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HiEverybirdy
Crowing
Thank you so much. That's such a kind compliment! I'm the same about egg photos and appreciate you taking the time to share those!Thank you!! Although their pox are looking gnarly I’m hoping they’ve turned a corner. Compared to some pictures online it seems mild but hopefully they get back to themselves soon.
I love hearing about your flock! Your pictures are really clear and beautiful and helpful! Feel free to always post pictures of your eggs bc I’ll always be interested! haha I think it’s been worth the wait bc they really are the sweetest. When my kids are on the swing set they go to that corner to hang out and talk to the kids lol it’s so funny. I’m surprised they’ve been our loudest talkers! We tried to get quiet breeds but I think that’s impossible ha. They’ll perch on us or “ask” to be picked up any time we’re with them. They love their people! It’s been a great little flock so far. Thank you for your sweet comments.
That's funny yours hang out in the corner near the kids
The Brahmas are our most social butterflies. The Langshans are friendly but more likely to hang back...until the treats come out. They do love food.The Brahmas ask to be picked up. I love that. The Easter Egger pullets fly onto my shoulder uninvited, ugh. They're 3 months younger than the Brahmas and Langshans and will always be smaller, so I think they're trying to level the field. The Langshans, however, wait until I sit on a chair. Then they might like to nap on my lap if I'll sit a spell. That's their speed.
So, your Langshans are talkative? Where are yours from? I've heard some are loud, but ours are nearly silent unless someone's hogging their favorite nest box or startles them while they're trying to lay. Then they launch into impossibly loud bakaws until the #1 cockerel runs up to shepherd off whoever isn't laying yet.
Speaking of which, Pinkie was finally in a nest box earlier! She's the Langshan I hadn't seen lay yet. The #1 cockerel wasn't around, so I sat at the edge of the coop and waited. (I don't interfere if he's keeping them company while they lay--he takes that so seriously). This was my chance to confirm whether Pinkie's indeed laying now, at 32 weeks.
Of course, as I sat there, our tiny herd of EEs rumbled over and jumped on my lap. Startled, Pinkie launched into those impossibly loud bakaws. #1 cockerel came stomping up to deal with it. Pinkie jumped up to tell him about it, and as they toddled off together, dashing my hopes of confirming her egg laying, bloop! Out popped an egg on the ground.
The cockerel stopped to look at it. When I quickly picked up the egg, he followed Pinkie back across the yard where they got back to foraging together like nothing happened.
But something is different: Pinkie is right next to cockerel #1 every time I look out there. Months ago, that was normal. She was right in the middle of the pecking order and very sociable. But as the last of the 32-weekers to lay, she's practically been in exile lately. Weeks ago, I was sitting with them when a rainstorm started, and all the chickens ran under the covered runs except Pinkie, who huddled under a sapling. When the rain got really hard, I scooped her up and set her in the back of the coop, where she stood by the door and watched the rain.
She never seemed afraid to be with the others; she just didn't fit in for a while. As of this afternoon, she's herself again. I gave them scratch with extra raisins and sunflower seeds in celebration of her first egg, and she was right there next to the cockerel eating treats, proud as can be.
So, that's 6 pullets laying in our flock so far, with the 3 Ideal Black Langshans laying at 24, 26, and 32 weeks.
This event put to rest another mystery, more or less: Pinkie's egg was so little it was very possibly her first, so she probably isn't the phantom roost layer.
Another clue? The phantom roost layer laid a big, perfect roost egg just this morning in the spot Frida Bakawlo has taken to sleeping in, directly to the left of the cockerel. This means a pullet who has been laying for 6 weeks is still laying eggs off the roost. Really!?
Frida's always been a "beat of her own drum" bird, and she's laid dozens of eggs in the nesting box, but hopefully she'll start batting a thousand soon.
Long post, but it was a big day in the world of our flock
Here are pictures of Pinkie as an exile in the late summer wildflowers, Pinkie in the nest box, and Pinkie's first confirmed egg. No real bloom on it, but I wouldn't expect it yet. We'll see what she lays in the next few weeks.
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Our roost layer is...drum roll...multiple birds! A couple weeks ago, there were 2 different mornings with a Brahma egg on the floor when I opened the coop, so not only the Langshans are guilty. I think this is happening because of shorter days. Our ladies looove their rest, so if an egg's ready before sunrise, they sleep lay.
