NY chicken lover!!!!

[Beer can]

Has anyone ever raised a crested duck before?

All I know about them is it is a genetic mutation that kills 25% if you breed two crested together from exposed brain.
You get the same thing with Araucana chickens, all because of the tuft feathers on their head, but I don't think theirs is a genetic mutation?

 

[rancher hicks]

I know! They are pricey, especially if you want the cage-free, etc., ones!



Funny that you mentioned Eggland's Best, Rancher. Because that is what I bought and I boiled some for my younger son (he likes boiled eggs). Anyway, he came up to me afterwards with some left over egg on his plate. I asked him why he didn't finish the eggs, and he said they "didn't taste right" and the "yolks were chewy." He had no idea they weren't from our girls! So after eating our hens eggs almost exclusively for over a year, he has become an egg snob!

TOB

My friend hadn't eaten eggs for years because they made him sick. I didn't know this but gave them a dozen of my eggs and he decided to try them. He didn't get sick. When he ran out they bought some Egglands Best and he got sick.

All egg are not created equal. The terms I mentioned have nothing to do with what the chickens are fed. Cage free, free range, and pastured chickens can still be given the same feeds as caged commercial birds.

@ Everyone: Before you give your birds stuff cuz they're not laying be sure there is a problem and she's just not taking a break.

TOB, glad your son is catching on. I'm sure his kids will be fed better than we were.

 

[Pyxis]

Hello everyone. I've been quiet for the past week because my grandfather passed away and even though I spent most of my time out with the chickens to keep busy, I wasn't really feeling up to reading the forums. But I just got caught up on all the posts, or at least most of them. First, welcome to all the newcomers!

Luv - Beer can is right, avoid breeding crested to crested because a double crested gene is lethal, either in the egg or right out of it. They also tend to have neurological problems more frequently compared to non crested ducks. Since yours is a female, watch out when the drakes start breeding her again. They will sometimes use the crest to hold on, like a rooster does grabbing a hen's neck feathers, and since the crest is actually caused by a gap in the skull, this can lead to serious injury and brain damage if the drake gets too rough.

Things are going well here. The legbar flock chicks are growing like little weeds. Also, the cemanis are starting to lay. I won't be selling the eggs from them until I get a Greenfire Farms line rooster in January to put over them, but the hens sure are gorgeous. I just acquired two hens from Tonie Marie lines and they are beautiful birds. Best part is that they were covered by a Greenfire rooster right up until they were shipped to me so any eggs they lay get popped into the incubator until they're no longer fertile. It also turns out that the naked neck 'pullet' in that coop is actually a cockerel. So far I've seen him try some mating attempts to no avail, but who knows, maybe he'll get lucky. Then I'll have some very beautiful naked necks for my layer flock. But the new hens gave him quite a beat down when they arrived so mostly he's afraid of them, poor guy. Of course once the Greenfire rooster arrives he'll get booted from that coop.

I also ended up with seven two year old buff orp hens that a local woman didn't want to overwinter this year. She didn't want dual purpose birds any longer so the deal was that I'll stick some just egg layers on my spring chick order for her. She wants smaller birds that eat less and lay a ton so I'm thinking I'll do leghorns, production blacks, sex links and things of that nature for her. My rooster Drone will be moving out of the main coop and into the coop with these ladies once the quarantine period is over. Eggs will be purebred so if anyone wants utility quality buff orps let me know

 

[Gramma Chick]

Hello everyone. I've been quiet for the past week because my grandfather passed away and even though I spent most of my time out with the chickens to keep busy,

cemanis ? are starting to lay. Do your hens look like this ?

it looks like they even have black meat as well ..Save your pennies ...those are expensive birds

http://www.bopmyspace.com/video-play-339818/rare-breed-of-chicken-is-all-black-even-its-organs.htm

 

[Pyxis]

it looks like they even have black meat as well ..Save your pennies ...those are expensive birds

http://www.bopmyspace.com/video-play-339818/rare-breed-of-chicken-is-all-black-even-its-organs.htm

Thank you. Yes, those are what I have Gorgeous birds. I should post pictures of the ones I have. Just really beautiful birds. The rooster will be expensive, but not nearly as much as Greenfire is asking for them. I'm getting him from a breeder that is breeding from Greenfire birds they bought full price. He will be my Christmas/birthday present to myself.

