MPC Super blue egg layer eggs

[kie4]

One egg on Sunday and nothing since. On Monday our Buff Orp laid for the first time and she followed up with another today. Chuck sat in the nesting box this afternoon for a couple of hours. When she left the nesting box I ran over to see if she'd laid egg number 2 but there was nothing there.

When chickens first start laying, do they sometimes have some trouble "going" and just sit there for a while and then give up?

 

[Shezadandy]

One egg on Sunday and nothing since. On Monday our Buff Orp laid for the first time and she followed up with another today. Chuck sat in the nesting box this afternoon for a couple of hours. When she left the nesting box I ran over to see if she'd laid egg number 2 but there was nothing there.

When chickens first start laying, do they sometimes have some trouble "going" and just sit there for a while and then give up?

I think it's pretty normal to have a gap especially in the beginning. As long as she's not walking around looking like a penguin (look up egg bound, which I seriously, seriously doubt- but it's a good topic to read up on so you'll know the signs should it ever happen in your flock) -- they learn a new thing and start their laying patterns. One of my Buff Orps started- and did 49 eggs in a row, no breaks, and others that laid the first one then it's three days before the next. Another likes to sit in a minimum of 3 boxes before she considers laying her egg! She may also have laid a soft shell egg (which usually get eaten) - any number of possibilities while they're ironing out the production line. Unless she's straining or acting unusual, I wouldn't sweat it. Blue eggs are addictive!

 

[kie4]

I think it's pretty normal to have a gap especially in the beginning.  As long as she's not walking around looking like a penguin (look up egg bound, which I seriously, seriously doubt- but it's a good topic to read up on so you'll know the signs should it ever happen in your flock) -- they learn a new thing and start their laying patterns.  One of my Buff Orps started- and did 49 eggs in a row, no breaks, and others that laid the first one then it's three days before the next.  Another likes to sit in a minimum of 3 boxes before she considers laying her egg!  She may also have laid a soft shell egg (which usually get eaten) - any number of possibilities while they're ironing out the production line.  Unless she's straining or acting unusual, I wouldn't sweat it.  Blue eggs are addictive!

Thanks @shezadandy, I'll look up "egg bound" just so I know what to look out for. Sounds like she's just getting the hang of the laying, whereas the Buff Orp is taking to it straight away.

It's so exciting when we see a chicken in the nesting box!!

You should start a "Beat my chicken's 49 eggs in a row" thread, haha! That's quite amazing.

 

[Shezadandy]

The 4 SBELXSBEL you hatched look nice and healthy! I wonder why one is slightly darker?

I remember when Chuck arrived, she was the prettiest of the bunch because she was so yellow like a duckling, they make cute chicks. I suppose any white chicken comes out yellow.

What do you mean by a double blue? Like a very blue egg

Double blue- hoping for a chick that got the blue egg gene from each parent.

I've got an interesting 50/50 split going on with the F2s. Two are the duckling yellow with yellow legs (for now)- The other two look to be a light, light gray with significantly darker legs- they've got darker legs than Gus did as a baby. The one that didn't survive the *$&% broody was a much darker gray than any of these.

Here are my F2s today, 7 days old:














And here are their mom and dad at almost the same age- couple days older maybe.

Gus is in front and the two girls are to his right. They arrived with yellow legs too that darkened over time- his went dark slate.




Lucy on the left, Ethel (mom of all the F2 chicks), and Gus on the right.

 

[kie4]

Double blue- hoping for a chick that got the blue egg gene from each parent.

I've got an interesting 50/50 split going on with the F2s. Two are the duckling yellow with yellow legs (for now)- The other two look to be a light, light gray with significantly darker legs- they've got darker legs than Gus did as a baby. The one that didn't survive the *$&% broody was a much darker gray than any of these.

Here are my F2s today, 7 days old:














And here are their mom and dad at almost the same age- couple days older maybe.

Gus is in front and the two girls are to his right. They arrived with yellow legs too that darkened over time- his went dark slate.




Lucy on the left, Ethel (mom of all the F2 chicks), and Gus on the right.

Cute chicks @Shezadandy !

Very interesting 50/50 split. Will there be any way of knowing if you have blue x blue genes other than a very blue egg? Would blue x blue genes from pale blue egg layer x pale blue egg layer make a vibrant blue egg layer?

