waiting to sneak her two quick bites from the feed bucket before I let everyone else out. Whew.

The mystery of the second pullet egg was also solved-- Miss Maude is our outdoor nest box visitor! A small perfect brown egg was waiting for me this morning!

Have a great day everyone!

edited my typos… I think

 

[lizgarf]

Haha! Way to go Jan! And speckles? An added bonus. Darth lays a sage green egg with plum speckles. They are brown if you wash the bloom off. Is her shape consistent? I ask because DV's eggs are always that same shape, although yesterday she laid a larger egg with a different shape (I was in the coop when she laid it, otherwise I would have thought maybe someone else was randomly laying a more green egg).

Yup, my untrained eye would say check that Gloria Frizzle box with a big red marker! I LOVE that last pic, teila! That is one I would blow up and hang on the wall!

Your description of Darth's eggs sounds exactly like yesterday's egg from Jan. I've been calling them blue/green, but sage is more accurate. I'm a little disappointed they're not blue, but kind of silly to complain! It's funnier that they're about the same size as tiny Grace's eggs! But, weird what you say about them turning brown when washed. The brown is what should come off, not the blue, which is supposed to be built into the structure of the shell.

@Teila , I agree! Looks like you hit the jackpot on a beautiful little frizzle from your hatch! Love the pics of Spot too!

 

[ItalyChickie]

Hi team! Remember all those things I was going to do over the weekend? Well, I managed to catch the flu instead and did absolutely nothing except lie around and read books... which was rather nice actually, it's just kinda sad that I had to get sick in order to do that! Oh well.

Obviously, now that I'm better there are a billion things that need doing, so again, very little time! Grrr! But must find a few minutes to check in here more often.

Glad to hear everyone is well, gorgeous chickens and eggs!

Teila, Gloria is most definitely a frizzle and absolutely gorgeous!!! Now I MUST have one... ok, no, not this year... wait for spring.

In my news, I seem to have convinced Ombretta to adopt the bantams that Pallina abandoned!

Remember how I said they weren't ready to be on their own and I'd stick them under Ombretta at night, since Cenere was sleeping on the roost anyway, and Ombretta only had 4 chicks? Well, the most I had hoped for is that she'd keep them warm at night and they'd go off on their own as before, but after 4-5 days of me chasing them and putting them in with her by hand, they started going there on their own... and then, another couple of days later, I saw them all together during the day too, and Ombretta calling to all for treats etc. Now they're all inseparable... keep in mind the bantams are 5 weeks older than Ombretta's chicks! She is one supermom!

Here they are:






In my other news, I'm second guessing myself on the gender of Araucana chicks... I was 100% convinced that one of the blues was a boy - this was the most feisty chick who picked fights with 8-week old Cochins at 2-3 days of age. But looking at them now, even though the comb is quite red, I don't see the 3 rows of peas, as I can see very very clearly on the black one (both pics below). On the other hand, the other blue, the definite girl, has next to no comb and no color still, so I dunno... hope I was wrong and there's an extra blue egg in my future!

the one I'm second guessing:





the definite boy (the comb is also brighter though it doesn't look like it in the pic, due to different light):



Rather different combs, aren't they?


And last but not least on my news bulletin, Bonnie's eggs are on day 19, and I am, very surprisingly, not stressing out at all. Might be the 6th hatch of the year is that magic number where I stop worrying, or it might be just that I trust her 100%, or the fact that they're not shipped eggs but ours, so there shouldn't be any kind of problem if they were fertile to begin with... I haven't even candled since day 7 or so, at which point they all seemed to be developing.

Anyway, fuzzy butts expected in just a couple of days. Will keep you posted!

 

[lizgarf]

In my other news, I'm second guessing myself on the gender of Araucana chicks... I was 100% convinced that one of the blues was a boy - this was the most feisty chick who picked fights with 8-week old Cochins at 2-3 days of age. But looking at them now, even though the comb is quite red, I don't see the 3 rows of peas, as I can see very very clearly on the black one (both pics below). On the other hand, the other blue, the definite girl, has next to no comb and no color still, so I dunno... hope I was wrong and there's an extra blue egg in my future!

the one I'm second guessing:





the definite boy (the comb is also brighter though it doesn't look like it in the pic, due to different light):



Rather different combs, aren't they?

Huh, interesting! I was just looking at my chicks (shocking, I know), and Brian has a really similar comb to the one you're second-guessing. Bright red, but just one row, not three like a normal male pea comb. (Norma's is just a little smaller, flatter, and paler, but not really like a pullet's pea comb either.) It's actually making me think more that he has a modified combo comb, rather than being a pullet, because his personality and the rest of him seem all boy. Is your bird crossed with something with a single comb? How old are they?

Sorry you weren't well and hope you're on the mend. Congrats on adopt-a-broody! I'm starting to think Auntie Marsha stopped laying because she's been semi-broody to Rousseau's chicks, rather than a molt. I swear all of my chickens would be helping out if the broodzillas would let them!

 

[ItalyChickie]

Huh, interesting! I was just looking at my chicks (shocking, I know), and Brian has a really similar comb to the one you're second-guessing. Bright red, but just one row, not three like a normal male pea comb. (Norma's is just a little smaller, flatter, and paler, but not really like a pullet's pea comb either.) It's actually making me think more that he has a modified combo comb, rather than being a pullet, because his personality and the rest of him seem all boy. Is your bird crossed with something with a single comb? How old are they?

Sorry you weren't well and hope you're on the mend. Congrats on adopt-a-broody! I'm starting to think Auntie Marsha stopped laying because she's been semi-broody to Rousseau's chicks, rather than a molt. I swear all of my chickens would be helping out if the broodzillas would let them!

