Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[Finnie]

Finnie, do you still think it is/was Corabeth? Our EE lays a range of blue to green sometimes pale and sometimes more concentrated.

Yeah, since I didn't get a single other one like it in the week following, now I figure it must have just been one of the Lav Ams, laying an off one. There is one of the Lav Ams who rarely lays any more, so I'm thinking it must be that one. and her system is out of whack. But, I have gotten two new small brown eggs, yesterday and today, so SOMEONE has started to lay, but like you, I have to figure out who.

Speaking of eggs, I found a surprise in one nest boxes yesterday afternoon. Amelia and Baby our two brown egg laying hens had laid in the morning, I went out to lunch with my dad and later when I went out to check for eggs, I found Clara's blue-green egg, Victoria's white egg and a tiny little brown egg! Woo Hoo!!

Nice photos, Autumnhearth. I'm glad Cornelia is doing better.


I've noticed this week that Amelia's eggs have been getting rounder and Baby's eggs have been getting longer that usual.

I sometimes notice eggs getting longer than usual too.

You have some nice rich browns in there. So far, other than my Welsummer when she actually laid, the only brown eggs I have gotten have been a pale tan. I am looking forward to some richer brown tones.

 

[Finnie]

Wooo Hooooo. We got our first egg today!!! We think it was Coco CHanel (upper right).

Woo Hoo!! I love first eggs!

(And I love blue splash- yours are really pretty.)

 

[Finnie]

@Pandapaws23 Your flock is looking very nice. I agree with Autumnhearth's guesses.


I was only gone 4 days, but on the 5th day, when I got to see my chickens again, I was amazed at how much they grew while I wasn't looking. My littlest babies are getting SO big, and my 21 week olds are huge! I really hope they lay nice big eggs for me, because I'm kind of tired of the pullet size that my lav ams seem to be sticking with. They are so small that I now cook three per person instead of the usual two.

 

[autumnhearth]

So I caught Snow in the coop singing a pathetic egg song yesterday and a tiny warm pullet egg was sitting in the nest box. Mystery solved!


Gah I love these fairy eggs! Look at range of shades on these three! The last creamy one has little brown speckles, so cute! And they are all so tiny!

Before she laid the third one I took these pics with our big girls' first eggs for fun. We blow out the first few eggs to keep


Snow's first two with Clara our EE's, who was our very first layer.


Clockwise from top: Morgaine our BCM's third egg (they kept getting darker until after a month she just stopped, RIP), Amelia our Golden Buff's started out with a strong lavender bloom on them but her standard is a nice caramel, Clara the EE's first, Snow's first, Baby the Buff Orp's first (again a more purplish pink, they are usually peach to tan) and Victoria our Silver Grey Dorking's second (husband wanted to crack open and fry up her first one) her eggs have stayed pretty small while everyone else's have gotten much bigger.


Amelia's huge egg on the left with Clara and Baby's behind.

Sorry I just love eggs!

Waiting for good pics from my friend's camera. Pema the Light Brahma is officially the biggest girl in our flock at 22 weeks old and still growing!

 

[Finnie]

Sorry I just love eggs!

I know, it's weird, isn't it? I was looking at my eggs yesterday and thinking, Why? Before I had chickens, I could care less about eggs. Now I'm obsessed with them.

That's a pretty group. I can't wait until I have more diversity. We have three now of the small brown egg we found in the grass on Friday. They get laid properly in the nest now, and are there first thing when I open up the coop in the morning. I have so many at the right age, that I couldn't even guess at which one it is, except it can't be the olive egger. Well, it would be very disappointing if it was, but she (Corabeth) won't let the rooster near her, so I think she still isn't ready yet.

It's fun seeing everybody's itty bitty chicks from the spring starting to lay. I can't believe how fast the summer is flying by. My son has started school already!

 

[hyzenthlay]

I've been MIA with things being busy around here, but congratulations to everyone getting eggs now from their spring chicks! It's exciting to see the eggs start coming, and the little girls looking so grown up, even though we're still a ways away from having eggs from the young girls here. We did have a great development over the weekend, though--we finally finished the coop expansion (well, almost finished it! just a few finishing touches left) for the little girls to move outside full time! I was tired of hauling them in and out of the basement every day and maintaining food and water and entertainment in their little makeshift runs.

