Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[Melabella]

Woo HOO>... Finally had an egg from one of my 3 oldest Meyer girls. They are all 24 weeks. I am fairly sure it was from Aurora my White Maran....could be also from my Speckled Sussex, but it is darker than the normal brown egg I think that the Sussex will lay. I didn't expect the white maran to lay a real dark Maran egg, even the Meyer catalogue states this, but was hoping it would be a bit darker. I am happy nonetheless, since rehoming my older laying flock, I have been without fresh eggs for a month. It's a nice size even for a first time pullet egg. Still waiting for the Austra White to lay.... so much for the early POL for this one. She does take more after the Black Australorp parent than the Leghorn in leg color and body type so I didn't expect her to be early, especially with the daylight hours waning..... Here is Aurora with I think her egg.....








MB

 

[autumnhearth]

Woo HOO>... Finally had an egg from one of my 3 oldest Meyer girls. They are all 24 weeks. I am fairly sure it was from Aurora my White Maran....could be also from my Speckled Sussex, but it is darker than the normal brown egg I think that the Sussex will lay. I didn't expect the white maran to lay a real dark Maran egg, even the Meyer catalogue states this, but was hoping it would be a bit darker. I am happy nonetheless, since rehoming my older laying flock, I have been without fresh eggs for a month. It's a nice size even for a first time pullet egg. Still waiting for the Austra White to lay.... so much for the early POL for this one. She does take more after the Black Australorp parent than the Leghorn in leg color and body type so I didn't expect her to be early, especially with the daylight hours waning..... Here is Aurora with I think her egg.....

MB

I think you are right. The SS should be lighter with perhaps a pinkish tint. Pretty speckles! Congrats! Morgaine our black Marans did a full squat for me twice today, flat to the ground, wings parted and frozen to let me pick her up. I thought she would be to dominant and stubborn to squat. First egg hopefully soon!

 

[christine9]

Woo HOO>... Finally had an egg from one of my 3 oldest Meyer girls. They are all 24 weeks. I am fairly sure it was from Aurora my White Maran....could be also from my Speckled Sussex, but it is darker than the normal brown egg I think that the Sussex will lay. I didn't expect the white maran to lay a real dark Maran egg, even the Meyer catalogue states this, but was hoping it would be a bit darker. I am happy nonetheless, since rehoming my older laying flock, I have been without fresh eggs for a month. It's a nice size even for a first time pullet egg. Still waiting for the Austra White to lay.... so much for the early POL for this one. She does take more after the Black Australorp parent than the Leghorn in leg color and body type so I didn't expect her to be early, especially with the daylight hours waning..... Here is Aurora with I think her egg..... MB

Beautiful egg. I love the color and speckles!!!

 

[Melabella]

My two Olive Eggers in that gawky teenage stage, 7 weeks old.

 

[NotableNancy]

It has been quiet lately. I'm working on integrating also. My little ones are ten weeks old and seem ready. I don't know if I'm up for chasing six chicks down every night to get them in the coop with the big girls but it would be worth it to know they will be roosting in the coop. Especially because Peppy STILL roosts in the run. Oh well. They are all turning pink in their combs intermittently throughout the day. Some are just starting to show signs of waddles coming in. I'm pretty confident they have been sexed correctly. Phew!!
Some pretty recent pictures from the past week:
Eggplant (black Am)

Limabean (splash am)

Sarsaparilla (cuckoo marans)
Not a very recent pic. She's starting to show a little redness where her waddles are developing.

Olive (lt brahma)

Strawberry (speckled sussex)

Pumpkin (welsummer)

Oh and my Persimmon (RIR) who was broody forever is molting now. Kiwi (Dellie) is molting very mildly and still laying just about everyday. I did have to buy a half dozen eggs so I could bake for my MILs birthday. Oh well. Now I have a cute half dozen egg carton lol.

Very cute girls!! Something about Brahmas.... their faces are so feminine and pretty! Ugh to buying eggs. I have a traveling farmers market that is near me that sells true free range eggs so I did buy from them once but they're only here 6 months/yr. Luckily my 6 month old are laying or I'd have to buy as well. And I love those 1/2 dz cartons!! So expensive to buy so hold on to it

Worms are a good idea.
The GLW chick was 10 weeks old.

That's funny they switch areas.

I've been super busy lately. I took the bandages off my girls feet and redid them. Everything looked good. No redness. I haven't done my friend's yet but I don't expect different with them.

I checked my oldest 5 girls and their feet all looked good. I will keep you in mind if I ever have to deal with bumble foot. Glad they are doing so well!!

Haha, yeah, it has been pretty quiet here! Me, I've been working on preparations for winter and on getting a pen set up for my new call ducks who came home yesterday.

They are definitely not Meyer birds, but they're so cute and small that I just have to share:



Their color is Butterscotch. The drake is Malcolm and the duck is Trudi.

They are truly tiny, it's hard to picture how small they are until you see them in person!


And as for my Meyer babies, here they are as of Friday. I took their 5 month pictures a little early because I knew I would be busy this weekend with the ducks.

