Moodleroni Farms - My 'Chicken Math' Origin Story

[TwoCrows]

6-7 weeks now:
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Parmesan^
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Honey^
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Teriyaki^
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Sesame^
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Ginger^
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Fajita^

Going to be posting on the 'Breed & Gender Forum' cuz some of the feathering looks weird, and what's with Ginger & Sesame's hairdo!?

I agree, I feel like I finally got all pullets!

Yep, all beautiful girls!!

 

[FunClucks]

Head poof indicates cream crested legbar cross.

 

[Moodleroni]

So my hens are stressed:
• they are transitioning feeds
• we are introducing new flock members/chicks into their run
• it's starting to get hot
• we are rebuilding their coop/run area, I'm sure they also feel overcrowded while we finish
• I think one may be starting to molt

For reference, I only have 3 laying hens at the moment, each lays a different colored egg, this means Dumplin, my sapphire gem, laid 2 today, no egg yesterday. I found 1 this morning (the normal brown one) during breakfast feeding, so she would have laid it between 8PM to 530AM. We just did lunch checks/snacks and found the other three. Her second egg for the day is hard, but wrinkled & oblong (she also laid an egg with no shell a while back) and shes the one i think is starting to molt. Biscuit, white leghorn, lays the white egg which have always been normal and consistent, no issues. Nugget, easter egger, lays the green egg, which for the past month or so has been inconsistent and will sometimes have those calcium deposits on the point & sometimes normal (she also laid a soft shell egg a few weeks back)

None of the egg changes are consistently bad, they are just out of their norm, and I know stress right now is a huge factor. BTW, egg changes started before the feed change, just mentioned it since its a current change that could be adding to the stress.

Since some of the stressors will be around for a while, (new chick transition, weather/heat) is there anything I should be doing to help them? New coop/run changes should be done by mid week next week.

 

[TwoCrows]

So my hens are stressed:
• they are transitioning feeds
• we are introducing new flock members/chicks into their run
• it's starting to get hot
• we are rebuilding their coop/run area, I'm sure they also feel overcrowded while we finish
• I think one may be starting to molt
View attachment 3502824
For reference, I only have 3 laying hens at the moment, each lays a different colored egg, this means Dumplin, my sapphire gem, laid 2 today, no egg yesterday. I found 1 this morning (the normal brown one) during breakfast feeding, so she would have laid it between 8PM to 530AM. We just did lunch checks/snacks and found the other three. Her second egg for the day is hard, but wrinkled & oblong (she also laid an egg with no shell a while back) and shes the one i think is starting to molt. Biscuit, white leghorn, lays the white egg which have always been normal and consistent, no issues. Nugget, easter egger, lays the green egg, which for the past month or so has been inconsistent and will sometimes have those calcium deposits on the point & sometimes normal (she also laid a soft shell egg a few weeks back)

None of the egg changes are consistently bad, they are just out of their norm, and I know stress right now is a huge factor. BTW, egg changes started before the feed change, just mentioned it since its a current change that could be adding to the stress.

Since some of the stressors will be around for a while, (new chick transition, weather/heat) is there anything I should be doing to help them? New coop/run changes should be done by mid week next week.

You might check out this article, there may be something you can glean from it... https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/

 

[Moodleroni]

We lost one of our hens today We aren't sure exactly what happened, we just found her on the floor of the run, no visible wounds, but she hadn't laid an egg in almost a week so I'm thinking something went wrong that I didn't catch in time.
Rest in peace Dumplin

She is now in our home pet cemetery with her siblings.

 

[TwoCrows]

We lost one of our hens today We aren't sure exactly what happened, we just found her on the floor of the run, no visible wounds, but she hadn't laid an egg in almost a week so I'm thinking something went wrong that I didn't catch in time.
Rest in peace Dumplin
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She is now in our home pet cemetery with her siblings.

Oh I am so sorry, it's always so heartbreaking when we find them gone. She was a beautiful girl! I hope your heavy heart heals soon. ♥

 

[FunClucks]

So sorry you lost Dumpling. Sometimes they just have egg laying / internal issues you can't do anything about. For all you knew at the time, she could have been starting to molt or go broody - not laying is not immediately a sign of something wrong. Lost one of mine a few months after she started laying randomly like that. Laying great, then she laid a fairy egg one day, the next day she must've had a heart attack. Sudden chicken death happens. And of course she was the sweetest of our chickens.

Sending you supportive thoughts.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

Thanks for sharing the story of your flock!

I'm very sorry you lost Dumpling. She looks like such a pretty chicken.

You may find that some of the Hoover's hybrids have reproductive issues that can shorted their lifespan, just a heads up. All my chicks are from Hoover's/ Cackle too, but I think I'm going to move towards getting the heritage breeds from legit breeders, if possible. But that can also get quite a bit spendier and also more premeditated... less of a, "whoops, I came home with free chickens," kind of thing lol

My first chickens were Australorps too. Then Welsummers. Now I've accidentally ended up with some green hybrid layers, as well as my pretty little pet-quality Wyandottes. It seems like you have a lot of colored layers in there, which should be fun!

The ones that look like a Welsummer but have a crest should lay a green to olive speckled egg. The crests and/or muffs indicate possibly blue or green egg genes in the mix, (but not always because sometimes still lay brown/tan because the colored egg traits don't pass on 100%). Many green layers look quite Welsummery, but a true Welsummer will not have the crest, and will lay a dark brown (or sometimes not that dark) speckled egg. They are really beautiful!

Your Marans roo in the mix is interesting too, because he will be able to give you olive eggers, or darker speckled layers with a Welsummer hen, or speckled olive eggs if you have a speckled green layer. Well on your way to some very pretty baskets!

Your rir roo over your leghorn ladies will give you sex links, so you would know immediately which are boys. Although if you plan on keeping them all, you're going to need a bachelor pad before too long if you start hatching chicks, because you have to expect 50/50 cockerels.

Anywho, it really is a journey, this whole chickening thing, with its ups and downs, highs and lows. I hope you continue to find it as enjoyable and rewarding as it can be, despite at times, the heartache.

 

[Moodleroni]

One of my teeny-boppers laid her first egg today, but not quite sure who. Look how tiny compared to her sisters!!

Green one is Nugget's, white one is Biscuit's, and the tiny little brown one is either Nachos', Spicy's, or BBQ's first little eggy

 

[2ndTink]

Congratulations! A perfect little egg