Michigan

[Opa]

My egg production has been down since the stupid birds went into molt. All the coops and runs looked like someone had be butchering pillows in them. Now the birds are starting to look better but still are sporting lots of pin feathers. For the last couple of weeks I've only been getting 2 or 3 eggs. When you are feeding 28 hens that tends to be a little discouraging.

 

[NovaAman]

SOOO, heres what I have learned today...

1) I hate the time change...
2) Batteries need to be charged when dead, or alarms don't work....
3) Buffy is totally freeloading now...

See, I got all excited when I thought I had to hens alaying... YAY!!! Um... NO. I could not repost earlier, cuz Jace was doing his JUMPSTART and I was making omlets, getting ready for work, getting kid ready for school... blah blah blah... SO anyway...

I sent Jace out to get Miss Legs egg right... And he brings it in, and I compare it to the other eggs that I have gotten this week.. I get one everyday... I always thought it was Buffy's, my Sam Favs. Its a nice pinkish color, and the size that Buffy lays... SO, I think, this morning after Jace gets the egg, that I will check when I get home from work and see if Buffy has laid her egg... Nope, no egg. SO, I will check again tomorrow morning and see if Miss Legs has laid again, and then again in the afternoon. If its there in the morning then I will know who is giving me eggs everyday.. If not, and its there in the afternoon instead, when Buffy usually lays, THEN, I will know they are taking turns and laying pinkish eggs.

I thought leggerns laid white eggs...

OR, Buffy is laying, but laying outside still, and NOT in the nest box. She does the egg song. I've heard her doing it. Man, why can't chickenses just do it the way I want it? Sheesh...

SO, the last thing I have learned today...

4) These dang birds have a mind of their own. Pea brained... But its a mind.

 

[NovaAman]

Sorry, Welcome Easter Eggerz!

 

[teeville5]

Hello Easter Eggerz, it's raining here, too

Opa, I understand. I have 28 layers as well. Before loss of production I was getting 24 (not everyone was laying yet), then it went down to 8. It bounced between 8 and 12 for weeks and now I'm seeing up to 18 a day since the coop move.

Nova, if your leggern is like my leghorn, then they lay white eggs. I have 3 leghorns and one of them is quite a nester and will look for anyplace to have her nest that you cannot find. Sometimes I find them right away and sometimes I don't. It has taken me weeks of searching to find her nests before. She's confined to the coop just now so it's not a problem, but I'm sure once I let them out again the hunt will be on....

 

[NovaAman]

Nah, she's laying in the nest... the leghorn is... the pic I posted earlier, thats her. I sent Jace out to get her egg about 30 minutes after the pic, so I know its her egg... I have thought they were all the faverolles eggs all this time because of the color... BUT... They just aren't white like the store eggs... She's only 6 months old... Just so weird. I am tempted to hook up the camera and record their butts all day and see. LOL

 

[RaZ]

I ran a chicken IQ test on their pea brains today.

Cut a new hole in the big coop (ie garage) wall, so that they have direct access to outside. Then I closed the side door so they would have to use the new hole.
There was very little daylight left but the garage (excuse me, coop) was lit. All it took was shaking the treat bag and they came running through the new hole.

Now I am hoping that the 2 banties will start to go outside with the big girls.

 

[sj3364]

Quote:

 

[chicken grandma]

Welcome Easter Eggerz!
It is raining in Grand Rapids also!

I want to pay tribute to my two and a half year old d'uccle bantam. She lays nearly every day, all year round. No kidding.
Doesn't molt much, isn't broody long - ( because I distract her and take away the fake egg also).

She has been a fantastic hen. I think great hens come in all breeds. We once had a 7 year old RIR hen who was still laying.

I do give her oyster shell and I do take her out every day for bugs and grass - free ranging.
Plus we give her a hug/snuggle every day - that must be it.

I know this might sound odd but when we fed our hens left over fish our egg production went up. Just a thought.

 

[M.sue]

Welcome to the Michigan thread Easter Eggerz!!

 

[soctippy]

Hi All-
I'm from mid-michigan, just south of East Lansing. I was wondering if anyone had some Valbazen Suspension (Albendazole) that they would be willing to sell. I have a good number of chickens, just not enough to warrant buying the 500mL bottle of wormer.