The pictures are dark because it was dreary and rainy and I had the flash on.

Elda the Silver Gray Dorking:
My snuggy-wuggy.

Kit-kit the SGD:



And their two broodmates that are NOT Meyer birds.

Poppy the Cream Legbar:



For those with similarly aged pullets, these girls are already significantly bigger than Trudi and Malcolm. They are so tiny!

(Yeah, I'm obsessed at the moment.

)

The CCL and SGD look very similar but the SGD are cuter... guess it's the shape of them? They are on my list for next time! Malcolm and Trudi are adorable too!

Yes, thank you for getting that started. I've been pretty low energy this week. This girl my son used to sit with on the bus and play with at recess everyday turned vicious on him, pushing his face to the floor, hitting him, calling him stupid and telling him not to follow her. Kindergarteners can be cruel and it's a bit heart breaking. I don't have any very recent pics of my girls but have been very happy to get three eggs a day, just waiting on red faced Morgaine and Victoria. Those barred OE are too funny, barred isn't my favorite pattern and olive is prob my least fave color eggs but they are cute!

Looks like Peppy will have some nice girlfriends soon! Lovvvvvve Pumpkin! I love those half dozen egg cartons did you get the clear Organic Valley ones? I love to show of my eggs in them. Just gave half a dozen to my other sister who doesn't live as close, we took our boys to Boo at the Zoo today.

Aww those call ducks are too cute! Lovely, lovely girls as always! Your Dorkings are filling out nicely and I'm still a bit jealous your Marans have the copper necks, however subtle. I *adore* Mabel and Violet is gorgeous!!!

Awww so sorry that is happening to your son. Kids are cruel, not just kindergarten. I've seen some pretty horrible stuff. BUT some wonderful things too... this past Friday nt. my son went to his high school football game and the other school had a special needs boy on the team. He is a senior and the his classmates decided to give him the best senior year ever. His team mates gave him the ball on the last play of the game and our team let him score!! They also crowned him Homecoming King. I can't wait to see what else they do for him. Warms my heart. Have faith. I know your heart is breaking for him and you want to make it all go away. Did you talk to the school and his teacher? Maybe she is having some kind of issues at home and taking it out on him? I hope he has a better week this week.

Christine and Pip: great looking chicken pics!
Trsturself: so sorry for the glw. Always the worst part of chicken keeping.
Nancy: it has been slow on here. I've been trying to read all the posts and keep up, but we have a huge mess here at our house. Our cabinets for the kitchen came in and we've been putting them together box by box. Wish we could have afforded them pre assembled.
Thank you everyone for the congrats for the 2nd grandchild announcement.

I need to allow more time for my chickens and take pics too. We're still low on eggs and a lot of them still look pitiful with all their missing feathers. I am so tired of remodeling, I need more chicken time!

Soooo much work with those cabinets I'm sure. It will all be worth it!! Hang in there

We haven't had a single egg for days! It's so frustrating. I didn't realize how many eggs we really use until we have 0 on our holder.

Arggghhhh. No eggs??

I guess it has been a busy week for everyone! I have been following up with reading, just not posting. Everyone's photos are great! I agree those Barred Olive Eggers are adorable!

I am still trying to figure out what to do about water for the winter. Unfortunately, I think I will be lugging gallon jugs from the house to the coop as I don't have a frost free hydrant and always shut my hoses off for winter. I am not looking forward to that. Has anyone used a fountain inside the coop? With all the dripping that my girls do, I think moving the fountain might be more of a mess than a traditional 5 gallon waterer hung from the ceiling. What does everyone else do for winter?

@LynnEBC congratulations on 2 grandchildren on the way!! Such an exciting time!!! Good luck with the kitchen remodel. That's exciting, too. Hopefully, it won't take as long as mine. So worth it when it is done, though. It's been almost a year and I still sit at the counter and look into the kitchen and can't believe it's mine.


I have started marketing my eggs by giving away 1/2 dozens with a flyer saying how they can buy more. Hopefully, I will get some customers soon. Up until now, I have just been giving then away. Here's a photo of my label


Wish me luck!!

Good luck!! Love the label and the name Mama Shell.
I have a galvanized heater that sits under my galvanized 2 gal waterer and I put a couple of those rubber bowls out during the day (emptied them at night) with water in them and just broke up the ice if it froze during the day. We have a system that collects water off the run roof and goes into a large trash can and that has a submersible horse bucket heater in it. Not sure if that helps you. Maybe start checking craigslist for a nice bargain. My friend puts a red lamp in the coop right above the plastic water and it kept it from freezing even in our nightmarish cold winter we had. But all that doesn't help with lugging water to the coop. Sorry I can't be more help.