I don't have any official pics of the finished coop yet, but I do have a few updated pics of the girls. The older ones are 12 weeks old today, and the younger ones are 7 weeks old. I was nervous about integrating them, since they have always lived separately, but we did it under close supervision yesterday and it seems to be going ok. Violet (SGD) and Delphine (Blue Ameraucana) did go after the littles a few times, but I was there to intervene and reprimand, and after that everyone seemed to keep to themselves. They aren't buddies or anything yet--they cluster together with their own group and mostly avoid each other, but hopefully they can coexist peacefully.

Here is our BLRW, who is definitely turning out to be a dark blue rather than black--I think I can say that with confidence at this point.


Here is the group of littles in the upstairs portion of the coop addition:


Nigella, the BA, at 7 weeks. Are those white wingtips normal on a BA at this age? I haven't done any research to look into it, but I was surprised to see the white. She's perching on the rodent proof feeder we just got. Even the older chicks mostly aren't heavy enough to open the feeder yet--we may need to take the weight off for awhile. For now, I'm just giving them food in a little pile on the floor, which isn't ideal.


And Narcissa, the BO. She is starting to develop a nice deep golden color.


And here are my 12 weekers--from left to right, Violet, Petunia, and Delphine. Petunia is looking more speckled than cuckoo at this point--I hope her white becomes more pronounced as she matures. Again, I haven't looked into the Cuckoo Marans stages of development to see if this is normal or not--anyone happen to know?


The big girls checking out their new neighbors. I think I could integrate at least the older chicks with the adult flock at this point, but we have decided to keep them separate for awhile because we want to give all the chicks at least a month or so to hang out in the coop so they come to view it as home, and we want to let the older girls continue to have free access during the day to both their coop and the yard. So, all the chicks are sequestered for now in the new part of the coop (which was built on the back side of the original coop), which allows us to keep the front door of the coop open for the adults' comings and goings. Except.... for the next couple days, the adults are going to stay cooped up as well, since with all the disruption and construction around the coop, some of them have taken to laying their eggs out in the yard. I found a big clutch of 10 eggs a couple weeks ago near our patio, but since I took those, some of the hens have been laying in undisclosed locations that I have not yet found. So, it's chicken jail for them until they reestablish their good habits. At least it's a nice, freshly power-washed and renovated jail with lots of treats and and amenities.

 

[Finnie]

I've been MIA with things being busy around here, I know what you mean!

but congratulations to everyone getting eggs now from their spring chicks! It's exciting to see the eggs start coming, and the little girls looking so grown up, Thanks. You are half way there!

even though we're still a ways away from having eggs from the young girls here. We did have a great development over the weekend, though--we finally finished the coop expansion (well, almost finished it! just a few finishing touches left) Congratulations- I can't wait to see pictures. (All right, I wanted to put an exclamation point, but I think I am over using them.

)

for the little girls to move outside full time! I was tired of hauling them in and out of the basement every day Wow, I didn't realize you were still doing that. What a chore. and maintaining food and water and entertainment in their little makeshift runs.

I don't have any official pics of the finished coop yet, but I do have a few updated pics of the girls. The older ones are 12 weeks old today, and the younger ones are 7 weeks old. I was nervous about integrating them, since they have always lived separately, but we did it under close supervision yesterday and it seems to be going ok. Violet (SGD) and Delphine (Blue Ameraucana) did go after the littles a few times, but I was there to intervene and reprimand, and after that everyone seemed to keep to themselves. They aren't buddies or anything yet--they cluster together with their own group and mostly avoid each other, but hopefully they can coexist peacefully. I have noticed that my oldest group has segregated themselves into two groups for the most part. And the same with my second age group. It's by color/breed, too, so that must matter to them more than I realized. It will be interesting to see how it goes with those of you who don't have doubles of one breed.

Here is our BLRW, who is definitely turning out to be a dark blue rather than black--I think I can say that with confidence at this point. Woo hoo!

I know these aren't her permanent feathers, but it looks like she is getting well-defined lacing.

Here is the group of littles in the upstairs portion of the coop addition:


Narcissa, the BA, at 7 weeks. Are those white wingtips normal on a BA at this age? IDK about BAs, but my Black Langshans took forever to lose the white tips on their wings. Even when I saw them molting out on the ground, they still retained some tiny white tips for a while longer. I haven't done any research to look into it, but I was surprised to see the white. She's perching on the rodent proof feeder we just got. Even the older chicks mostly aren't heavy enough to open the feeder yet--we may need to take the weight off for awhile. For now, I'm just giving them food in a little pile on the floor, which isn't ideal.


And Narcissa, the BO. She is starting to develop a nice deep golden color.

Pretty. I miss my BOs.

And here are my 12 weekers--from left to right, Violet, Petunia, and Delphine.