 

[JLaw]

My friend hadn't eaten eggs for years because they made him sick. I didn't know this but gave them a dozen of my eggs and he decided to try them. He didn't get sick. When he ran out they bought some Egglands Best and he got sick.

All egg are not created equal. The terms I mentioned have nothing to do with what the chickens are fed. Cage free, free range, and pastured chickens can still be given the same feeds as caged commercial birds.

@ Everyone: Before you give your birds stuff cuz they're not laying be sure there is a problem and she's just not taking a break.

TOB, glad your son is catching on. I'm sure his kids will be fed better than we were.

I SWEAR my duck eggs make me sick when I was eating them. They seemed to give me bad gas on the inside(cant remember if I passed it lol). I stopped eating them and used the for the kids egg sandwiches since they didn't have a problem with them.

 

[Beer can]

Talking egg salad sandwiches, I havn't tried any yet, only getting one olive egg and one white egg from a brown leghorn a day so far. But anyways last time I had chickens and fresh eggs you couldn't get the shells off a hard boiled with out losing a quarter of the white. Is there a trick to it I don't know about?
I tried putting some viniger in the water, salt, tried them cold, and hot, letting the eggs get older.
Nothing seemed to work to get the shells off fresh eggs.

 

[Metella]

Pyxis ! so sorry to hear that !

Can you come over at 1:00 on Wednesday for a meeting and then we can chat and catch up after ? Food is on me.

Glad those legbars are still going strong for you !!!

 

[boskelli1571]

We had the same problem. If you leave the eggs out until they become room temp. before you boil them, it works better. Still use vinegar in the water, good luck!

 

[boskelli1571]

Hello everyone. I've been quiet for the past week because my grandfather passed away and even though I spent most of my time out with the chickens to keep busy, I wasn't really feeling up to reading the forums. But I just got caught up on all the posts, or at least most of them. First, welcome to all the newcomers!

Luv - Beer can is right, avoid breeding crested to crested because a double crested gene is lethal, either in the egg or right out of it. They also tend to have neurological problems more frequently compared to non crested ducks. Since yours is a female, watch out when the drakes start breeding her again. They will sometimes use the crest to hold on, like a rooster does grabbing a hen's neck feathers, and since the crest is actually caused by a gap in the skull, this can lead to serious injury and brain damage if the drake gets too rough.

Things are going well here. The legbar flock chicks are growing like little weeds. Also, the cemanis are starting to lay. I won't be selling the eggs from them until I get a Greenfire Farms line rooster in January to put over them, but the hens sure are gorgeous. I just acquired two hens from Tonie Marie lines and they are beautiful birds. Best part is that they were covered by a Greenfire rooster right up until they were shipped to me so any eggs they lay get popped into the incubator until they're no longer fertile. It also turns out that the naked neck 'pullet' in that coop is actually a cockerel. So far I've seen him try some mating attempts to no avail, but who knows, maybe he'll get lucky. Then I'll have some very beautiful naked necks for my layer flock. But the new hens gave him quite a beat down when they arrived so mostly he's afraid of them, poor guy. Of course once the Greenfire rooster arrives he'll get booted from that coop.

I also ended up with seven two year old buff orp hens that a local woman didn't want to overwinter this year. She didn't want dual purpose birds any longer so the deal was that I'll stick some just egg layers on my spring chick order for her. She wants smaller birds that eat less and lay a ton so I'm thinking I'll do leghorns, production blacks, sex links and things of that nature for her. My rooster Drone will be moving out of the main coop and into the coop with these ladies once the quarantine period is over. Eggs will be purebred so if anyone wants utility quality buff orps let me know

Sorry to hear of your loss. After my Mum died I spent a lot of time with the chickens - they really are great therapy.
Glad your flock is doing so well, stay warm!