Would be an excellent discovery if the yellow legs of an SBEL X SBEL cross signify double blue.
Our Chuck has slate coloured legs.

Do you know if you have males or females? Is there an age that chicks can go past whereby you can no longer vent sex?

 

[Shezadandy]

Cute chicks @Shezadandy !

Very interesting 50/50 split. Will there be any way of knowing if you have blue x blue genes other than a very blue egg? Would blue x blue genes from pale blue egg layer x pale blue egg layer make a vibrant blue egg layer?

Would be an excellent discovery if the yellow legs of an SBEL X SBEL cross signify double blue.
Our Chuck has slate coloured legs.

Do you know if you have males or females? Is there an age that chicks can go past whereby you can no longer vent sex?

Thanks! These are probably the sweetest chicks I've raised. Maybe it's because they didn't have to go through a mass hatch, sort, get stuck in a little box an endure a trip through the mail-- and they've never been afraid, even reaching from above. Could be too that I talked to them a lot before while they were pipped- might have helped imprint. =) Lucy (who I will never use as a breeder) was a nasty chick to deal with. She still bites. Ethel's kids are all very nice- she's got 6 living. One is a Welsummer cross that's solid black from her former squeeze Hector. (rehomed) The other is with a good friend and is their very very favorite.

No idea yet about males/females- I don't vent sex because I don't know how and done wrong, it can kill them- I'd rather live in suspense! Pretty sure the hatcheries do it right after hatch. My luck, they'll all be girls since I'm trying to breed a rooster replacement.

We won't know what we've got until they lay an egg for us in 5-6 months. We won't have a *guess* at Gus' rooster's blue gene status until his daughters lay. If we get all green eggs- his first batch of chicks were from mos that were brown layers, brown + blue = green. If he only had one copy of it, I'd expect to see half green and half brown layers from his daughters. If there are any brown/white layers, I'll know without question he wasn't a double. Ethel's first chick wasn't Gus' (the other 7 were, just not the one I NEEDED to be his).

I won't know about the replacement rooster for another year plus. He has to grow, breed, have chicks, and the daughters have to lay before we'll know. I guess that's why we spend so much on these birds! =)

In theory the light/pale blue x light/pale blue would give 25% chance of a double blue, 50% chance of making another light blue layer, and 25% white. That's the very high level, no modifiers etc taken into account- still learning about those. Time will tell if the leg color difference gives us any kind of clue or if it's independent!

 

[kie4]

Sad news Chuck was killed by a hawk today.

 

[Shezadandy]

Sad news Chuck was killed by a hawk today.

I'm so, so, so sorry!

That's just awful.

 

[MyPetChicken]

Sad news Chuck was killed by a hawk today.

NOOOOOOO Not after all that waiting!

Alex
My Pet Chicken

 

[kie4]

We got 4 chicks from MPC on june the 27th as new chicken keepers. One of them was a Super Blue egg Layer. When they arrived she was a little bit bigger than the others, and yellow like a duckling. My 2 year old chose her online and called her "Chuck" when he and his brother picked up the chicks from the post office. Chuck changed to white, and was the first to jump out of the brooder, the first to venture out of the coop door, the first to roam further and further from the coop, and the other 3 followed their leader everywhere. On Sunday after 23 weeks and 6 days of waiting, Chuck was again the first, this time to lay an egg. We celebrated as we passed around the still warm blue egg.

Having never had an attack before our chickens have been allowed to free range a lot. Yesterday I went out at lunchtime and saw a halo of white feathers with Chuck in the middle all red and opened up. Friends tell me it must have been a hawk because a fox drags away its prey.

We thought our kids would be upset, but they were okay. Our 2 year old doesn't really understand. Our 4 year old said "can we get another Chuck cos Chuck is dead?"

I don't think we'll get another Chuck because it costs a lot to fill and send an order from MPC. In June a neighbour and us shared the shipping and ordered 4 chicks each. Our neighbour lost an Olive Egger so we both have 3 left out of our original 4. She's not interested in sharing another order.

We're keeping the others locked in the coop and run for the foreseeable future. Maybe when the leaves start to grow on the trees and bushes we'll let them range again supervised.