***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Loriemarler]

It's cute!  Hope you win a ribbon!

Just learned someone who bought some birds from me this spring won some ribbons at Rogers County Fair last week!    Her daughter's langshans from me took Best in Breed cockerel and pullet in blue langshans, best in breed black langshan cockerel, and the pullet won Grand Champion for the junior class!  Makes me so happy for them!

That is awesome!! It makes you feel good when someone wins with your stock doesn't it.

 

[Ironsights]

I took my soft sculpture entry to the fairgrounds today. If you have a chance to go to the fair this year, check out the Hand Arts division and look for a lady chicken farmer. This is my favorite part :cd

You should definitely win with that one! How come I don't have a talent?

 

[Poco Pollo]

Everything's muddy today. The piglets are huddling close to mom, and the chickens are staying in the barn. I heard a rumor we'll have hot weather again next week. I'm glad I'm not a tree.

 

[GaryDean26]

Got an egg question. Am I thinking correct that hens generally lay the same shaped egg? I have 4 cream Legbars just starting to lay and I have 2 olive not blue colored eggs. They are shaped differently so does that mean I have to weirdo cream Legbars or just one? I got the first green egg early in the week and the smaller one with spots today
There is a bluish cream Legbar egg on top for comparison

Yes...You are correct that hens "generally" lay eggs that are similar in shape, size, color That is not always true though. There is some variation. If you trap nest you may be suprised how much it varies from day to day, but if you trap nest you will also get to where you know what hen laid each egg. When I lived in Texas we had 12 coops. I would put 1-2 Black Copper Marans, 1-2 Cream legbars, 1-2 Basque hens, Breda, etc in each pen so that I could see who was laying each egg for daily egg records. Some times my wife would collect eggs then she would show me an add and ask which pen it came from. Many times I would be 100% correct. Don't tell my wife, but I had an advantage. I knew which hens had laid the day before and how many days they had laid in a row, so I always knew which hens were due to miss a day. That greatly increased my accuracy when we played the which pens is this egg from game.

What line are your Legbars from? The egg color comes from the breeding. I have seen lots of people with the newest imported "Rees" line have hens lay the greener eggs. The older Legbar lines from the 2010-2011 imports generally have bluer egg. So...you may have two wirdo CLB. Since they lay the same shape color, they may be sisters or other wise related.

I have got 4 blue eggs over the last four days. I am very happy to finally be getting eggs again. The three months with no eggs while we made our move from Texas to Oklahoma about killed us.

 

[NanaKat]

@NanaKat. That is a beautiful bird. I'm reluctant to get exotic birds. I just don't have time or pens for them but I like the pictures! When you keep your Roos separate do they fight?

There is little fighting if they are raised together...I pull juveniles at about 5 months to pen until I either freezer camp or select for breeders. They are not yet teenage boys so only an occasional face to face challenge as the hormones kick in.
Now in the pen of older cocks that get housed together when I break up the breed pens...there are a few scuffles. I pull all cocks at night and coop them in a pen that did not belong to any of them...no ownership makes the transition easier. I move them in the late evening by putting two birds at a time into a 18 X 24 cage. Then move the cages to the pen and release them quickly. They are unsettled but less likely to pick on each other. Because it is late, they settle down for the night. I keep an eye on them the next day. So far there haven't been serious challenges.

I'm on an egg list for next spring for Malines and Cuckoo Breda. These will be the most exotic I've gone. Fortunately I have room for extra pens.

 

[NanaKat]

Here is my first almond harvest. These are off the Hall's hardy almond tree planted last fall. The shells are harder than the paper almond and are in the freezer now for 48 hours. Then they can be cracked and stored. I know it's not many, but not bad for a first crop off a 5 foot tree.


The chickens were ranging everywhere after it quit raining...along the drive, in the front yard, the back yard and hanging out by the equipment. And the latest hatch...Columbian Wyandotte, some Bantams and quail.

 

[Loriemarler]

Yes...You are correct that hens "generally" lay eggs that are similar in shape, size, color  That is not always true though.  There is some variation.  If you trap nest you may be suprised how much it varies from day to day, but if you trap nest you will also get to where you know what hen laid each egg.   When I lived in Texas we had 12 coops.  I would put 1-2 Black Copper Marans, 1-2 Cream legbars, 1-2 Basque hens, Breda, etc in each pen so that I could see who was laying each egg for daily egg records.  Some times my wife would collect eggs then she would show me an add and ask which pen it came from.  Many times I would be 100% correct.  Don't tell my wife, but I had an advantage.  I knew which hens had laid the day before and how many days they had laid in a row, so I always knew which hens  were due to miss a day.  That greatly increased my accuracy when we played the which pens is this egg from game.    

What line are your Legbars from?  The egg color comes from the breeding.  I have seen lots of people with the newest imported "Rees" line have hens lay the greener eggs.  The older Legbar lines from the 2010-2011 imports generally have bluer egg. So...you may have two wirdo CLB.  Since they lay the same shape color, they may be sisters or other wise related.  

I have got 4 blue eggs over the last four days.  I am very happy to finally be getting eggs again.  The three months with no eggs while we made our move from Texas to Oklahoma about killed us.    

I have 2 cream Legbar hens from Rhinda that are sisters and 2 cream Legbar hens from another breeder. I can definatly see a difference in color on the hens. The two from Rhinda are cream but the two others look to be gold. So I think the gold two are laying the blue eggs. Now that I know the standard says blue or green it is ok though right?

 

[NanaKat]

I was at the Shawnee Atwoods today.
They are running a chick sale. and have straight run White Plymoth Rocks, Minorca, and what looked like Red Sex-link or Rhodes for $1.99.
They had three colors of guinea...white, some that look silver blue and the regular.
There was a bin of straight run mixed Bantams, several pullet bins ($2.99) and the geese and ducks.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

I have 2 cream Legbar hens from Rhinda that are sisters and 2 cream Legbar hens from another breeder. I can definatly see a difference in color on the hens. The two from Rhinda are cream but the two others look to be gold. So I think the gold two are laying the blue eggs. Now that I know the standard says blue or green it is ok though right?

Standard says blue or green yes. Most breeders are breeding towards blue though even though green is acceptable. Just a personal preference.

 

[NanaKat]

We decided to strip the Galas apple tree this morning. Some of the dropped apples were really chewed up and I found a big coyote dropping inside the garden chain linked fence!
Even with all the fried green apples and apple sauce I have made, we still ended up with over two 5 gallon buckets full.


My Pheasants are reaching full grown status! Will try to hatch eggs in the spring when they start laying (April to June). We plan on releasing these after I gather an incubator full of eggs and let them populate the farm.
The male is really pretty and several of the hens are getting their full length tails now.