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bwaaack said:
To everyone who suggested silkies, they seem great! But, I'm thinking not silkies, because they wouldn't like getting rained on....
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Want to bet?



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Rain never stops them. The worms are best when it rains! They need somewhere covered to dry off though.
 
bwaaack said:
Do you have to trim the feathers around their eyes?
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Yes, some of them when I can't see their eyes anymore. I used to use kitchen scissors, but now I use hubby's cordless razor. They are used to it and fall asleep while I'm buzzing around their eyes. The razor is safer than scissors, too, as one day I would be bound to poke one in the eye.
 
Debbie292d said:
Yes, some of them when I can't see their eyes anymore. I used to use kitchen scissors, but now I use hubby's cordless razor. They are used to it and fall asleep while I'm buzzing around their eyes. The razor is safer than scissors, too, as one day I would be bound to poke one in the eye.
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Hmm, I don't feel good about chickens that have been bred to extremes, like year-round eggs, or feathers covering their eyes. I think I would consider adopting silkies if there were some that needed a home, but since I'm going to be buying chickens I think this rules them out. Your silkies sound like sweethearts, though!
 
bwaaack said:
Hmm, I don't feel good about chickens that have been bred to extremes, like year-round eggs, or feathers covering their eyes. I think I would consider adopting silkies if there were some that needed a home, but since I'm going to be buying chickens I think this rules them out. Your silkies sound like sweethearts, though!
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Pretty much all hens lay year round, but slow down or stop in the winter. These just slow down, but our coop is heated so it won't go below 40F.

The cutting of the eyes is maybe once or twice a year each. It's just a little bit around each eye. You should be inspecting them at least that much anyway to be sure they don't have mites or leg mites or foot issues, etc.
 
Debbie292d said:
Pretty much all hens lay year round, but slow down or stop in the winter. These just slow down, but our coop is heated so it won't go below 40F.
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Sure, but there's a difference between a chicken that has been bred to lay 330 eggs per year (white leghorn) and the original jungle fowl which laid more like 10-30 eggs per year, depending on which source I'm looking at. If a chicken has been bred to where it hardly ever gets a day off from laying (imagine if That Time of the Month were 330 days per year), or to where if humans disappeared, the entire breed would be missing an entire sense within a year, then it has been bred to be disabled for the benefit of humans, which just doesn't sit well with me.
 
bwaaack said:
At least 3 people have mentioned broodiness. I didn't, so I'm wondering why I should be caring about broodiness? Is it because it's extra work and and less eggs?
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Breaking a broody can be a real pain. And you are correct in that they do not lay eggs when broody. The other thing about broodiness is it's catching. One goes broody, they all go broody. Then you run out of crates to put them in and you have absolutely no eggs at all!!!:barnie
 
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bwaaack said:
At least 3 people have mentioned broodiness. I didn't, so I'm wondering why I should be caring about broodiness? Is it because it's extra work and and less eggs?
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You can choose to break them like @DobieLover mentioned, and we have a crate set up for doing that. If you don't, they'll sit there pretending they're hatching eggs for about 3-4 weeks which is how long it takes. A hen sitting on eggs or pretending to sit on eggs, does not lay an egg.

It generally takes me four days to break a broody. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't bother. One in particular took me redoing her about 5 times and I gave up, then she broke herself. :idunno
 

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