I'm never gonna get an egg!!!

[Chickassan]

I don't rightfully know what's going on in that little head of his. All i know if he wants to nest up everything and sit on the few eggs i actually get I'm tempted to give him what he wants.

So do you think he thinks he's a girl or just copying the ladies?

 

[Killer Tomato]

I don't rightfully know what's going on in that little head of his. All i know if he wants to nest up everything and sit on the few eggs i actually get I'm tempted to give him what he wants.

That would be adorable.

 

[Chickassan]

I think he'd make a good little hen, something's got to happen he's driving me crazy with the nests.I'm wearing myself out smoothing out the coop floor.

That would be adorable.

 

[Crooked Chicken]

She did it! Its got a dent in it and its a wonk color but my little Bea laid.

Hey, now that's a nice looking egg! My EE Mocha is the smallest of all my girls and her eggs are smaller too. She also has a lot of breaks between eggs.

I hope their is some good coming! All I see right now is the holidays coming and being broke! And Ive def been covered in mud and rain, trying to fix that run. It was mud that sunk you up to your knees! My illness is so weird and I think Ive been tested for almost everything with no for sure result. I hope you find an answer.

On the "up" side: I found 4 eggs yesterday and they were all in a nestbox! Usually 1 is on the poop board, 1 is in a corner and 1 is in the middle of the coop floor! Here is my haul from yesterday! My camera makes everything light, all eggs are a bit darker than they appear in photo. That green looking one is actually more blue.

YAY for nest boxes. I guess I am pretty lucky that my girls have always used the nest boxes with few exceptions. One of my buff orpington's used a wood crate for her first few eggs and now lays in the nest box. And there have been several instances of soft-shelled eggs, twice accompanied by an additional egg yolk or shelless egg that have been laid on the poop board.

Omg they're killing me! Went out to feed them and they're all puffed up in a circle I'm thinking this cannot be good! Guess what? It wasn't! The dummies are puffed up around a HAWK that's trying to eat a chipmunk.....what is wrong with my chickens?!?

it's a good thing you found them before the hawk decided chickens are tastier

OK, don't laugh at me, but I'm still pretty much a noob at this chicken thing. So I got a couple of noob questions for you old-timers.

Today's egg (did I really just say that?!) had a little blood on the shell. I cleaned it off and checked my Silkie's butt. Looks like a normal Silkie butthole to me (a black smile/hole combination, if you will).

Secondly, this is like maybe her tenth egg. She was born May 1 (incidentally, the same time as I started with chickens. Coincidence? I think not). So, after she goes through this, her first laying cycle, since we're heading into winter, will she likely lay a certain amount of eggs and then stop, or will she continue to lay through the winter? I am not supplementing light in their coops, as I want them to do their natural thing, and I don't want them all getting skinny on me like Big Bird.

Thank you in advance for not laughing at my stupid questions! I love you all, peeps!

Hey -- I'm a newbie too. I started about the same time as you! I don't use lights either except to clean the coop and look for eggs. So far they have been doing really well. I've got 9 girls and have been collecting between 5 and 7 eggs per day. Got 8 once.
I don't know if they will continue this. We've only had a handful of nights at freezing temps so far. We don't use the eggs fast enough so I've been giving them away and cooking some for the chickens.

And, like I really need more eggs (ha ha) so I incubated more eggs and 9 of 12 hatched out the past couple of days. I really think I need my head examined. lol

Thank you for the quick answers! That's what I was thinking too with the bloody egg.

I'm wondering now if I should have just switched my girls over to an All Flock feed, instead of the Layena (I'm still transitioning them over from the starter crumbles they were on). I didn't realize that layer feed has *lower* protein than an all-flock, which sounds counterintuitive--you would think that if they are laying they would need more protein. I was basing my feed choice on the (faulty) logc that if one hen started laying, they all would, lol! But now I'm paranoid with my skinny Big Bird, and wondering if I should mix in some All Flock too (what I'm feeding my other coop of nonlaying birds and my cockerel).

Just when you think you're getting a good grip on all this stuff, eh?

You know, I've had that same thought -- what to feed. They were on the starter crumbles until about 16 weeks I think and then put them on the all flock. Then I got layer food and started that when they started laying eggs. I keep reading all these do's and don'ts of feeding and it's terribly confusing. Since I not only feed the girls and the rooster from the same feeders, I also have the 2 mucky ducks. So.... I decided to mix layer and all flock for a short time and now they are just getting all flock. They get the all-you-can-eat oyster shell, once in a while I will sprinkle a small amount of ground up eggshell on a bowl of treats. They get out to forage several times a week right now, but that will probably change when it's really icy, snowy or rainy.

Whoa! They're hardcore. I like their style. My chickens are all peace and love and rainbow West Coast Hippie Chicks -- they run to me if there's a butterfly in the yard!

Dang - having a hard time typing. I have a teenie tiny papercut on my finger and it'sso painful

 

[andreanar]

Didn't have as good of luck with that flock block thing they sell,chickens hated it birds barely ate it.

That flock block was useless to my girls! My last flock loved it. I was hoping it would keeping them pecking at something else besides poor Lucy's feathers. And you were abso-insert swear word here-lutely correct in that those stinkin favs lay eggs like a dang parakeet! Rosie acts like the world is coming to an end, all kinds of drama for 2 hrs, just to squeeze out that tiny little egg!

You have to be *sobbing* and covered in mud and rain

Does it count that my sister was sobbing? She's hefty, and the mud sucked her down like quick sand and she couldn't get unstuck, so she cried! I was laughing so hard that I peed my pants a little!

 

[apryl29]

I'm the liberal newbie city slicker in a tiny logging town, judgement was passed on me pretty early! Needless to say, I'm not getting invited to join any volunteer committees anymore..... Whatever will I do without the endless string of "It's a potluck!" invitations?

