NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

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I can't wait to have a colored egg basket. Some of my girls are not laying what they are supposed to lay, so I am going to have to hatch some more chicks with my Ameruacana roos as their Daddy's. Can't wait for next summer and the eggs.

 

[featherz]

I brought FOUR dozen to the family at thanksgiving.

Would have brought more if I thought I could get away with it (there's lot of them). I too am lacking colored egg layers at the moment. Sold two of my olive eggers a while back and now am just getting a few pale green eggs a week. The other two green layers are molting. My 'mixed' EE pullets all lay brown eggs, durn the luck!

I hope to get some blue layers next year!

 

[Cass]

Some of you know that my chicken coop was built by a Master Builder. I have soffet and peak ventaliation. Because of the soffet ventalation the eves are open. I just plucked an egg out of the eves of my 8 foot tall chicken coop. I want to thank all my Gym teachers for teaching me how to keep my balance on a balance beam. It certainitly made balancing on the roost a LOT easier. I wish I had video of my escapades to share, cuz it had to look really really funny from the ground.

 

[Henicillin]

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My only misplaced egg was laid underneath the nests by one of the Faverolles - otherwise, they've behaved themselves.

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! Rancher, I'm pulling for those babies of yours to make it.

So, my fine featherless BYC friends, has anyone here ever raised turkeys? Our bird for our post-Thanksgiving dinner (we like leftovers, and don't get any from the inlaws' house, so we make our own dinner) was raised on a farm one road over from us, and is beautiful. It was considerably more expensive than a Butterball, but well worth it. Of course, being the way I am, I'm now giving serious thought to raising my own next year. I'd like a heritage breed, as I'm not interested in raising birds with an expiration date.

I'd also like to go with breeder stock from someplace such as this:
http://www.porterturkeys.com/ They're all just gorgeous.

I can just hear my mom now. "Turkeys? You'd better keep those things locked up when I come over!" She hates them - her grandfather had a huge tom that used to chase her every chance he got.

 

[happycountryhens]

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[rancher hicks]

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to the chicken insane assylum.

Hope every one had as nice a day yesterday as I did. Lots of laughing and feasting. Played bingo. It's still a fun game when you have the right crowd.

As for the hidden egg thing. I have one or two that is laying it outside the poop hole door. I'm not sure how I can get her to lay it in the right place. I even found one in front of the waterer in the yard. Guess she was to thirsty to make it back to the nest box.

I cleaned on side of the coop today and just dumped the wood chips in a pile, thinking they would have fun spreading them around. Instead they were scared of the pile and all the birds were piled up in front of the open pop hole. I had to spread the chips out and toss the girls in one by one. I really should have just left them in the close run for the night but I'm to paranoid.

No black friday shopping here. At my age I can't stand in line for hours and then not get what I'm after. Besides my patience is gone and I might kill someone.

Well take care,

Rancher

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Hey silvercat--I am just down the road from you in stone ridge. Nice to have someone in the neighborhood! No ideas on incubators but if you click on coops up top, there is a whole thread devoted to homemade incubators.

Rancher--cant say as I blame you about black friday shopping. I work in retail so I get the full on holiday experience. Seems everything is my fault! No worries though. I figure whatever you do to others eventually gets done to you. Its just stuff. Family is forever.

My coop looks like several of my girls exploded in there. Feathers outnumber woodchips at this point!

I hope they stop molting soon cause I am only getting an egg a day!

Two of the hens have been sleeping in the nest boxes and I keep having to pull them out and put them on the roost. This is getting old fast.

I think they are cold and thats why they are sleeping in there.

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather. I wish I could but its back to the salt mines again today.

 

[silvercat76]

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I use to work in stone ridge at the rat farm! Why don't you let them roost in the nesting box?

 

[Cass]

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I use to work in stone ridge at the rat farm! Why don't you let them roost in the nesting box?

Chicken fill their crop before bed and poop all night. If they "roost" in the nest box they poop in the nest box, yeilding soiled eggs and poopy feet and butts on the chickens who choose to lay eggs in the box the next day. Since many people don't wash their eggs, soiled eggs is not a desireable thing, in their minds.

 

[silvercat76]

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I use to work in stone ridge at the rat farm! Why don't you let them roost in the nesting box?

Chicken fill their crop before bed and poop all night. If they "roost" in the nest box they poop in the nest box, yeilding soiled eggs and poopy feet and butts on the chickens who choose to lay eggs in the box the next day. Since many people don't wash their eggs, soiled eggs is not a desireable thing, in their minds.

Oh ok well I wash my eggs, but I understand most don't. Thanks for the info, I'm still learning after two years.