Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[oletymer]

one of my chickens laid a goose egg today...

it was a double yoker

 

[ErinsFlock]

They are gorgeous, Hope the owner keeps them contained in the future though.

It is doubtful that he will, he told me he doesn't want them and asked me to keep them. I think he might be letting them just run off and hope that someone doesn't call him to come get them. He did say that they love to kill small animals, I have small dogs, a cat and of course my chickens. I would love to keep the pitbulls but I need to think about my current animals safety first. It still breaks my heart though!

 

[Avlana]

It is doubtful that he will, he told me he doesn't want them and asked me to keep them. I think he might be letting them just run off and hope that someone doesn't call him to come get them. He did say that they love to kill small animals, I have small dogs, a cat and of course my chickens. I would love to keep the pitbulls but I need to think about my current animals safety first. It still breaks my heart though!

He better care where they are because they're his responsibility!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Well it seems like everyone is starting to lay all at once! Two more of my EEs started laying. One yesterday afternoon and one this morning. My other silkie and one of the SLW started the other day I'm in heaven right now lol.

So I know everyone was taking about meat flocks the other day and I was thinking about a heritage sustainable flock and would like to know which breed you all would think best for it. I've heard Delawares, white rocks, white cornish, and new Hampshire. Opinions please?

 

[labradoodlemama]

I took Beaglady up on her offer for a salmon faverolles cockerel! I drove there Sunday and while I was there chicken math hit again. I came home with 1 salmon fav cockerel, 2 salmon fav pullets, and 1 cuckoo maran pullet, all about 12 wks old. Total now 16. I told my husband I was going for a cockerel only. lol Her chickens are beautiful. I promised Beaglady I would let her know their names: Blaze is the cockerel, Diane is the maran, and the other salmon favs are Katie and Rachael.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

What are the signs that a hen is trying to go broody? My Lily has speed laying regularly and only does so every couple days now but every day she goes to thenestand lays for a while. As of now, she's been out on the nest for well over an hour. The past couple days, when she's been on the nest, if someone comes into the coop or near her she makes this goofy noise. It's not a growl or a trill but something in between that. Almost like a clicking with singing or something. If she does happen to be broody, does anyone have any hatching eggs they wouldn't mind sharing....Black/blue copper marans, ameraucanas, or cream crested legbars lol

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I took Beaglady up on her offer for a salmon faverolles cockerel!  I drove there Sunday and while I was there chicken math hit again.  I came home with 1 salmon fav cockerel, 2 salmon  fav pullets, and 1 cuckoo maran pullet, all about 12 wks old.  Total now 16.  I told my husband I was going for a cockerel only.  lol  Her chickens are beautiful.  I promised Beaglady I would let her know their names: Blaze is the cockerel, Diane is the maran, and the other salmon favs are Katie and Rachael.

gotta love chicken math. When I first heard of it, I kinda rolled my eyes at it but it's so amazingly real lol

 

[dheltzel]

Well it seems like everyone is starting to lay all at once! Two more of my EEs started laying. One yesterday afternoon and one this morning. My other silkie and one of the SLW started the other day

I'm in heaven right now lol.

So I know everyone was taking about meat flocks the other day and I was thinking about a heritage sustainable flock and would like to know which breed you all would think best for it. I've heard Delawares, white rocks, white cornish, and new Hampshire. Opinions please?

My only direct experience is with standard bred (not hatchery) New Hampshires. My results have been mixed, the roos are huge, yet mild mannered, the hens, when they lay, are good producers, but I lost 2 or 3 hens before they even laid 1 egg, and I also lost a bunch of chicks at the age of 2 -4 weeks. My theory is that this strain is too inbred. Delawares have a good rep as layers (my source for info is Whitmore Farm in MD). I would think that sexlinks created from Delaware hens covered by a NH roo would make awesome dual purpose birds. That should get rid of any inbreeding vigor problems and produce cockerels that are much bigger than the regular sex links that hatcheries produce.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Good evening all:

Went out to check on the chooks after work...one did not make it back to the coop....of course its one of the CCL pullets....hope she shows up in the morning....her and three others have learned how to 'jump the fence'....the others made it back...who knows....

Oh crud! I hope she shows up.

I took Beaglady up on her offer for a salmon faverolles cockerel!  I drove there Sunday and while I was there chicken math hit again.  I came home with 1 salmon fav cockerel, 2 salmon  fav pullets, and 1 cuckoo maran pullet, all about 12 wks old.  Total now 16.  I told my husband I was going for a cockerel only.  lol  Her chickens are beautiful.  I promised Beaglady I would let her know their names: Blaze is the cockerel, Diane is the maran, and the other salmon favs are Katie and Rachael.

Awesome!

What are the signs that a hen is trying to go broody? My Lily has speed laying regularly and only does so every couple days now but every day she goes to thenestand lays for a while. As of now, she's been out on the nest for well over an hour. The past couple days, when she's been on the nest, if someone comes into the coop or near her she makes this goofy noise. It's not a growl or a trill but something in between that. Almost like a clicking with singing or something. If she does happen to be broody, does anyone have any hatching eggs they wouldn't mind sharing....Black/blue copper marans, ameraucanas, or cream crested legbars lol

I like to make sure my broody hens are really going to stay put before I give them eggs. I toss them out of the box a few times, and if they are persistent, only then do I give them eggs. I've had Broody Mamma's jump ship part way through....very aggravating. .

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I like to make sure my broody hens are really going to stay put before I give them eggs. I toss them out of the box a few times, and if they are persistent, only then do I give them eggs. I've had Broody Mamma's jump ship part way through....very aggravating. .

Welp, she's not lol. She popped out an egg and left the nest box after about 2 hours lol. While she was in there, little cookie got impatient and snuggled up next to her to lay her egg, which Lily promptly rolled underneath herself until she was done lol. I love chickens, they crack me up. It stunk that I had to wait 2 hours though to collect the 3 eggs she was hiding under her though *rolls eyes*