Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Hey peeps! I did some candling this evening just before dinner. I used a samsung galaxy phone flashlight and a piece of egg cylinder foam. It worked OK. A candler would be better for the darker eggs I am sure. The highlight moments were catching a few heartbeats! That wad really cool. Here are a few pics I managed to get. They are not the best quality. I couldn't get good video of the heart beats.View attachment 1632487 View attachment 1632488 View attachment 1632489 View attachment 1632487 View attachment 1632488 View attachment 1632489 View attachment 1632491

I was actually thinking about your eggs & wondering how they were doing. Thanks for the update & great pics. You've got better luck than I at candling quail eggs. Normally I candle at 5-7 days but can't always tell with certainty which quail eggs are alive or dead. At 10-14 days it's much easier. The living ones will block the light & have big dark shadows while the brightly glowing eggs (no embryo) are obvious. That's when I have the confidence to toss the clears.

Anyway, congrats on the development and joining me as a fellow "hatch-a-holic." It's so addictive!

 

[Faraday40]

What's going on with my eggs????

Here are today's eggs from the coop:

and another pic without the flash

Only 4 eggs, but that's not what I'm wondering about. From left to right:
Spec Sussex (Chizzy), Orpington (probably a laced girl), Leghorn (our amazing Tillie), and ????

I don't have any hens that lay eggs like THAT! The closest would be if something went terribly wrong with my Welsummer. However, the Welsummer's still molting and has a pale comb. Also my Welsummer's eggs are speckled but very dark red-brown. Perhaps a new orp layer, but none of my orps have ever laid eggs with that many speckles.

@Molpet Could it be a turkey egg? I have no idea. I know for sure that my 2 remaining turkeys are female. (Never heard a gobble nor seen a display, and both have hairs on their heads.)

@BReeder! You can see the very slight difference between my sussex & orp eggs. Orp eggs tend to be more rounded and have a matte coating that makes it look slightly pinkish. My particular sussex has a bit of a point on the smaller side. (The pointy-ness didn't really show up in the pics.)

 

[cavemanrich]

My RIR and RSL would lay brown eggs. The shade of color would vary.
I wonder if it was due to things they ate. I feed Alflock as a staple, but give them all kinds of leftovers, and they free-range much.

Spoiler: Just for fun

Maybe your chicken got a hold of these.

 

[BReeder!]

Any strong light source will work. I candled with a strong LED flashlight some eggs just for fun with the grandchildren.
The risk with using a Samsung Galaxy,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, your Quail will hatch, and ALL WANT THEIR OWN PHONES. Maybe even the iPhone xs

No iPhones in this house or coop!

 

[BReeder!]

What's going on with my eggs????

Here are today's eggs from the coop:
View attachment 1632842
and another pic without the flash
View attachment 1632854

Only 4 eggs, but that's not what I'm wondering about. From left to right:
Spec Sussex (Chizzy), Orpington (probably a laced girl), Leghorn (our amazing Tillie), and ????

I don't have any hens that lay eggs like THAT! The closest would be if something went terribly wrong with my Welsummer. However, the Welsummer's still molting and has a pale comb. Also my Welsummer's eggs are speckled but very dark red-brown. Perhaps a new orp layer, but none of my orps have ever laid eggs with that many speckles.

@Molpet Could it be a turkey egg? I have no idea. I know for sure that my 2 remaining turkeys are female. (Never heard a gobble nor seen a display, and both have hairs on their heads.)

@BReeder! You can see the very slight difference between my sussex & orp eggs. Orp eggs tend to be more rounded and have a matte coating that makes it look slightly pinkish. My particular sussex has a bit of a point on the smaller side. (The pointy-ness didn't really show up in the pics.)

Sometimes eggs are just a mystery. I still second guess who laid what. One day I'm going to plant my GoPro in a nesting box. Not sure I want to see the profanity that it may capture though.

 

[BReeder!]

