Illinois...

[Molpet]

DW collected a frozen egg this morning that was cracked too. One of our chickens got out and was sitting by the human door this morning. She seemed fine, just a bit cold. DW scooped her up and put her in the coop. She found that one of the birds got the sliding door open that leads to the duck area. The duck door was open and there's only a 3ft fence around the duck pen, so that's how the chicken got out. BTW, the escapee was the Cornish X we hatched last year from @Molpet eggs. All birds were accounted for though and a board is blocking the sliding door from opening again. I need to put a barrel lock on that door, which I've been meaning to do for some time now. I'll be in the yard Sunday, so perhaps I'll get it done then.

Could a predator get in that area? Or is it in a secure run?
Surprised she didn't go back in, silly girl

 

[BReeder!]

Could a predator get in that area? Or is it in a secure run?
Surprised she didn't go back in, silly girl

We don't get many predators on the ground. The yard is fully fenced in so no coyotes, loose dogs or cats. Possums have made their way into the yard before by climbing over the fence. Raccoons are not a problem by us. We've seen a fox in the area before but they've never attempted to dig under the fence. Perhaps the scent of our dog keeps them at bay? Not sure. Hawks and eagles are the only real threat. The chickens run is covered with netting (which I need to upgrade to a better quality this year...) and they don't seem to bother the ducks at all. An eagle certainly could take down a duck, but they don't seem to go for them so i haven't covered the duck run. That said, if a hawk, eagle or possum did get into the duck run and through the duck door we keep open, they still couldn't get into the chicken area without opening the sliding doors. So the sliding doors are the real security risk right now IMO. I'm just going to add a barrel lock that keeps the doors from sliding and it will fix the security risk and the escape risk.

As for not going back in, my guess is our drake chased her out of the duck pen and wouldn't let her get back in that way if she wanted too. He's generally shy around people and good with the ducks, but he'll throw down with any other animal.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@Faraday40 the only one that might look fertile is Jewels. I'm not seeing the bullseye in any of the others.

I collected a frozen cracked egg yesterday evening, but today none were cracked. Still more than likely frozen unless they laid them just before I got home. Only a handful have been brave enough to even lay in this weather.

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 the only one that might look fertile is Jewels. I'm not seeing the bullseye in any of the others.

I collected a frozen cracked egg yesterday evening, but today none were cracked. Still more than likely frozen unless they laid them just before I got home. Only a handful have been brave enough to even lay in this weather.

Jewel's looks fertile & perhaps lav pullet (but hard to tell in pics)
The Leghorns and Tyrion won't allow a young cockerel near them, so their eggs don't surprise me. I had hopes the pullet eggs would be fertile.

I'm trying to gather some fertile eggs for my son's school. One thing I want to make sure is that they are actually fertile. I guess I'll need to crack a lot of eggs this week and figure out which hens are being submissive to the roosters.

@homeschoolin momma Jake's doing his job, right?

 

[homeschoolin momma]

@Faraday40 I have seen Jake and Jack doing their job before, but haven't cracked any open in quite awhile. Maybe I need to make some scrambled eggs tomorrow to check before bringing them up next week.

 

[Faraday40]

Breakfast:
Fertile or not fertile? Let me know what you think.

1st egg is Jewel's egg. If you stare, you can see the separated ring.
The next 4 are from diff orp pullets. (One pic for each egg, so 5 eggs total)

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Ok, heres my fertility check. Cracked open 2 spitz eggs for DS. First egg from the older hen the egg yolk disintegrated. No finding anything on that one. Second egg from one of the pullets.

There are like 6 bullseye spots? What am i looking at?

 

[homeschoolin momma]

This picture is better

 

[Molpet]

Ok, heres my fertility check. Cracked open 2 spitz eggs for DS. First egg from the older hen the egg yolk disintegrated. No finding anything on that one. Second egg from one of the pullets.
View attachment 2026919
There are like 6 bullseye spots? What am i looking at?

It got too cold

 

[Faraday40]

It got too cold

That's what I was about to say. It looks like it may have frozen a bit & then thawed.