Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[jtn42248]

Soooo.... Almost 2 weeks ago, I found the first egg of my tiny flock of 4... just 1 day after I put the golf balls in the nest. I knew who laid it because she came up into the coop when I got it and she told me all about it... My son's Dominique, Bobbie at exactly 19 weeks was the first to lay.... Pretty early,.. then a week and a half passed until the next egg was laid... that was Wednesday... I believe it was her again... then... another day passes and egg #3... I was thinking it could be my Black Australorp, Edna, because she is very interested in the nesting boxes and was talking to me as well... then today, another egg... I cleaned the coop, run and boxes today and kept checking on them after that because my Mommie senses were tingling... nothing at the next 2 checks, but I went out at 5 and heard BOCK< BOCK< bock, bock,bock, BOCK< BOCK! over and over all the way to the coop.... I arrived seeing 3 hens in the run staring into the coop with looks of fright in their eyes.... Bobbie is sitting, quietly now, in her nest as I open the top... there is her little brown egg, still nice and warm.... I pet her until she got out of the nest telling her what a great chickie she was and thanking her... i ran the egg into the house so that my 9 yr old son could still feel how warm his egg from his chicken was... we passed it to everyone in the family... now I want to quit my job and stay home, outside with my chickens all day so I can be there with them when they lay eggs.... I am surprised I am not lactating... hahahahaha As a newby, one of the best days ever. All four are Meyers babies.

 

[Melabella]

Soooo.... Almost 2 weeks ago, I found the first egg of my tiny flock of 4... just 1 day after I put the golf balls in the nest. I knew who laid it because she came up into the coop when I got it and she told me all about it... My son's Dominique, Bobbie at exactly 19 weeks was the first to lay.... Pretty early,.. then a week and a half passed until the next egg was laid... that was Wednesday... I believe it was her again... then... another day passes and egg #3... I was thinking it could be my Black Australorp, Edna, because she is very interested in the nesting boxes and was talking to me as well... then today, another egg... I cleaned the coop, run and boxes today and kept checking on them after that because my Mommie senses were tingling... nothing at the next 2 checks, but I went out at 5 and heard BOCK< BOCK< bock, bock,bock, BOCK< BOCK! over and over all the way to the coop.... I arrived seeing 3 hens in the run staring into the coop with looks of fright in their eyes.... Bobbie is sitting, quietly now, in her nest as I open the top... there is her little brown egg, still nice and warm.... I pet her until she got out of the nest telling her what a great chickie she was and thanking her... i ran the egg into the house so that my 9 yr old son could still feel how warm his egg from his chicken was... we passed it to everyone in the family... now I want to quit my job and stay home, outside with my chickens all day so I can be there with them when they lay eggs.... I am surprised I am not lactating... hahahahaha As a newby, one of the best days ever. All four are Meyers babies.

Oh Gosh, I understand you completely! I have wasted HOURS sitting in the grow out stall watching the youngins peck around and watch their behavior. I can't wait until they are all laying. I will be beside myself. These are my second flocks I am raising. I rehomed my older flock of layers, and have been missing them and feeling guilty. Chicken math got the better of me, and with the older girls slowing down with the laying, it was cut down on some chickens, or get served divorce papers! lol....not really, but kinda not....

MB

 

[COChix]

Hey gang, OMG! I have been swamped with harvest from garden, stacking wood, canning, baking and just getting ready for winter. I am soooo behind on posts, but have been skimming when I can.

I wanted to post some pictures of a project/collaboration we are working on with a couple different charities. So we are donating farm fresh eggs to people in need. Last week we were able to make our first donation to Harvest of Hope, they are a food pantry. We donated six dozen colorful eggs to their program and hope to donated that much in every two weeks or so. This program does not receive eggs to then pass out to the people they serve, so they are pretty excited.

Here are a few pictures, as you can tell our flock is becoming and egg laying machine, we are getting 14-18 eggs a day. I know for sure all the EE are laying, besides that I am not sure who is not laying yet. Too hard to spend all day with the chickens to see who is and isn't laying. I had to laugh at whoever said they wanted to quit their job to spend more time with the girls, I couldn't agree more, now that most everyone is laying the girls are friendly and are eating a ton!

You all post like crazy, it is hard to keep up! Happy fall to everyone and their flocks.

 

[trsturself]

So, it turns out the first horse we bought was not a good fit for my daughter. So we are selling her to someone that has a lot more experience and a trainer friend that can work her into the excellent horse she can be. We've been looking for another horse and found a great little calm arabian today for her. I'll post pics when we get her home.