Yes, love the liquor store that is our Costco/Walmart/Tractor Supply -- and my chickens are really good company (look how we've circled back to the Introvert conversation!!!).

I'm not a committee joiner. My kids' school has all these things and I'm like No thanks. I try to buy stuff from their sales (I have a lifetime supply of tangelos in my fridge as I type), but I don't people.

He can use any bathroom he's comfortable with!

Bahhahahahahhhh

Hey -- I'm a newbie too. I started about the same time as you! I don't use lights either except to clean the coop and look for eggs. So far they have been doing really well. I've got 9 girls and have been collecting between 5 and 7 eggs per day. Got 8 once.
I don't know if they will continue this. We've only had a handful of nights at freezing temps so far. We don't use the eggs fast enough so I've been giving them away and cooking some for the chickens.

You know, I've had that same thought -- what to feed. They were on the starter crumbles until about 16 weeks I think and then put them on the all flock. Then I got layer food and started that when they started laying eggs. I keep reading all these do's and don'ts of feeding and it's terribly confusing. Since I not only feed the girls and the rooster from the same feeders, I also have the 2 mucky ducks. So.... I decided to mix layer and all flock for a short time and now they are just getting all flock. They get the all-you-can-eat oyster shell, once in a while I will sprinkle a small amount of ground up eggshell on a bowl of treats. They get out to forage several times a week right now, but that will probably change when it's really icy, snowy or rainy.





Dang - having a hard time typing. I have a teenie tiny papercut on my finger and it'sso painful

I'm in the same boat - newbie. I put a light in the coop on a timer just b/c the sun rises at 7 now and sets at 5... I'm worried they won't have enough hours to eat enough. The light turns on at 6, I free them around 8 ish on weekdays, a little later during the weekend (my chickens don't live w/ me). Then at night the light turns on at 4 and off at 7. I close their door after 5 when they've all come inside. Yesterday I was out there and several of them were already on the roosts ready for bed at 5, others were still outside for a little longer. The light had been on until 8, but I figured if they're ok w/ going to bed at 5 then why am I forcing them to stay up later?

It snowed here the other day and mine didn't care a bit. When it first started to snow they thought the tiny snow pellets were treats and were going crazy eating them all! I was shocked that they even wanted out, but they happily ran around. They haven't been out ranging in actual snow yet, I'm kind of interested to see what they think of it.

Have you tried super glue on the cut?

That flock block was useless to my girls! My last flock loved it. I was hoping it would keeping them pecking at something else besides poor Lucy's feathers. And you were abso-insert swear word here-lutely correct in that those stinkin favs lay eggs like a dang parakeet! Rosie acts like the world is coming to an end, all kinds of drama for 2 hrs, just to squeeze out that tiny little egg!



Does it count that my sister was sobbing? She's hefty, and the mud sucked her down like quick sand and she couldn't get unstuck, so she cried! I was laughing so hard that I peed my pants a little!

Mine seem to like the flock block.. When they were little I gave them those babycake things and they didn't last long at all. I tossed a block in there last week. I was hoping to hold off until Dec to put it in, but I figured if they end up inside more b/c of the cold I wanted them to have something to do. Have anyone tried the treat balls? https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/manna-pro-chicken-toy?cm_vc=-10005
I saw them last week and wondered if it was worth it to get one.

 

[Chickassan]

I told you! It's a production, and all for the tiniest egg that's not much bigger than a poop. Tucks would go from nest to nest complaining as loud as possible for at least two hours and then factor in an hour to actually lay then she'd hop off and eat like a pig and do her egg song thing. I don't even want to know what Lulu is going to whip out when she finally decides to grace me with one of those parakeet eggs.

That flock block was useless to my girls! My last flock loved it. I was hoping it would keeping them pecking at something else besides poor Lucy's feathers. And you were abso-insert swear word here-lutely correct in that those stinkin favs lay eggs like a dang parakeet! Rosie acts like the world is coming to an end, all kinds of drama for 2 hrs, just to squeeze out that tiny little egg!



Does it count that my sister was sobbing? She's hefty, and the mud sucked her down like quick sand and she couldn't get unstuck, so she cried! I was laughing so hard that I peed my pants a little!

 

[apryl29]

They're crazy, I swear! This morning my delaware was in the nest and taking FOREVER but I didn't want to leave any eggs b/c they'd been eating them a few weeks ago... so I stuck my hand in and found 3 eggs piled in front of her. Took them and left, then I hear someone in there having a fit. Not sure if the delaware was mad I took the eggs or another one who was mad b/c she wanted THE nest to lay her egg and the delaware was taking too long.

 

[Chickassan]

Ha! I'm suprised you didn't get pecked, Marlene will absolutely light me up if i reach under her. I don't know if its the egg size or what but Delawares are sloow. I went out yesterday to give the girls dinner and Hobo was on the nest, i didn't want her to miss out so i put some in my hand and gave her some. I had a boiled egg yolk an absolute favorite, and I'll be smacked if that hen didn't stand up,squint, pop her egg out and go straight for that egg yolk in my feed cup! That dominicker is an absolute beast!

They're crazy, I swear! This morning my delaware was in the nest and taking FOREVER but I didn't want to leave any eggs b/c they'd been eating them a few weeks ago... so I stuck my hand in and found 3 eggs piled in front of her. Took them and left, then I hear someone in there having a fit. Not sure if the delaware was mad I took the eggs or another one who was mad b/c she wanted THE nest to lay her egg and the delaware was taking too long.

 

[WVduckchick]

I want a liquor store that sells chicken feed!

(or a feed store that sells liquor would work too. lol)