Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Faraday, what color are the Orpington eggs? We want to hatch some and trying to tell which ones to keep.

Thanks, Kevin

It may depend on the line. My orig English Orpintons lay a darker, medium brown. My Orp pullets (1/2 English bloodlines) lay kind of a light tan-brown. They have a thin slightly chalky coating as well. None of my orps lay those shiny eggs like my Bielefelders or Easter Eggers. For me, egg shape (one orp lays torpedoes) & size (hens lay giant eggs) are more consistent than color. Because of the cold, I've been visiting the coop frequently, so I often see which bird is in the nest & run out to get her egg 1/2 hr later.

I've never tried it, but I read that you can apply a bit of food coloring gel by the vent. (No need to stick it up inside, just at the opening.) It will streak the egg shells for a day or two to help you figure out which egg came from which hen. I wouldn't use red, though, b/c of possible pecking. Has anyone here ever tried it?

 

[chickendreams24]

I've never heard anything about the food coloring trick but if anyone tries it please let me know I love the idea. And absolutely go Easter/orp I love that egg color sign me up for a couple of her pullets and I love all of your pink eggs too.

We have been getting an average of about 6-8 a day and have gotten as good as ten. Which I figure is good since the run got swapped for the more well insulated "cooler" (for those that don't know it was an old cooler used to get show cattle to be fluffy with an account unit in the summer. It's decommissioned but we'll insulated.) And the ten last birds got added to the main flock permanently (instead of just during free ranging) all the birds are doing much better although we are suffering with a bit of frost bite which as cold as it has been doesn't surprise me even though we tried to keep it away by applying Vaseline. It didn't work and two of our Isa browns have a very mild case, as well as both of our oegb roos(one of whom was injured in a pecking order dispute after the move-I think his comb is slightly more frost bitten because of the injury) but all are doing well and the pecking order seems much more well established. I am also happy to say that the three pullets from Faraday40 are fully integrated and were before the move. They are beautiful and adjusting well(I will have to get pictures shortly as in when I can hold a camera without freezing to it) lol

Jasmine is tall and lean, creamy white color with black and grey freckles throughout all her feathers, she's still flighty but settles when handled. She seems to have some of the orp fluffiness, but not a lot. Ella is losing her white-tipped flight feathers and I am gunna miss them. Although still smaller than Cinder she's catching up and her fluff covers most of the size difference. She's sweet but wants to be higher on the pecking order a bit and with the new birds a bit sassy since they're all bantams. She's not too rough though. We have talked and we are going to have to band Cinder and Ella so that we can tell them apart as they continue to grow. They are now almost the largest birds in our flock but again a lot of it is fluff they haven't filled out yet. Cinder is kind of mother hen to Ella and Jasmine and is very patient with them. They're growing up beautifully and thankfully their small undeveloped combs have not been affected by the frost bite.

The flack stayed in today although we had one EE that thought the sun meant warmth, I told her she was nuts. They have been getting scratch and banana and apple and kale(which they hated) and today we gave them a straw bale to scratch through for added warmth and something to do. They have been having fun with that and we were even able to let a little trouble maker out of time out one of our oegb has major little man syndrome lol he's a great bird a bbr named Nugget. If anyone is interested in giving him a home please message me. He is not people aggressive has never attacked a person or acted aggressive at all. He merely thinks he's a large fowl roo and won't respect the other bantam roos not injuring them but constantly challenging them. I think a move would do him good.

 

[Junibutt]

It may depend on the line. My orig English Orpintons lay a darker, medium brown. My Orp pullets (1/2 English bloodlines) lay kind of a light tan-brown. They have a thin slightly chalky coating as well. None of my orps lay those shiny eggs like my Bielefelders or Easter Eggers. For me, egg shape (one orp lays torpedoes) & size (hens lay giant eggs) are more consistent than color. Because of the cold, I've been visiting the coop frequently, so I often see which bird is in the nest & run out to get her egg 1/2 hr later.

I've never tried it, but I read that you can apply a bit of food coloring gel by the vent. (No need to stick it up inside, just at the opening.) It will streak the egg shells for a day or two to help you figure out which egg came from which hen. I wouldn't use red, though, b/c of possible pecking. Has anyone here ever tried it?