We also picked up a farm kitten to hep with the mice population out in the barn and chicken area. He was pretty feral when we got him, hissing and attacking when you tried to pick him up. We've had him 2 days and tonight DD was out there with him laying in her lap purring. It was a much quicker transition than I expected.

Our girls aren't laying well at all. Only got 1 egg today. My mom thinks maybe the rooster is stressing everyone out. Dinner was supposed to be done today but we were gone all day so he'll have to wait until tomorrow. When he was locked up for the last week the dynamics of the flock were calmer. We have 3 girls that were spending their whole day in the coop afraid to eat and drink but after a few days they started coming out again. Then Dinner broke out of his pen yesterday and we saw him fighting over a hen with another one and they get a lot more aggressive. I can't wait until he's gone!

 

[autumnhearth]

COChix- that is fantastic that you were able to do that! With only two laying in a flock of five if I give half a dozen to my neighbors or a sibling, that means we are without eggs for a few days. I hope to one day be in your position where I can sell and donate!

Trsturself- Ooo I love Arabians. I rode horses as an adolescent and collected Grand Champions horse toys (which I find a parallel to when making lists and saving pics of chicken breeds I want) and the Arabian mares were always my favorite (to collect not to ride, I mostly rode a lazy old paint gelding named Roper). Good luck with Dinner today. I roasted a whole chicken last night that we got from Fresh Fork Market, a CSA in our area that sources lots of pastured and humanely raised meat. The giblets were included so that was an experience. It turned out really well, crispy skin and moist inside. But after dinner when I was separating meat from bone for leftovers and soup and felt a bit ill. I wonder if I would have felt better if it was a mean rooster. Next Saturday we are goin on a day long tour of farms (from 7:30am-6pm) with Fresh Fork and get the chance to milk a cow, grind grain and process a chicken. Good skill to have. Yesterday we went to the apple orchard on the eastside which we prefer to the one near us and then met the woman who distributes the organic chicken feed. We bought two 50lb bags and a bag of scratch which has a bunch if great ingredients in it. When we got home I opened up the bag and scooped out a few cups and experimented with making a crumble, as soon as I added the water and started mixing with my hands it smelled like sweet apples, I had to double check it wasn't the smell of the orchard. Girls love it!

 

[trsturself]

COChix- that is fantastic that you were able to do that! With only two laying in a flock of five if I give half a dozen to my neighbors or a sibling, that means we are without eggs for a few days. I hope to one day be in your position where I can sell and donate!

Trsturself- Ooo I love Arabians. I rode horses as an adolescent and collected Grand Champions horse toys (which I find a parallel to when making lists and saving pics of chicken breeds I want) and the Arabian mares were always my favorite (to collect not to ride, I mostly rode a lazy old paint gelding named Roper). Good luck with Dinner today. I roasted a whole chicken last night that we got from Fresh Fork Market, a CSA in our area that sources lots of pastured and humanely raised meat. The giblets were included so that was an experience. It turned out really well, crispy skin and moist inside. But after dinner when I was separating meat from bone for leftovers and soup and felt a bit ill. I wonder if I would have felt better if it was a mean rooster. Next Saturday we are goin on a day long tour of farms (from 7:30am-6pm) with Fresh Fork and get the chance to milk a cow, grind grain and process a chicken. Good skill to have. Yesterday we went to the apple orchard on the eastside which we prefer to the one near us and then met the woman who distributes the organic chicken feed. We bought two 50lb bags and a bag of scratch which has a bunch if great ingredients in it. When we got home I opened up the bag and scooped out a few cups and experimented with making a crumble, as soon as I added the water and started mixing with my hands it smelled like sweet apples, I had to double check it wasn't the smell of the orchard. Girls love it!

That sounds like a great CSA! And the food sounds yummy. I love it when pet food smells edible!

 

[COChix]

COChix- that is fantastic that you were able to do that! With only two laying in a flock of five if I give half a dozen to my neighbors or a sibling, that means we are without eggs for a few days. I hope to one day be in your position where I can sell and donate!

