NY chicken lover!!!!

[pharmchickrnmom]

Mmm.  Cockerels.   Freezer camp.

or crockpot hot tub.

 

[Tough Old Bird]

Okay--someone gave me some rose of sharon plants. I have no idea what to do with them (other than digging a hole and dropping them in it.) Anyone here have any advice? I usually kill plants but I was told these things are indestructable and they spread like crazy. So, enlighten me my peeps!

Don't be alarmed if they don't flower when you'd expect; they're late to bloom, usually pushing the back end of summer. I would plant them in sun. What color(s) did you get? They're very pretty.


TOB

 

[Child of Noah]

I am not completely sure how to breed to the Easter Egger.

I have an Lavender Amer. roo which would carry the blue gene egg color. I've been breeding him to two EE hens that lay greenish/blue eggs. Their daughters lay blue/green eggs. Sometimes they look more blue than green. I think like maran it depends on how she colors the egg.

Those are VERY pretty eggs!

the only thing I know about EE's is from my 2. Mine at least are pathetic layers. One lays an almost olive color egg twice a week and the other a blue egg twice and if I'm REALLY lucky 3 times a week. Someday those 2 hens will be dinner. Hard for me to justify that when everyone else lays 5 to 6 eggs a week.

However, you are a Real Farm, and currently I am a Girl Who Has Chickens And Shares Surplus Eggs With My Sister-In-Law's-Family-Next-Door. Granted, when my girls stop their laying, they will go to the crockpot. But I don't "require" heavy production and "want" an EE or so for the novelty of some pretty eggs thrown in.
But, from what I am reading it looks like the size and quantity of eggs depends on what you cross with? Are your EE's more broody?

I found a great site, Scratch Cradle, that has chicken genetics explained. Such as which crosses for the sex-link breeds and egg colors. Really neat info. Found it in one of the chicken site e-newsletters I get.
Got some outside work started tonight. My brother delivered a load of compost to add in the garden beds, and man is that stuff ripe! Cow manure that has sat a year or two. This was also from his cow body compost test, so got a few bone parts in it. Between the smell and the bones, neighbor Amish dogs are going to be rolling in (literally!). Brother was even nice enough to bring over his small tractor with loader so we don't have to shovel and wheelbarrow it all. Tomatoes are growing like weeds in my little greenhouse.

Thanks for the website! I will definitely be looking in to this. And the cow poo sounds yucky, I'm sure my dog would love it. On our hike yesterday she found a deer carcass and rolled all over it.

I have 5 EE/LH x's from Tab. They lay large blue eggs almost daily.

That must be from the LH crossing it seems, based on what I am learning. Very cool!

If you put a blue gened roo over a brown egg layer you will get olive/green eggs. Pretty sure that's how the breeder made my olive egger.

I just put an Ameruacana roo over my Olive Egger and am hoping it is a hen. I will keep it and see what color egg I get. I am hoping for teal, but will take any color that isn't brown or white.

Since any color other than white or brown is considered an "EE" , I would imagine that it wouldn't be that hard to breed Easter Egger....Just take any roo and put it over anything that lays eggs not the same color as the rooster hatched from. (won't always yield a colored egg because of recessive genes, but will always yield a mutt that will lay like crazy, in my experience)

I love to hear of your real life experience of making Frankenlayers. Haha! Very cool.

Ok found the posts that I was looking for that broke it down for ee's and genes some.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/251383/will-an-ee-and-rir-or-red-star-cross-produce-green-eggs

And if you need help understanding some of the words he used here is Wikipedia link explaining homozygous and heterozygous. I know I had to google them and find the link lol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygosity

the guy has an ee rooster and trying to get green by breeding it with brown egg layers. here are two reply's from momo.

then someone else wrote saying they're ee's lay blue-green then crossed those with a rir and now have a pink egg laying hens and here is mono's response to that.

"It doesn't matter which parent is which: each chicken gets one eggshell-colour gene from each parent. In your case, ams3651, I'd say your EE hens are clearly heterozygous for the blue eggshell gene and it happens that their progeny didn't inherit it. (Each chick will have a 50% chance of inheriting that gene.) A pink egg is technically a white egg with a small amount of brownish tint (makes it look pink)."

Thanks for sharing this, it makes a lot of sense (after I had a cup of coffee). Somebody told me that BO's lay pink eggs, so it's just a super light brown?

Also, after my duckling swap gone weird, I have a Rouen and a Swedish both are supposed to lay blue or blue-green eggs. I wonder... if my Rouen turns out to be a drake, if he makes sweet love to one of my Pekins, would this still be true? Could I get a Roukin that is an EE duck? I just came up with the name Roukin but that sounds cute.
Thank everyone for all the input!