She's still got that saucy, "Turn the camera to me" pose and attitude! Does she seem like the dominant one in the group? Petunia is looking more speckled than cuckoo at this point--I hope her white becomes more pronounced as she matures. Again, I haven't looked into the Cuckoo Marans stages of development to see if this is normal or not--anyone happen to know? No clue, but she does seem darker than Barred Rock photos I've seen of that age.


The big girls checking out their new neighbors. I think I could integrate at least the older chicks with the adult flock at this point, but we have decided to keep them separate for awhile because we want to give all the chicks at least a month or so to hang out in the coop so they come to view it as home, and we want to let the older girls continue to have free access during the day to both their coop and the yard. So, all the chicks are sequestered for now in the new part of the coop (which was built on the back side of the original coop), which allows us to keep the front door of the coop open for the adults' comings and goings. Except.... for the next couple days, the adults are going to stay cooped up as well, since with all the disruption and construction around the coop, some of them have taken to laying their eggs out in the yard. I found a big clutch of 10 eggs a couple weeks ago near our patio, but since I took those, some of the hens have been laying in undisclosed locations that I have not yet found. So, it's chicken jail for them until they reestablish their good habits. At least it's a nice, freshly power-washed and renovated jail with lots of treats and and amenities. A side benefit to jail time near the chicks might be that they get used to their presence more than if they spent their days free ranging.




I should probably make a point of going MIA from the forum a little more than I do. I'm starting to feel the pressure of not much summertime left, and a lot of non-optional extra jobs coming up on my plate. Oh, I just remembered why I checked in to this thread this morning in the first place.

 

[Finnie]

I got another "olive" colored egg this morning. The Lavender Ameraucanas laid both of theirs in late afternoon/early evening yesterday, so I'm pretty sure this slightly darker green egg must be from Corabeth. It has a matte finish, whereas the lav ams are usually shiny. I think it's odd that she waited 10 days between her first two eggs. I've been checking all around the yard lately looking for hidden eggs, just in case, what with all the newbie layers I am expecting. So far we've only found the one brown one out in the yard. And both of these green kind have been in the coop, so I feel like Corabeth will at least be consistent with that. I am also wondering if she has been laying soft shelled ones these last ten days, which may get eaten before I see them. But I've seen no signs of yolk in the pine shavings. Until today...

Today I did not get my "first thing in the morning" brown egg. What I did get first thing, was ELIZABETH in a nest box, EATING a soft shelled egg!! I took it away from her, and also all the yolky mess of pine chips. I hope she's not getting a taste for eggs. But I kind of think that they figure the soft shelled ones are fair game. I have not seen anybody break a proper shelled egg since way back when Wendolene first had her issues. And even she got to where she left the real shell ones alone and only ate the soft. Well, at least I am giving Elizabeth the benefit of a doubt for now. But I bet that brown egg I've been getting is hers.

In other chick news, I think I need to search the forum for ways people have of teaching their chicks to go into the coop at night. I thought keeping them confined to the coop and run for their first two weeks would bond them with it. (This is my youngest group I am talking about.) But from the day I started letting them free range, they try to sleep anywhere but inside the coop. It's getting really annoying to have to relocate sleeping chickens every night. (My older group is starting to do it too, ever since the rooster switched from his coop to theirs.) Out of 19 chickens, I only have 7 that go to roost inside now, and 12 that I have to lift off the top of a 6' chain link fence and move inside myself. I think it's going to be a hard habit to break, because they have started it at a young age. So now they think at night you go Up, and not In.

 

[hyzenthlay]

Thanks, Finnie! I know what you mean about the exclamation points--they seem to convey the right tone better than periods, but then it can feel like you're using them too much. Re: the new, improved coop, I plan to take pictures when it's all done--my husband doesn't want to put the weathervane back on until everything else is done since it's like the cherry on top, but I think the coop looks a little naked without it, so I can't take my "after" pictures yet. We unfortunately didn't get very much in the way of "during" pictures, so before and afters will have to do.

It's interesting that your guys have separated themselves into different groups. My 4 adults seem to hang out together for the most part, not all the time, but generally in the same vicinity or in varying groups of 2. I have 2 EEs in that group, but they look different, so maybe they don't recognize themselves as being similar. Other than those two EEs I don't have any 2 of the same breed, so they'll have to find another way to sort themselves out. This morning the two age groups of chicks were still self-segregated and sticking closely with their own groups.