Trsturself- Ooo I love Arabians. I rode horses as an adolescent and collected Grand Champions horse toys (which I find a parallel to when making lists and saving pics of chicken breeds I want) and the Arabian mares were always my favorite (to collect not to ride, I mostly rode a lazy old paint gelding named Roper). Good luck with Dinner today. I roasted a whole chicken last night that we got from Fresh Fork Market, a CSA in our area that sources lots of pastured and humanely raised meat. The giblets were included so that was an experience. It turned out really well, crispy skin and moist inside. But after dinner when I was separating meat from bone for leftovers and soup and felt a bit ill. I wonder if I would have felt better if it was a mean rooster. Next Saturday we are goin on a day long tour of farms (from 7:30am-6pm) with Fresh Fork and get the chance to milk a cow, grind grain and process a chicken. Good skill to have. Yesterday we went to the apple orchard on the eastside which we prefer to the one near us and then met the woman who distributes the organic chicken feed. We bought two 50lb bags and a bag of scratch which has a bunch if great ingredients in it. When we got home I opened up the bag and scooped out a few cups and experimented with making a crumble, as soon as I added the water and started mixing with my hands it smelled like sweet apples, I had to double check it wasn't the smell of the orchard. Girls love it!

thanks and it was q good feeling to be able to donate, today we will be donating another 6 dozen to the other charity we are working with.

That CSA sounds like a good one, love the story about the apple smelling feed.

So, it turns out the first horse we bought was not a good fit for my daughter. So we are selling her to someone that has a lot more experience and a trainer friend that can work her into the excellent horse she can be. We've been looking for another horse and found a great little calm arabian today for her. I'll post pics when we get her home. 

grew up riding, had a half Arabian half wild mustang that I had for a summer, what a blast she was. Taught her how to jump that summer, I am sure you daughter will love her. I always thought Arabians were so pretty in the head area......I miss horses.

 

[jtn42248]

Ditto on the donate. We have a couple of regular customers but we are so far out in the country not many people drive all this way to buy eggs. We are not allowed to sell them in town unless we pasteurize them first so we usually end up with between 9 and 14 dozen unsold egg each week. We cook and mix a few with our dogs food but most of them we take into town and donate to a local food bank/kitchen. They provide meals (breakfast and lunch) to about 500 elderly each week and then do the regular food bank thing. They are always so happy to get the eggs too. They get plenty of donated canned stuff and even things like cornbread mix, pancake mix, etc. but very few eggs that are needed to make those things. I think it makes much more sense than just destroying the eggs.

 

[NotableNancy]

Quote: (wanted to resize your pic but deleted by accident.) Anyway, I finally got a good look at my OE's legs and mine has one teeny feather growing out of 1 toe and one stray feather on a leg!! LOL so funny looking. I'm sure it will get pecked off by another chicken as she gets bigger. My OE's legs remind me of my Cuckoo marans legs when I had her .... so maybe mine is a CCL X feather legged CM???

I really want Ameraucanas....I've read they are a good, docile, medium sized chicken to go with. I'm always looking for outside opinions on that though. I'm also stupidly excited about them laying blue eggs.

Sorry I'm so late in welcoming you!! I'm still after the elusive blue egg layer ... I see nothing silly about it! LOL, my family thinks I'm a bit 'off' but I don't. I got 2 CCL from a breeder and they ended up laying green eggs so I'm still after those sky blue eggs!

Hi Everyone! Gosh, there's been a lot of posts lately, so hard to keep up. We went to the coast for a few days and have been completely remodeling our kitchen so I've been very short on time. I love the newly hatched chick pics and all the pictures of the Meyer's girls and the non-Meyer's girls too. I had mentioned posting pics of the chicken fountain. It is all set up now and I am hoping in full use, especially since I took the other waterer away.


I was worried about Buffy the BLP, but I did see her drinking from it today. I was afraid she'd have trouble because of all those head feathers. That's Olivia, my older EE drinking on the right. I installed it right under their patio area. There is a roof above the patio too so they can go right out of the coop and get water even in bad weather. There's plenty of drinking spots on the mega waterer, 10 places in fact.



and to end this post on a nice and pretty note. Here is Lacie the GLW and Big Mama the BO with Buffy the BLP's rear in between them. All my girls are Meyer's girls for those asking about their chickens in earlier posts.

Love the waterer!!! I'm sure it's nice to be able to leave them a few days and not have to worry about them.

