INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

In your experience, when do lavender orps start laying? Mine is 7 months and hasn’t started laying yet! Her and my welsummer are my free loaders. The welsummer is showing signs so hopefully she will stay laying any day now. But my Orpington has shown no signs!

Because it's fall, you may not see a lav orp egg until spring. (shorter days will delay the onset of production.) Mine take 8-9 months for that 1st egg! A friend has an unrelated line of English orps that take only 5.5 - 6.5 months to mature. His birds are smaller and have the very rounded basketball shape. While my orig orps have never gone broody, the ones I got from him have gone broody 2-3xs in their 1st year! So basically the answer to your ? is that it all depends.

So what happened when I mixed the two lines.....
JEWEL: a BIG Blue pullet that was difficult to sex early (had larger pink wattles & fast feather growth) She started laying at a record 5 months (it was mid summer) & then went broody at age 6 months!

Pic at 5-6 weeks Her Broody hen pic


I have a Welsummer that hatched March 4 who started laying Aug 16th (so 4.5 months old) and gives 4-5 eggs per week. She's still going strong and now gives about an egg every other day. I'm guessing she's more of a hatchery stock & she's not a cuddler. She wants nothing to do with me unless I have treats. I wanted to have some dark eggs in our basket & for that, she serves her purpose. It's probably part of her personality, but she always insists on only laying in the 4th nest box. It never matters if it's occupied. She always laid her egg on top of broody Jewel. Neither stubborn hen would give up the spot & it wasn't like there was much extra space. So, it's possible that your Wellie is laying somewhere she decided was better than the nest boxes.

 

[Nyla]

Anyone willing to donate chicken hatching eggs? My 8 year old nephew's teacher asked me if I knew of anyone who has chickens willing to donate eggs for hatching in a classroom. I told her I would ask around. They need the eggs soon so they can do a early Christmas hatch. All chicks hatched will be raised by me and then donated to a food bank.

**Note** Donated 60 ducks to a food bank last week! Felt so nice knowing I was providing food for people who are starving, but felt bad that I sent 60 ducks to their deaths..
This weekend I'm going to a homeless shelter to cook BBQ foods and drop off all the winter clothing I found for free on CL's from spring till now. (Oh boy is my spare room and attic packed!) for the homeless people.


Then Monday is my first day volunteering for a Animal rescue center. The shelter found an animal hoarder who had passed away and all his animals are locked up in small cages, over crowded and starving. We are going to catch them, bring them in for check ups and find foster homes and possibly forever homes! I was shown the property and the conditions of the animals. (Very saddening) So Monday will be a very sad day.
The property is in the middle of IL, about 3 hours away from me.

 

[eddieminguajr]

This is my first winter with my 7 chickens and I’m in the process of wintering my coop so I was wondering if i should add heat to my coop or not?

 

[Faraday40]

This is my first winter with my 7 chickens and I’m in the process of wintering my coop so I was wondering if i should add heat to my coop or not?

Everyone makes that decision based on their indiv. situation. Pros & Cons for each, of course.

We don't heat our coop, but I do have a heater inside the water bucket with horiz chicken nipples. Water stays liquid, wattles don't freeze, horiz nipples don't leak as much as the other type, and I don't have to chip ice. The coop's insulated & has good ventilation. Chickens have down & cuddle together at night. Mine have been through -40'F nights & been OK. (Worst is sometimes a roo with a tall comb may get frostbite on tips.) I keep cold-hardy breeds - like Orpingtons. I worried about my Sebright, but she learned to snuggle under the big fat orps for warmth.

For the run, we made storm windows using heavy vinyl sheeting + wooden frames. The roof & windows protect from snow & wind and keep things dry. It's sort of like a green house.

Besides fire risk, we chose not to heat the coop because the birds get slowly & naturally accustomed to the cold temps. If a coop is heated & power goes out, it could send the poor birds into shock.

 

[kanina]

My eggs seem to be doing good. Hit the one week mark. But I'm worried there's an issue. I candled last night and they're not veiny, they're just large masses. I candled an egg in the fridge for reference at day three, and there is a noticeable difference, but I thought at day 7 they would be slightly veiny. I can't find the air sac, but there is a large dense mass in the eggs. I'll try to take some pictures to post tonight.

 

[Faraday40]

My eggs seem to be doing good. Hit the one week mark. But I'm worried there's an issue. I candled last night and they're not veiny, they're just large masses. I candled an egg in the fridge for reference at day three, and there is a noticeable difference, but I thought at day 7 they would be slightly veiny. I can't find the air sac, but there is a large dense mass in the eggs. I'll try to take some pictures to post tonight.

You may need a brighter light to see the veining. Some shells are thicker or darker which make it harder to see. Even if you can't see veining, a clear egg in the fridge will look like a glowing ball of light compared to the shadowy yolk of your incubator eggs.

You should be able to see an air cell & moving the flashlight to diff areas may help you find it.

 

[Indyshent]

Hadn't thought of prey drive as a trait to breed chickens for, but these birds will just stare at a mouse. Makes me miss my Wyandottes and Welsummers. Those girls knew how to rip a mouse apart in a gory match of chicken rugby. Waiting to see if the crop of newbies has any true heirs of the dinosaurs in it. Thinking the Leghorn blood will help these babies know what to do with bugs and mice because all of my Leghorns have had extra wily, driven dispositions and regularly impersonated Spielberg's raptors.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I was taught that Buckeyes are great mousers. So far I've not seen my Buckeye girls go after a mouse.

 

[Faraday40]

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!
DD went as a chicken & carried her silkie (dressed as a girl) around.
DS took up archery this summer, so he went as a target.

 

[Nyla]

Whats a good chicken that lays a lot in the winter? Also what chicken is almost broody all the time? I want chickens for winter egg collection, and also egg hatcher's to hatch my Muscovy eggs come spring.
What chicken starts laying the earliest?