I think BLRW's lacing is turning out pretty well! And now that I know her color, I'll have to settle on a name for her. I did some reading on the BAs last night, and it does seem they can keep those white wingtips for a while but that they will eventually molt out, so that's good. And I couldn't find any additional info on the CM coloring in terms of getting lighter with age, but just looking at pictures I saw a fair number of pullets that looked dark like that, and not so many adult hens, so hopefully that's something that changes with age, too. I can't tell if Delphine is truly dominant--which might be hard for her to maintain, since she is by far the smallest of that group--but she is the sauciest, fast and loud and assertive. Violet is still very sweet and docile with me (which is why i was surprised that she was the first to go after the babies when I introduced them), and Petunia is the biggest and heaviest but also the most nervous/shy with people.

As for the jail time, I do think it's good for the reason you say. And regarding your ladies that are roosting for the night in the wrong places, I remember reading way back that you were supposed to keep them cooped up for something like 4-6 weeks to really get the urge to return to the coop to stick. I did that, and mine always return to the coop at night religiously. So maybe 2 weeks was just too short? And/or maybe you have one ringleader that's setting a bad example for the others? Have you tried luring them all into the coop at night with treats before they roost? It's a pain to keep them cooped up (I always feel guilty about it and spend more time down there making sure they have lots of treats and entertainment), but it also sounds like a real chore to relocate sleeping chickens as you say, so maybe it would be worth trying a longer stint of being cooped up. That would also get all the newbie layers in the habit of laying their eggs in the right place, which could be another good benefit. Sorry to hear about the egg eating! We haven't seen soft shelled eggs here--between the layer crumble and some occasional access to oyster shell (I'm not as good at keeping them supplied with that as I should be), they seem to have enough calcium. I assume you've tried all that?

I hope Corabeth's eggs get more olive for you. I know my EEs' egg colors are all over the place from day to day, much less from the beginning of the season to the end. I have just 2 EEs, and their egg colors range from a vivid blue green like a true Ameraucana, to a duller version of the same, to a very pale almost whitish green, to a light olive color, and back again. Sometimes they're much more pigmented at the tip, and sometimes they're kind of speckled. It really is neat to see what you'll get every day. I'm sure Corabeth's eggs will change as she matures!

 

[Finnie]

Here is what I worked on today:

Blossom modelling the new tripod roost.



Muffin photo-bombing Aggie's glam shot:


Today I finally put it together. I've had the pieces cut and painted for weeks. Maybe months, I forget. But it's one more step in my chicken containment plans.

We are having work done to the outside of our house in September, and I need to get the dog-kennel chicken run finished so that I can keep the chickens and turkeys out of the way of the workers. I thought they were going to start work in the spring, so I'm kind of lucky that it has taken so long to get all the contracts and paperwork ready. I have some bird netting to put over the top of the run, but I needed something to keep the netting from sagging down in the middle. And since the turkeys won't be able to go on top of the fence after it's covered up, I'm hoping they won't mind roosting on this instead. The other steps I have to do are to attach the fence to the coop, put wire across the legs of the coop, and fix a couple of holes in the chain link. And then I'll need to finally add the pop door to the coop, since with the current door, they will basically be locked out of the kennel, not in it. I'm so happy to finally have made a small bit of progress on this.

AND I have egg pictures!

Peppermint laid her first egg yesterday!

Here are her first two, yesterday's and today's:


I guess she's still figuring out how she wants to lay the pigment on.

Here are all five eggs I collected today. (No Corabeth.)



Left to right, Elizabeth's, the two Lavender Ameraucanas', Jenny my Barred Rock's, and Peppermint's. That's the order I found them throughout the day. Elizabeth was in the nest box first thing this morning, so I waited around just in case it was soft shelled again, so I could take it away from her before she could eat it. So I was happy that it was nice and regular. She was funny. After she laid it, she went to the door of the coop and did this short little quiet egg song. So now I know for sure what her eggs look like.

Peppermint on the other hand was in and out of the nest box all afternoon, fussing and cackling and complaining very loudly. Only every time I thought it was an egg song, I would go look and find no egg. It was finally there about dinner time, and she was back about her usual business, which she is usually fairly quiet as a rule.

I think it's strange that Corabeth has only laid 2 eggs in 13 days. I've been keeping a sharp eye out for any yolk messes, and for any stash hidden in the yard. I wonder if I need to look outside the yard. Cuz she is one of the naughty threesome who likes to hop the fence and go for a walk in the wide wide world every day. I haven't seen any eggs on their usual route, but maybe I need to spy on them better and see where they might be sneaking off to.