Woo HOO>... Finally had an egg from one of my 3 oldest Meyer girls. They are all 24 weeks. I am fairly sure it was from Aurora my White Maran....could be also from my Speckled Sussex, but it is darker than the normal brown egg I think that the Sussex will lay. I didn't expect the white maran to lay a real dark Maran egg, even the Meyer catalogue states this, but was hoping it would be a bit darker. I am happy nonetheless, since rehoming my older laying flock, I have been without fresh eggs for a month. It's a nice size even for a first time pullet egg. Still waiting for the Austra White to lay.... so much for the early POL for this one. She does take more after the Black Australorp parent than the Leghorn in leg color and body type so I didn't expect her to be early, especially with the daylight hours waning..... Here is Aurora with I think her egg.....





MB

Yay for the new egg... it's pretty with the speckles and a nice brown color. I don't think any hatchery birds get those chocolate colored eggs... gotta pay top dollar to a breeder for that I would guess. But your girls are just so cute!! I love that pic of the three of them and I'm still in love with Aurora!!

 

[wermnmnmnm]

LEt me just say that we are getting 2 eggs everyday now from my Dominique and My Black Australorp. Still waiting on the Barred Rock that hasn't reddened up yet and I swear my Easter Egger is a roo... not even squatting yet and that one is @24 weeks old with awfully pointy feathers...
Thanks for the watering suggestions.. it helps, believe me!

 

[NotableNancy]

LEt me just say that we are getting 2 eggs everyday now from my Dominique and My Black Australorp. Still waiting on the Barred Rock that hasn't reddened up yet and I swear my Easter Egger is a roo... not even squatting yet and that one is @24 weeks old with awfully pointy feathers...
Thanks for the watering suggestions.. it helps, believe me!

Post a pic of your EE if you have a recent one... I'm sure we can help sex. By 24 weeks you should really be able to tell!!
AND sometimes they are just really late to lay. I got 4 from Meyer and 1 laid at 18 weeks, 2 around 20 weeks and the last at 10 months! So you just never know with them. Especially at this time of year. But the good news I have seen with EE's is they are great layers.... my oldest ones are over a year and a half and while my RIR and 2 BA's of the same age are barely laying, those 2 are going strong... and always XL to Jumbo eggs!!!

 

[christine9]

LEt me just say that we are getting 2 eggs everyday now from my Dominique and My Black Australorp.  Still waiting on the Barred Rock that hasn't reddened up yet and I swear my Easter Egger is  a roo... not even squatting yet and that one is @24  weeks old with awfully pointy feathers... 
Thanks for the watering suggestions.. it helps, believe me!

As far as winter watering goes, I use that mason jar waterer when things freeze up. Lol. Because it's not for more than a few days here. I don't deal with that very much. I was considering insulating my system, but think I would only need to wrap the pipes where the nipples are attached. We'll see.

And def post pics of your EE. I bet she's just a late bloomer.

 

[trsturself]

I lug buckets of water in the winter. Actually I've been doing that since last winter since I haven't gotten our nipple system up and running since I took it down last winter. I love the rubber bowls for winter because they dump easily. When we got to negative temps for over a week last winter I put a heat lamp over their water outside to keep it from freezing during the day. It barely kept it above freezing! I've tried putting the water in the coop before but they got it filthy and got the shavings around it all wet. I guess if you could put something where it didn't get dirty and kept the water from everything else it would work. Our new coop has a little bench in it. I'm going to try putting their water on that this winter to see if it keeps it from freezing. I will still have to lug a bucket out but that's ok, it's just once a day and I have to make that trip out there a couple times a day anyway, so it's not costing me additional time.

Everyone is saying we are going to have a horrible winter this year, but it must be a late one because we usually have a first snow before Halloween but it's supposed to be 80 this weekend!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

The CCL and SGD look very similar but the SGD are cuter... guess it's the shape of them? They are on my list for next time! Malcolm and Trudi are adorable too!

Yes, a lot of it's in the shape. That's what defines different breeds when they are genetically the same color (such as Columbian Wyandottes and Light Brahmas). Legbars are also Cream, while the Dorkings are Silver, so there is a slight difference in color. They are both a variation on wild-type partridge, though.

Light Brown Leghorns are wild-type partridge, so you can see the color here with my Whiri:

Kit-kit, Silver Gray Dorking, showing you wild-type partridge plus silver:

Poppy, Cream Legbar (not from Meyer), wild-type partridge plus cream (she's not pure for cream, which would be more whitish than yellowish in the neck, but you get what I mean) and autosexing barring:

Now, if I'm understanding correctly, Mabel, Welsummer, is wild-type partridge plus mahogany or red:

And Violet, Bielefelder (not from Meyer), is wild-type partridge plus mahogany/red and autosexing barring:

Wild-type partridge is one of my favorite patterns, if not my absolute favorite. Wish I had more! There are all sorts of colors that are wt partridge based, like crele, blue silver, dun silver duckwing, isabel, etc. Lots of possibilities but all so gorgeous! And these are just the hens!




And adorable is right on Malcolm and Trudi! Now that they've had a chance to clean themselves up after their road trip home and get used to their surroundings, they are looking prettier than ever! (This is a bad cell phone picture, but you can kind of see what I mean. )

Edited to add breeds.