Oh, I'm much better, thanks! There seems to be a 3-day flu going around, and I'm pretty sure that's what it was, because by Tuesday I was back to normal.

My Auracana chicks are 11 weeks old. I also wondered if the blue one might be crossed with something, since there was a mix-up with the other eggs (the naked neck chick, and the other tailed one are very obvious crosses)... those three look like Araucanas, but of course I can't be sure what else could be mixed in there.

How old are yours now? I can post their younger pics for comparison if you think it will help.

Thanks on the adopt-a-broody congrats! I really didn't think it was possible with 2-month old chicks - mostly thinking they wouldn't except a new mom at this point, but Ombretta is so wonderful that they did.

My flock usually isn't broody helpers; Ombretta is the only one who is nice to other mom's chicks, so I figured she wouldn't mind at least keeping them warm during the nights - so glad it worked out far better than I expected!

 

[MistyMountain]

Hello everyone

Just wanted to check in and say hi!

Havent been able to post because I have been getting my house ready for Halloween. Lots of decorating going on.

I sure love Fall, it is starting to cool off a bit but the weatherman says we are getting another heat wave

Breakfast nook


Kitchen window


Dining room, sorry about the poor quality...I hate my camera



Front door, couldnt forget the rooster at the door even for Halloween.

Now I need to do the fireplace. Work has been super busy and I have to make 1200 Christmas arrangements for our store and help make some for other stores in our district! Dont know how I am going to do it but oh well, I dont have a choice! Work is tough sometimes right?

Glad everyone has been cruising along nicely....

I am going to take some pictures of Hope. She is crazy looking....
Marie

Marie, I don't know how I missed this earlier! Your house looks great!!! Want to decorate mine next?? I bought a few mums, but we still need to head to the pumpkin patch for some pumpkins. I hoard pumpkins after halloween. I had some make it until December in the house (uncarved of course). I take them out to the coop and crack them in half. The chickens go crazy over them!

My boys have decided to go as a Red Power Ranger and Walker Texas Ranger. This should be fun!

Your description of Darth's eggs sounds exactly like yesterday's egg from Jan. I've been calling them blue/green, but sage is more accurate. I'm a little disappointed they're not blue, but kind of silly to complain! It's funnier that they're about the same size as tiny Grace's eggs! But, weird what you say about them turning brown when washed. The brown is what should come off, not the blue, which is supposed to be built into the structure of the shell.

@Teila , I agree! Looks like you hit the jackpot on a beautiful little frizzle from your hatch! Love the pics of Spot too!

Oops, should have been more clear when I said that. I was talking about the speckles. With the bloom they are purplish, bloom washed off and the speckles are brown

Hi team! Remember all those things I was going to do over the weekend? Well, I managed to catch the flu instead and did absolutely nothing except lie around and read books... which was rather nice actually, it's just kinda sad that I had to get sick in order to do that! Oh well.

Obviously, now that I'm better there are a billion things that need doing, so again, very little time! Grrr! But must find a few minutes to check in here more often.

Glad to hear everyone is well, gorgeous chickens and eggs!

Teila, Gloria is most definitely a frizzle and absolutely gorgeous!!! Now I MUST have one... ok, no, not this year... wait for spring.

In my news, I seem to have convinced Ombretta to adopt the bantams that Pallina abandoned!

Remember how I said they weren't ready to be on their own and I'd stick them under Ombretta at night, since Cenere was sleeping on the roost anyway, and Ombretta only had 4 chicks? Well, the most I had hoped for is that she'd keep them warm at night and they'd go off on their own as before, but after 4-5 days of me chasing them and putting them in with her by hand, they started going there on their own... and then, another couple of days later, I saw them all together during the day too, and Ombretta calling to all for treats etc. Now they're all inseparable... keep in mind the bantams are 5 weeks older than Ombretta's chicks! She is one supermom!

Here they are:






In my other news, I'm second guessing myself on the gender of Araucana chicks... I was 100% convinced that one of the blues was a boy - this was the most feisty chick who picked fights with 8-week old Cochins at 2-3 days of age. But looking at them now, even though the comb is quite red, I don't see the 3 rows of peas, as I can see very very clearly on the black one (both pics below). On the other hand, the other blue, the definite girl, has next to no comb and no color still, so I dunno... hope I was wrong and there's an extra blue egg in my future!

the one I'm second guessing:





the definite boy (the comb is also brighter though it doesn't look like it in the pic, due to different light):



Rather different combs, aren't they?


And last but not least on my news bulletin, Bonnie's eggs are on day 19, and I am, very surprisingly, not stressing out at all. Might be the 6th hatch of the year is that magic number where I stop worrying, or it might be just that I trust her 100%, or the fact that they're not shipped eggs but ours, so there shouldn't be any kind of problem if they were fertile to begin with... I haven't even candled since day 7 or so, at which point they all seemed to be developing.

Anyway, fuzzy butts expected in just a couple of days. Will keep you posted!

Oh no IC! I hope you are feeling much better! Lovely pics and super happy to hear about the adoptive mom there. Way to go Ombretta!! You're right, I only see one row of peas which would make me think pullet. That said, even my pullets had tiny second and third rows of peas. The rooster's pea comb had all three rows that were almost the same size. How old are they?

 

[MistyMountain]

Afternoon egg check... New brown egg!! This one is so smooth it's almost shiny. Elsa maybe? Maude's second egg on the left. New egg middle. Chica egg from refrigerator on the right(sweating a bit).

I searched my egg cartons for a good dar egg, liz... But I use hers for myself as they are oddly shaped. Here is an old pic! Maybe not the best lighting.

edited to add… wow my hands are dry in the second pic. I should probably warn you all that I am NOT and hand model!