I'm never gonna get an egg!!!

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Good gravy, I was just going thru my list, and realized i have several English chocolate Orpingtons that should be laying by now!! They hatched at the end of March! :th
They really are great layers once they start. But I'm only getting 2 eggs a day from that pen, and i think there are 8 girls in there. One just finished molting, and one is raising chicks. Hmmm, I think they will need a talking-to tomorrow.
 
CABINHOLLOWNC said:
I agree ladies! We actually hung chairs in our coop so they would be there when we went out for our evening therapy session! I'll also take this opportunity to complain about my two 22 week old free loaders (Bonnie & Esmarelda)! Pictures of the guilty girls below:
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OOoohhh, I love your coop, it's beeYOUtiful!!! So creative and roomy, I love the curtains for the nest boxes! Is your one blue girl a Favaucana, she looks exactly like my Blueberry!
 
CSAchook said:
*Warning* This post is gonna be looooooong.

Sex-links: For absolute dog-like friendliness my favorite are my ISA browns. Little Ana in particular is my lil' helper chicken. If I am picking berries, she "helps" by getting on the lowest ones. If I am cleaning the poop boards, she "helps" by repeatedly climbing onto the roost and jumping into the poop piles. Basically, if I am doing anything in the yard she is right there in the middle of it. Not always helpful but sweet and absolutely hilarious. She will also jump in my lap to see what I am doing and routinely tries to follow me into the house. My ISA are also exceptional egg layers. Even now, with the days getting shorter they have hardly missed a day.
Cons: Short lifespan. They are prone to reproductive problems. Also while, exceptionally people friendly, they are BOSSY birds. Top of the pecking order and ruthless to newcomers. This makes introducing newcomers very difficult (but still totally possible. You will need plenty of space though.)

(Speckled) Sussex: I only have one and I love her! Incredibly curious and bold. I call mine Amelia Earhart because she thinks she is a great aviator and bold adventurer (she always escaped the brooder as a little and even now tries to fly out the coop door anytime I open it). Not as cuddly as my ISA's but still very people oriented. She is also very very beautiful.
Con: A good solid layer but not quite the "egg machine" that a sex-link or australorp is.

Black Australorp: I don't own any myself but they are an absolute favorite of my father. One of (if not the very best) layers among purebreds (i.e. not sex-links). They do very well in confinement (my father has a generous run but cannot free-range). They are quiet, calm, and very pretty especially when the sun hits those pretty iridescent feathers.
Cons? Some of the ones my father has are friendly but others were quite shy (but never "flighty"). I thinks they might also be a bit slower to mature than some breeds.

As you can see I love all three of these breeds! So I am sure you will be very happy with whichever one (or ones!) that you pick :)
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This is a GREAT review, thank you so much for all the info!!! I love all the descriptions of their personalities. They all sound like really great breeds for what I am looking for...I'm probably going to have to get an assortment (maybe the hub won't notice 3 or 4 more chickens after all, lol!) I am going to have to get at least a couple Sussex and a couple Australorps, I think. I love the dog-friendliness and layng capabilities of the ISA browns, but the ruthless/bossy thing freaks me out a little....we'll see!

I gotta sign off here for tonight, will catch up in the morning! G'nite good chicken peeps, sleep well! :)
 
DwayneNLiz said:
not true ;) I still plan on having some breeders
once you have a few they grow on you :oops: , super sweet personalities
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Could have had them by now, I just don't have room for them, unless i get rid of a current breed or until i do my expansion, which really isn't practical for me right now with the way my work is going. All my personal chicken business plans have been put on hold for a bit. :(
But maybe by the time you have breeders, I'll be ready by then.
 
OK, soooooo....... <no egg yet that I can see. BUT!>

This morning I was awakened by my annoying-ass cockerel crowing. But I heard these other weird noises and my hub was like "those are the chickens" and I was like "no that's some other random bird cuz my chooks don't make that noise." When I went outside I heard all this:

BukbukbukbukbubukSQUEAK!BukbukbukbukbubukSQUEAK!BukbukbukbukbubukSQUEAK!

Of course, when I got to the coop it stopped. But it was loud AF. I *think* it was Black Betty, my very-red-plump-combed banty cochin. And there was some serious raping action going on between her and Lafayette.

I googled "the egg song" and this is exactly what it sounded like. I looked all over the coops, but no egg. Do they do this before they lay? (or only after/during?) If so, how long does it usually go on before they pop one out? Also, her hooha area looked a tiny bit bloody. PLEASE tell me I will have an egg soon! Do I need to sift through tons of poop bedding, shouldn't it be proudly in the next box? FWIW, the fake egg was (unceremoniously) kicked out of the nest box into the middle of the coop a couple days ago. Does THIS mean anything? Am I reading too much into all of this?

I want that million dollar freakin' egg!!! Do tell, wonderful BYC peeps!!!!!:wee
 

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