Thats a great idea. I have to try it after the cold snap is over. With all the new girls laying I have no idea who is laying what. Getting 6-7 eggs a day from 9 possible layers. 2 others are just free loaders.

 

[Pixie]

I think I may have the answer, CHICKENS MUST THINK FREEZER CAMP AROUND THE CORNER,

I just took 17 in for freezer camp yesterday. Ugh, I had guilt nightmares all last night about it! I know it will pass, but I still wish there was a way to keep the roosters other than as food. Alas for them, there were just too many. We kept one though to see how he does.

Overall the process itself was pretty straightforward. We went to John's Poultry in Chicago (thanks to @cavemanrich 's recommendation). They were quite expeditious with the whole thing. They took the dog crate we put them in through the back. When we came back 30 minutes later everything was up front and ready to go. $50 total. They gave us separate bags with the feet (skinned) and livers (whole). They also asked if we wanted the heads too. I told them no, but kept wondering what I would have done with them anyway. Let me know if I am missing out on some secret chicken delicacy.

Rigor had set in by the time we got them home (we live an hour away from there) They are now in a cooler waiting to relax enough for us to put them in bags for the freezer. They were fairly good size for just under 4 months old. We will weigh them out when we do the final bagging for the freezer.

 

[1ChicChick]

I had a big first egg with one of my girls. It was a double yolk. You could possibly have one. Or bc she's mixed she will lay HUGE eggs later.

Here's what we got in the last 2 days!! 11 eggs! I can't believe it. WoooHoooo! If I'm doing something right, I have no idea what it is. I certainly don't think the weather is the cause. (8 out of 13 hens/pullets are laying.) The green one is especially [COLOR=006400]GREEN[/COLOR] & also big for a 1st egg! Go Easter-Orp!

 

[Faraday40]

I had a big first egg with one of my girls. It was a double yolk. You could possibly have one. Or bc she's mixed she will lay HUGE eggs later.

It was a single, delicious yolk. I think she'll be up to a jumbo egg in about a month!

IMO- the blue & green shelled eggs always seem to have darker creamier yolks. They SHOULD all look & taste the same once out of the shell, but even when on the same diet, the EEs & CCLs have more orange yolks. At least that's what I see in the frying pan. I can't say that they actually taste different, but I always reach for the eggs with the darkest yolks. Perhaps it's just what those hens decide to eat when free ranging. Maybe all the carrot peels happen to get eaten only by my EE crew while the orps steal the scratch. Who knows!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

I haven't seen a CCL egg in months. Got a surprise this morning.

 

[Junibutt]

It was a single, delicious yolk. I think she'll be up to a jumbo egg in about a month!

IMO- the blue & green shelled eggs always seem to have darker creamier yolks. They SHOULD all look & taste the same once out of the shell, but even when on the same diet, the EEs & CCLs have more orange yolks. At least that's what I see in the frying pan. I can't say that they actually taste different, but I always reach for the eggs with the darkest yolks. Perhaps it's just what those hens decide to eat when free ranging. Maybe all the carrot peels happen to get eaten only by my EE crew while the orps steal the scratch. Who knows!

My Orpingtons are laying darker yolked eggs even though they are on the same feed (they don't free range) so I guess kind of a mix of genetics and diet.

 

[1ChicChick]

Jumbo eggs for sure. Awesome!!

It was a single, delicious yolk.  I think she'll be up to a jumbo egg in about a month!

IMO- the blue & green shelled eggs always seem to have darker creamier yolks.  They SHOULD all look & taste the same once out of the shell, but even when on the same diet, the EEs & CCLs have more orange yolks.  At least that's what I see in the frying pan.  I can't say that they actually taste different, but I always reach for the eggs with the darkest yolks.  Perhaps it's just what those hens decide to eat when free ranging. Maybe all the carrot peels happen to get eaten only by my EE crew while the orps steal the scratch.  Who knows!

 

[Faraday40]

I haven't seen a CCL egg in months. Got a surprise this morning.