Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[NotableNancy]

Hi all - here are some pics of my Meyer Golden Buffs. After 3 weeks of look but don't touch introductions, they were ready to join the main flock and did so by hopping the separation fence by themselves sometime in the morning. And everyone is getting along!


Meyer girls - Ennie, Meanie, Minie, and Moe


And an obligatory Stella shot, my polish/silkie cross. I swear she kissed an hugged the Golden Buffs when they all mixed together.

Glad it's going well... pretty girls!!

My little Limabean has been acting strange. She has been stretching her neck out and opening her mouth really wide. It looks like she's yawning almost. Then she shakes her head a little. She did it before when younger, but it just seems so strange. Searching here links the "yawning" to gape worms. What/how do you worm for something like this? Have any of you ever seen this behavior? She's otherwise normal. Going to start a thread a see what others say as well.

I thought I read they are kind of rare to get gape worms? Maybe she just has something stuck in her throat? Hope you figure it out and she is ok.

Today was a GREAT egg day! 6 total including a double yolker!!!

Collette (Meyers BCM) laid early this morning/late last night...then again this evening with a huge egg that turned out to be a double yolker









WOOHOO!!!

NICE EGGS!!!!! and your son is absolutely adorable!!!!!!!

 

[christine9]

I thought I read they are kind of rare to get gape worms?  Maybe she just has something stuck in her throat?  Hope you figure it out and she is ok. 


NICE EGGS!!!!!   and your son is absolutely adorable!!!!!!!

x2 - That is an adorable picture!

As far as Limabean goes, the responses I got pretty much said she could be adjusting her crop. I have just never seen anyone else do this. Also, it was suggested to monitor her weight. She's keeping up with the other ameraucana, but I may have to get the scale out and get technical for piece of mind. Too bad she's my flightiest one!

 

[COChix]

x2 - That is an adorable picture!

As far as Limabean goes, the responses I got pretty much said she could be adjusting her crop. I have just never seen anyone else do this. Also, it was suggested to monitor her weight. She's keeping up with the other ameraucana, but I may have to get the scale out and get technical for piece of mind. Too bad she's my flightiest one!

I have seen a couple of our hens do that same thing. I always saw it while they were eating dry crumble and then would do that. Sometimes they go and get a drink after and that seems to do the trick. Almost seems like they are trying to wash down the dry food.

 

[christine9]

Thanks! That def makes me feel better that someone else has seen this.

 

[chickadee5002]

I have seen a couple of our hens do that same thing. I always saw it while they were eating dry crumble and then would do that. Sometimes they go and get a drink after and that seems to do the trick. Almost seems like they are trying to wash down the dry food.

X2 same here

 

[COChix]

@autumn - you are the one that blows the eggs and keeps the egg shells intact right? What do you do with them after?

 

[autumnhearth]

Here's my two older girls

Pretty! The one on the right looks like she has birchen coloring- black body with some white or silver on the neck

Tonight I stepped out to check that the doors had shut and saw something dark over by the chicken area. I was staring at it trying to figure out what it was and it stood up. It was the black fox that lives down the street! I was just telling my parents earlier that it stays on the back part on the property but there it was right next to the run! The previous owners of this house had a couple flocks decimated by foxes. I think they may have just figured out the chickens are back. DH went out right then and "marked" the area. I am glad they are locked up tight.

Oh no! I'd be a nervous wreck with a fox around. Good husband you've got there though.

Hi all - here are some pics of my Meyer Golden Buffs. After 3 weeks of look but don't touch introductions, they were ready to join the main flock and did so by hopping the separation fence by themselves sometime in the morning. And everyone is getting along!


Meyer girls - Ennie, Meanie, Minie, and Moe

And an obligatory Stella shot, my polish/silkie cross. I swear she kissed an hugged the Golden Buffs when they all mixed together.

Love your red girls! Aww Stella that's too cute!

Today was a GREAT egg day! 6 total including a double yolker!!!

Collette (Meyers BCM) laid early this morning/late last night...then again this evening with a huge egg that turned out to be a double yolker




I'm not sure exactly who all is laying the brown eggs. I know Flora is, but someone else is too!

Beautiful eggs! Glad Colletes eggs are getting darker! Love the little speckled one. I've never had a big egg from Morgaine there are always medium-small and round. It looks like one of your Wyandottes could be laying, the lay pretty light eggs.