 

[stonykill]

However, you are a Real Farm, and currently I am a Girl Who Has Chickens And Shares Surplus Eggs With My Sister-In-Law's-Family-Next-Door. Granted, when my girls stop their laying, they will go to the crockpot. But I don't "require" heavy production and "want" an EE or so for the novelty of some pretty eggs thrown in.

au contraire. My 7 and 8 year old free range girls who either stop laying or lay 1 egg a week are an essential part of my flock and get to live the rest of their lives out naturally. They did not get to be that old by not being wise girls. They are essential to teaching the youngins the ropes. Without them my free range flock would not be as safe.
My only problem is a 2 year old hen that lays pathetic. But as Ginny pointed out hers lay well.

I also did state the only thing I know about EE's are from my 2 in my flock of ehh, 90ish birds. So my knowledge of EE's isn't great. I was just sharing personal experiences. That is all I can do.

 

[Child of Noah]

au contraire. My 7 and 8 year old free range girls who either stop laying or lay 1 egg a week are an essential part of my flock and get to live the rest of their lives out naturally. They did not get to be that old by not being wise girls. They are essential to teaching the youngins the ropes. Without them my free range flock would not be as safe.
My only problem is a 2 year old hen that lays pathetic. But as Ginny pointed out hers lay well.

I also did state the only thing I know about EE's are from my 2 in my flock of ehh, 90ish birds. So my knowledge of EE's isn't great. I was just sharing personal experiences. That is all I can do.

I appreciate you sharing from what you know! I always value your experiences. You make a really good Real Farm point about letting your old girls live. I have been constantly impressed with how smart and well behaved my chicks are; you've got me re-thinking their fate. They could definitely teach the next generations a thing or two about the proper way to be chickens.

 

[Lynzi777]

Took a ride out to Camillus today for the shipping crates. Was only able to fit two in my car. I'll take another right out tomorrow for 2 more and then start building over the weekend. Someone is eager to get the project going....

 

[Child of Noah]

I have had hawks living in the trees near my house. For this reason, back when I was considering a run for my chickens, I thought it must have a "top" to protect them from the hawks.
I now see I have a raven living nearby, I am sure he is attracted to the compost pile/scraps left out for the chickens.
The good part is, I see the raven chasing the hawk away (often).
But do ravens attack/eat chickens or ducks?

 

[rancher hicks]

Don't be alarmed if they don't flower when you'd expect; they're late to bloom, usually pushing the back end of summer. I would plant them in sun. What color(s) did you get? They're very pretty.


TOB

Mine always look like there dead because the take so long to get started. Plant them in full sun. I have mine in a row along the front of my garden so they flower and draw bees, though there are hardly ever any honey bees on them. There are different varieties and mine do reseed themselves very will. The are an invasive variety I think.

Up one more marans from the coop and chicks done in incubator to many to deal with it in there. They knocked over the Hydgrometer/Thermometer and broke it some how. I think it got moisture in it.

Will post pics when I can.

ta, ta for now,

Rancher

 

[Lynzi777]

I have had hawks living in the trees near my house. For this reason, back when I was considering a run for my chickens, I thought it must have a "top" to protect them from the hawks.
I now see I have a raven living nearby, I am sure he is attracted to the compost pile/scraps left out for the chickens.
The good part is, I see the raven chasing the hawk away (often).
But do ravens attack/eat chickens or ducks?

I just looked up Raven and now that I've seen them, I dont know I would know the difference between those or the big black crows if I saw them in the yard. We've had these big black birds chasing our hawks away and they do not give up until that hawk is GONE. So if these are ravens we have around here in our trees, No, they don't bother the chickens. Actually I'll see them in the yard with the chickens while mine are out.

 

[Child of Noah]

I just looked up Raven and now that I've seen them, I dont know I would know the difference between those or the big black crows if I saw them in the yard. We've had these big black birds chasing our hawks away and they do not give up until that hawk is GONE. So if these are ravens we have around here in our trees, No, they don't bother the chickens. Actually I'll see them in the yard with the chickens while mine are out.

That is a relief!
I'm pretty sure mine is a raven rather than a crow. Fantail instead of wedge tail, and a more throaty low call instead of the higher pitched "caw caw" of a crow. Also my black bird is HUGE.
Either way, I'm happy that both of us have a black bird that chases hawks away, and I am so glad to know they don't bother the chickens. Thank you!