Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Blarneyeggs]

your daily goat pics... wish I could post a movie. Cant' figure that out.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

your daily goat pics... wish I could post a movie. Cant' figure that out.

 

[yoopergirl1211]

@yoopergirl1211
 Sorry I have been away. Can you post pictures of your two barred rocks? Male or female? Also those light colored chicks don't look like Rhode Island Reds at all. I'm not sure what they could be... maybe buff orpingtons? Keep us posted on those! 

I'll take pics. And they are pullets. The co op had RIR pullets I can grab if you want any. Im there every other day. Lol

 

[yoopergirl1211]

your daily goat pics... wish I could post a movie. Cant' figure that out.

They are so adorable!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Welcome! Let's wait 4 months and then we can take a guess... Sorry I have no idea about the top one, the bottom one looks like it is a Turken.

Yeah I figured lol. I just figured RIR would start off darker. Can turkens have feathered legs?

No idea! But I know they have that signature naked neck. I think showgirl Silkies do as well. But I'm not sure how common they are.

Had a banner day yesterday--a dozen eggs from a dozen hens! That means even my 8 year old grande dame, Chamomile, laid. After the first soft shell egg of the season that apparently made her feel so awful, she has laid several more eggs, but she hasn't seemed sick again. She has laid a few perfect hard shelled eggs like the one in the pic below (2nd row, far left), and a couple times I have found a bit of a yolky mess in the nest box after she was in there--I assume in those cases she may have laid a soft egg and squished or ate it. She has the same diet as everyone else (layer feed, plus daily treats and a bit of free ranging), and I hesitate to add more calcium because none of the others have soft shells, and in fact one of the white layers always has extra calcium deposits on the top of the egg. Chamomile: One dozen: In other coop news, I caught these two on the trail cam last night, strolling by the coop only minutes apart. I'm glad we did all that extra predator proofing last year!!

That's amazing! Wasn't Chamomile the one who was on th brink of the end a little while back? Sometimes they really surprise you.

Thank you @emorems0 for running the chicken train!

Yes, thanks again! Emorems0 for the Chicken train and dhetzel for the eggs! I have been a little distracted with them: circling air cells, starting weights, been off and running now. Picked up the Langshan from msladyhawk and some surprise Java eggs yesterday. Tossed a few L/J under my stubborn Cochin/Silkie cross (born to be broody)... I love staggered hatches. I never have to quit hatching!

You'll love those Langshan. Excellent broodies and mothers. I have two chicks now, and I'm praying they're both females.

. So you can have too much of a good thing. I now have three broodies all sitting in the boxes. Crazy girls!

Welcome to our world! LOL... we currently have 3 with chicks and 3 sitting. Should be a few more soon... Heckle, Jeckle, Janeway and Lacey are all about due for their spring brood. And I haven't forgotten about getting you eggs, we will get them to you once we know our hatch rate goes back up.

Haha, maybe you better hold off until next year. Looks like I'll have a steady supply of broodies from now on. The BSL is on her second round! I'm happy the Bielefelder went broody, she's so fat I can put a bunch under her.

. So you can have too much of a good thing. I now have three broodies all sitting in the boxes. Crazy girls!

I broke two, and now Bonnie Tyler is sitting. She's being stubborn. She seems to be my best sitter though. She went broody twice last year. She will have to be broken tomorrow. Sabrina the turkey seems serious as of today. She will be in the breaker tomorrow too.

I think I am going to break my turkey too. I don't think she would be a good Momma, and I'm not sure how to sneak chicks under her.

 

[dheltzel]

I want to mail a box of eggs and it's been a while since I've done that successfully. The PO no longer has the large box fixed rate priority mail (guess they figured they were leaving money on the table not charging by the pound). It seemed absurdly expensive (> $80) the way I put it into the calculator. Can someone that shipped recently give me an idea of what if costs and how many eggs you sent? Is USPS still the best way (rather than UPS or FedEx) ? I want to ship several dozen eggs at once, and double box and all. Last year I shipped in a foam shipper with special handling and it was not very satisfactory, IMO, so I'm going back to bubble wrap.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

I have also had bad hatched both sent and received using the foam. I read somewhere that it had something to do with the air flow being restricted. I tried to copy Sally's article on shipping eggs...here it is:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/attachments/960

 

[Chaos18]

I want to mail a box of eggs and it's been a while since I've done that successfully. The PO no longer has the large box fixed rate priority mail (guess they figured they were leaving money on the table not charging by the pound). It seemed absurdly expensive (> $80) the way I put it into the calculator. Can someone that shipped recently give me an idea of what if costs and how many eggs you sent? Is USPS still the best way (rather than UPS or FedEx) ? I want to ship several dozen eggs at once, and double box and all. Last year I shipped in a foam shipper with special handling and it was not very satisfactory, IMO, so I'm going back to bubble wrap.

Typically it costs right around $20-$25 per box to ship. I've never mailed more than about 18 eggs. USPS is still the best way.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I want to mail a box of eggs and it's been a while since I've done that successfully. The PO no longer has the large box fixed rate priority mail (guess they figured they were leaving money on the table not charging by the pound). It seemed absurdly expensive (> $80) the way I put it into the calculator. Can someone that shipped recently give me an idea of what if costs and how many eggs you sent? Is USPS still the best way (rather than UPS or FedEx) ? I want to ship several dozen eggs at once, and double box and all. Last year I shipped in a foam shipper with special handling and it was not very satisfactory, IMO, so I'm going back to bubble wrap.

I just mailed a box to @AnneInTheBurbs yesterday. It was double boxed and the smaller, inside box had 5 chicken eggs and I think 7 turkey eggs. A larger box could've fit inside but I didn't have any bigger ones. It cost $10.95 to ship from here to there

 

[dheltzel]

I have also had bad hatched both sent and received using the foam. I read somewhere that it had something to do with the air flow being restricted. I tried to copy Sally's article on shipping eggs...here it is:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/attachments/960

Thanks! I remember reading that a while back, and variations on the bubble wrap packing. I've been exploring on the USPS site and the prices jump a lot once you get any dimension longer than 12", so I will look for a box as close to a ft cube as possible. The "large" flat rate box is only slightly cheaper and is only 5 inches tall, so I think I can do better with my own box.

I wish I knew if the $10 special handling was worth it. They seem pretty clueless about that at the PO, so I suspect they are treated the same once "in the system".