Weekend project: Convert our 8x12 shed to a combo coop for chickens and quail cages. I plan to do it without going to the hardware store (or any store for that matter). I have some things on hand, there's an 8ft long shelving unit made of 2x4 and plywood in the garage I plan to take down and repurpose, I plan to take down the greenhouse and repurpose lumber form it (we are going to go with a smaller 8x12 greenhouse kit that will be better sealed and easier to install come March along with a few more raised beds where the current coop stands), and I have some left over lumber and posts from other projects around the house/yard. Here's a mock up of my vision. The quail cage I already built will go outside the shed and the remaining three will be built inside the shed, the lowest cage in the shed will connect to the outside cage and house 40-50 quail between the two. These will be my egg layers. Above them on the inside will be hatchlings or a bachelor suite (hatchlings may just stay in the brooder until culling and sorting (a lot will go to the freezer at 8-9 weeks), and the top cage will be divided into 4 breeding cages. All the quail cages will be a roll away design so I can have eggs laid in any of them.
In the back 4' of the shed will be the chickens with a walk-in coop. Their nesting boxes will hang on the outside next to the outside quail cage (1.5" above the shed floor). They'll have a pop or sliding door to access a run area that will be around the back and right side of the coop. I'll have room on the right side of the chicken area to give them a proper set of roosts thanks to the extra height (current coop is only 4ft tall). I'm hoping to add a storage loft above the chickens area.

First step will be cleaning out the shed and removing some existing shelves and storage hooks.
Then I'll need to fix the lighting in the shed - there's a fluorescent light fixture that is not working. Not sure if it's the bulbs, ballast, switch, or wiring. I should have enough on hand to fix it whatever the case.
Then I'll finally get to start on the fun part - building the new coop into the shed.

Rough design (created in Tinkercad and just snipped screen shots):

View: Rear Left

View: Rear Right

View: Front Left

View: Front Right

 

[Molpet]

What's going on with my eggs????

Here are today's eggs from the coop:
View attachment 1632842
and another pic without the flash
View attachment 1632854

Only 4 eggs, but that's not what I'm wondering about. From left to right:
Spec Sussex (Chizzy), Orpington (probably a laced girl), Leghorn (our amazing Tillie), and ????

I don't have any hens that lay eggs like THAT! The closest would be if something went terribly wrong with my Welsummer. However, the Welsummer's still molting and has a pale comb. Also my Welsummer's eggs are speckled but very dark red-brown. Perhaps a new orp layer, but none of my orps have ever laid eggs with that many speckles.

@Molpet Could it be a turkey egg? I have no idea. I know for sure that my 2 remaining turkeys are female. (Never heard a gobble nor seen a display, and both have hairs on their heads.)

@BReeder! You can see the very slight difference between my sussex & orp eggs. Orp eggs tend to be more rounded and have a matte coating that makes it look slightly pinkish. My particular sussex has a bit of a point on the smaller side. (The pointy-ness didn't really show up in the pics.)

yes that is a turkey egg

so far I haven't found any since she went broody, but a couple of young girls have been in a nest box

 

[Molpet]

BBB turkey egg on right, from 2016

 

[Molpet]

Weekend project: Convert our 8x12 shed to a combo coop for chickens and quail cages. I plan to do it without going to the hardware store (or any store for that matter). I have some things on hand, there's an 8ft long shelving unit made of 2x4 and plywood in the garage I plan to take down and repurpose, I plan to take down the greenhouse and repurpose lumber form it (we are going to go with a smaller 8x12 greenhouse kit that will be better sealed and easier to install come March along with a few more raised beds where the current coop stands), and I have some left over lumber and posts from other projects around the house/yard. Here's a mock up of my vision. The quail cage I already built will go outside the shed and the remaining three will be built inside the shed, the lowest cage in the shed will connect to the outside cage and house 40-50 quail between the two. These will be my egg layers. Above them on the inside will be hatchlings or a bachelor suite (hatchlings may just stay in the brooder until culling and sorting (a lot will go to the freezer at 8-9 weeks), and the top cage will be divided into 4 breeding cages. All the quail cages will be a roll away design so I can have eggs laid in any of them.
In the back 4' of the shed will be the chickens with a walk-in coop. Their nesting boxes will hang on the outside next to the outside quail cage (1.5" above the shed floor). They'll have a pop or sliding door to access a run area that will be around the back and right side of the coop. I'll have room on the right side of the chicken area to give them a proper set of roosts thanks to the extra height (current coop is only 4ft tall). I'm hoping to add a storage loft above the chickens area.

First step will be cleaning out the shed and removing some existing shelves and storage hooks.
Then I'll need to fix the lighting in the shed - there's a fluorescent light fixture that is not working. Not sure if it's the bulbs, ballast, switch, or wiring. I should have enough on hand to fix it whatever the case.
Then I'll finally get to start on the fun part - building the new coop into the shed.

Rough design (created in Tinkercad and just snipped screen shots):

View: Rear Left
View attachment 1633064

View: Rear Right
View attachment 1633065

View: Front Left
View attachment 1633066

View: Front Right
View attachment 1633067

that will be so nice

 

[cavemanrich]

Looks like you are jumping in with both feet.
I call it MAINLINING
I think you will be VERY HAPPY with your new setup.