NY chicken lover!!!!

[tao chick]

Hatched my first gosling of the year!

He's a gander so I won't be keeping him, sadly. Now I'm hoping Jasmine starts laying so I can actually have goslings to bring to Chickenstock. She'd have to start laying in the next two days for that though so I might not be able to bring the pair I had earmarked for Luv Lacie stopped laying because she's broody. She only gave me seven eggs before she started brooding, and some of those were infertile and she's on the last one she laid.

Did you get any word from Sandhill about your order?

 

[Pyxis]

Did you get any word from Sandhill about your order?

No, but it turns out according to my letter that they weren't actually shipping last week, so they didn't miss me last week, at least. We'll see if they ship tomorrow

 

[tao chick]

No, but it turns out according to my letter that they weren't actually shipping last week, so they didn't miss me last week, at least. We'll see if they ship tomorrow

 

[tao chick]

Eggs are locked down. Humidity is ok.

 

[dcba flock]

Totally ticked! My fall hatch pullets just started laying and it appears I have an egg eater!!! I had a nice dark speckled egg in the nesting box late morning thought maybe leave it to see if that got others to lay there as well....

It was gone but the remnants of yolk on the shavings and a piece of shell stinkers!!!! I just bought some oyster shell to throw out there for them (I have had a cpl rubber eggs broken in the coop) I will obviously not be leaving eggs anymore any other suggestions...? Grrrrr

 

[AmberKnits]

Totally ticked! My fall hatch pullets just started laying and it appears I have an egg eater!!! I had a nice dark speckled egg in the nesting box late morning thought maybe leave it to see if that got others to lay there as well....

It was gone but the remnants of yolk on the shavings and a piece of shell stinkers!!!! I just bought some oyster shell to throw out there for them (I have had a cpl rubber eggs broken in the coop) I will obviously not be leaving eggs anymore any other suggestions...? Grrrrr

We had some crazy egg eating last fall. We had a few hens that would wait for others to lay then jump in the box for the eggs. If I tossed a fake egg on the ground, half the flock went into a frenzy.
We put fake eggs in all the nesting boxes, we put them back in every day when they were knocked out of the nests. We collected eggs 2 or 3 times a day, whenever we thought of it. I increased the protein in their feed (used Feather Fixer) and got them snacks high in protein (black oil sunflower seeds).

I also blew out eggs, then used a medicine syringe to fill them with Tabasco sauce. We did a lot of those, all different colored eggs. I closed the holes with a tiny bit of hot glue (that didn't work very well). I read that this method doesn't work, but we watched the hens go after the eggs we left on the ground they were rubbing their beaks on the ground - clearly they did not like them. We filled eggs every day and left them on the ground or in nest boxes until they left the eggs alone.

Combined, all our efforts were effective. We no longer have any egg eaters.

 

[AmberKnits]

I'm getting egg-cited! I managed to secure eggs for the classrooms I'll be hatching in!
I'm getting:
12+ BLR Wyandottes locally
18+ Marans (1/2 BC, 1/2 Wheaten) - 2 hours away
10+ shipped silkies (eBay)
12 (?) of my own silkies (B/B/S - I've got two blues)

When it's all added up....it's a lot of chicks! Good thing Chickenstock is right after the hatch!

 

[Beer can]

Totally ticked! My fall hatch pullets just started laying and it appears I have an egg eater!!! I had a nice dark speckled egg in the nesting box late morning thought maybe leave it to see if that got others to lay there as well....

It was gone but the remnants of yolk on the shavings and a piece of shell stinkers!!!! I just bought some oyster shell to throw out there for them (I have had a cpl rubber eggs broken in the coop) I will obviously not be leaving eggs anymore any other suggestions...? Grrrrr

I had a egg eater in my giants.
Some say the only thing that works is to cull once they get the taste. Others have good luck with a blowed out egg filled with mustard, (see amberknits used tabasco

)
I couldn't cull, not only didn't know who was guilty but did not want to loose any of them.
Couple old timers swore that they are lacking in protein is why the do it, up'd the protein and problem was solved. Problem with, and BOSS is good stuff, is there is a lot of fiber, shells, for the protein they get. I went back to giving mine ground fish my kids caught, sunfish bluegills perch. Ground up and cooked first just in case of parasites. Got a lot of tadpoles and frogs with a net (lots of duckweed also) from our pond, boy the birds loved them

 

[AmberKnits]

I had a egg eater in my giants.
Some say the only thing that works is to cull once they get the taste. Others have good luck with a blowed out egg filled with mustard, (see amberknits used tabasco )
I couldn't cull, not only didn't know who was guilty but did not want to loose any of them.
Couple old timers swore that they are lacking in protein is why the do it, up'd the protein and problem was solved. Problem with, and BOSS is good stuff, is there is a lot of fiber, shells, for the protein they get. I went back to giving mine ground fish my kids caught, sunfish bluegills perch. Ground up and cooked first just in case of parasites. Got a lot of tadpoles and frogs with a net (lots of duckweed also) from our pond, boy the birds loved them

My hubby got really upset when I suggested culling the worst offenders. He doesn't even like the chickens, but he got really upset when the dog got one. He wanted to save a bird that was so far past saving....he grew up in the city though. No farm experience, he never had a yard until we bought our house. He thinks putting pets down is like "giving up" on them. I have to do those vet visits.


Tabasco was easier to get into the small holes I made in the eggs. I also had a ton left over from a baby shower/BBQ where the favors were bottles of Tabasco.

 

[Gramma Chick]

I like that ..Use what you have ..
You can also have a problem when egg shells are too thin ..
My birds will eat any broken egg ....Longs it is not cracked ..they ignore them