Soooo.... Almost 2 weeks ago, I found the first egg of my tiny flock of 4... just 1 day after I put the golf balls in the nest. I knew who laid it because she came up into the coop when I got it and she told me all about it... My son's Dominique, Bobbie at exactly 19 weeks was the first to lay.... Pretty early,.. then a week and a half passed until the next egg was laid... that was Wednesday... I believe it was her again... then... another day passes and egg #3... I was thinking it could be my Black Australorp, Edna, because she is very interested in the nesting boxes and was talking to me as well... then today, another egg... I cleaned the coop, run and boxes today and kept checking on them after that because my Mommie senses were tingling... nothing at the next 2 checks, but I went out at 5 and heard BOCK< BOCK< bock, bock,bock, BOCK< BOCK! over and over all the way to the coop.... I arrived seeing 3 hens in the run staring into the coop with looks of fright in their eyes.... Bobbie is sitting, quietly now, in her nest as I open the top... there is her little brown egg, still nice and warm.... I pet her until she got out of the nest telling her what a great chickie she was and thanking her... i ran the egg into the house so that my 9 yr old son could still feel how warm his egg from his chicken was... we passed it to everyone in the family... now I want to quit my job and stay home, outside with my chickens all day so I can be there with them when they lay eggs.... I am surprised I am not lactating... hahahahaha As a newby, one of the best days ever. All four are Meyers babies.

Congrats on the eggs!!! Love a fresh egg right out of the chicken 'oven'!!

So, it turns out the first horse we bought was not a good fit for my daughter. So we are selling her to someone that has a lot more experience and a trainer friend that can work her into the excellent horse she can be. We've been looking for another horse and found a great little calm arabian today for her. I'll post pics when we get her home.

We also picked up a farm kitten to hep with the mice population out in the barn and chicken area. He was pretty feral when we got him, hissing and attacking when you tried to pick him up. We've had him 2 days and tonight DD was out there with him laying in her lap purring. It was a much quicker transition than I expected.

Our girls aren't laying well at all. Only got 1 egg today. My mom thinks maybe the rooster is stressing everyone out. Dinner was supposed to be done today but we were gone all day so he'll have to wait until tomorrow. When he was locked up for the last week the dynamics of the flock were calmer. We have 3 girls that were spending their whole day in the coop afraid to eat and drink but after a few days they started coming out again. Then Dinner broke out of his pen yesterday and we saw him fighting over a hen with another one and they get a lot more aggressive. I can't wait until he's gone!

Sounds like Dinner should be on the menu for dinner tomorrow!! Did you do the deed?
Maybe you're just getting less eggs because of the days getting shorter too? or molting? My RIR was back to laying her big brown eggs but now stopped again. AND still waiting on my Cream Brabanters to lay. They're 24 weeks old and 1 still squats but nothing!

Ditto on the donate. We have a couple of regular customers but we are so far out in the country not many people drive all this way to buy eggs. We are not allowed to sell them in town unless we pasteurize them first so we usually end up with between 9 and 14 dozen unsold egg each week. We cook and mix a few with our dogs food but most of them we take into town and donate to a local food bank/kitchen. They provide meals (breakfast and lunch) to about 500 elderly each week and then do the regular food bank thing. They are always so happy to get the eggs too. They get plenty of donated canned stuff and even things like cornbread mix, pancake mix, etc. but very few eggs that are needed to make those things. I think it makes much more sense than just destroying the eggs.

That's a lot of eggs left over. My son has come to call me an egg hoarder lately. If I don't have at least 4 dz eggs in the fridge I feel like I'm getting low! I have more people wanting to buy from me and I include delivery in my sale. Maybe you could do that since you are so far away? I'm on the outskirts of town and no reason for many people to come this way so I sell the eggs for $3.50/dz including delivery. Since I'm always out doing errands the house are usually on my way to the store or cleaners or somewhere I'm going.

 

[jtn42248]

That's a lot of eggs left over. My son has come to call me an egg hoarder lately. If I don't have at least 4 dz eggs in the fridge I feel like I'm getting low! I have more people wanting to buy from me and I include delivery in my sale. Maybe you could do that since you are so far away? I'm on the outskirts of town and no reason for many people to come this way so I sell the eggs for $3.50/dz including delivery. Since I'm always out doing errands the house are usually on my way to the store or cleaners or somewhere I'm going.

We are 13 miles from town one direction and 16 miles from another town the other direction. People just don't want to spend the gas money driving all that way and in the nearest town you are allowed to have anything in the city limits except a mess...so there are a lot of people with chickens right there anyway. We have a couple of hunting leases that are regulars but other than that...nada. I thought about the delivery solution but we only go into town once every two weeks or so. I really don't mind giving the eggs to charity they are a side effect of my obsession with poultry anyway.