NICE EGGS!!!!! and your son is absolutely adorable!!!!!!!

X2! I tried to quote the pic of your eggs but it didn't take, congrats on the new purplish eggs, I would bet its a GB, Amelia laid lavender eggs her first week.

Haven't taken a lot of pics recently but got a few good ones of Victoria a few days ago.


No I'm note holding treats here, she was eyeing up the fence to jump it and I put my arm up so she jumped on it instead.




Such a sweet girl. Lately when I've gone to close the pop door in the evening, she will hop down off the perch to "say goodnight". Our door is a ramp and has rungs on it and the first night she did that she ran up the rung as I was closing it and hopped on my shoulder. She's definitely got a mind of her own, she often hops our low fence and waits outside the gate while I'm getting treats from the porch.

And here's a Baby


And a Morgaine who apparently is not back in the swing of laying, maybe because she's healing from the cut on her comb. Her comb actually looks pretty here despite the frostbite on her second point. All the girls combs look dirty since I've been putting petroleum jelly on them. Dirt magnates. Plush she's got blue kote on it currently.



Oh! And we've been going through feed much faster than I expected since getting the local organic mash in October. I thought the two 50lb bags would last us till February, wrong! I'm 2/3 through the second bag! What with everyone now laying, the colder weather and the fact that I am feeding them three times a day in a pie plate as opposed to the automatic feeder, since I wet the mash, its going much faster. So I decided to order from Countryside Organics out of Virginia again mainly because I will be out of town for a 4-5 weekend in January (husband will be around but he works all day). I was pleasantly surprised, no really overjoyed to see all the new feed options in their online store: http://feed.countrysideorganics.com/organic-feeds-all/poultry First I noticed they had a fine version, probably like a mash, their regular layer that we used to get has nice pieces of recognizable grain as well as smaller bits. I definitely don't want finer but interesting that they have it. Then I saw they now have not just a soy free but a corn and soy free option! I was very tempted by that but figure having corn during the winter is probably better, plus its non-gmo so I'm not too worried. Then I saw they now have a whole grain feed! Only in the 50lb (I had thought about getting a 25lbs) and just in the soy free. So I ordered that since I've been wanting whole grain feed for a long time but Scratch n Peck is not feasible. We'll see how the girls like it, I know they are not big fans of whole kernel corn but perhaps that is cracked. I'll have some tough decisions to make in the spring. I wish they had a whole grain corn and soy free broiler/grower/flock raiser, our current feed is higher protein and I like that. But I also would rather do local, especially since what I pay for shipping is the cost of another 25lbs worth of feed. Maybe I can talk to the woman who orders the local feed to ask if the mill can do a whole grain feed, they do a great scratch for her with lots of ingredients like oats, yellow peas, mung beans and apple in addition to the regular corn and wheat. We still have lots of that.

 

[autumnhearth]

@autumn - you are the one that blows the eggs and keeps the egg shells intact right? What do you do with them after?

Yes I am! Well I have our five girls first eggs in their own separate bowls or nests which I had out until we started decorating for Christmas. But I want to put them all in little nests and then in shadowboxes this spring like this:



I also have a basket full of some of the more colorful eggs I've gotten. You could also turn them into ornaments! Just make sure you squirt water in the inside after you've blow out the liquid to get them clean so they don't smell

 

[konachicks]

@autumnhearth the one with white on her neck is Aurora. They were identical when I got them then Maleficent started getting a beard and muff and Aurora started getting the white. Now they look like TOTALY different breeds instead of sisters lol

 

[NanaLynn]

Today was a GREAT egg day! 6 total including a double yolker!!!

Collette (Meyers BCM) laid early this morning/late last night...then again this evening with a huge egg that turned out to be a double yolker


Gidget & Gizmo (non Meyer CCL) are both laying beautiful blue/green eggs

I'm not sure exactly who all is laying the brown eggs. I know Flora is, but someone else is too!

And Esmerelda finally started laying her cute little while torpedoes!





WOOHOO!!!

Congrats on those beautiful eggs and what a cute little boy you have there!

Thanks! That def makes me feel better that someone else has seen this.

I hope that she is doing better. I have a chicken that'll do that too and sometimes she also honks like a duck when she is eating too. Weirdest thing!

Haven't taken a lot of pics recently but got a few good ones of Victoria a few days ago.

She is so beautiful!