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Werforpsu said:
Evening all!
We added to our flock in the last week. We got two from a friend who didn't want to winterize her coop for the two girls. The next day I had two jumbo eggs in my coop that were different from mine, so we know they laid right away.
Then husband and I went to the Belleville Animal Auction and bought 5 hens. I was skeptical because there is no way to tell their age, but they were only $2 each. I vent checked them when they arrived at our house and am hopeful because they all had large wet vents. Not long after getting home, one laid the biggest egg I have ever seen. I weighed it... 3.3oz!
In the 5 days since we got our last ones, I have gotten anywhere from 6-10 eggs a day from 15 layers. I am hoping to have that fill out to about a dozen a day. Some appear to be molting and I know that due to protein needs, they often don't lay during molt.
Last, but not least is that I bought a mama hen and 5 baby chicks in a box all together. They looked to be a few days to a week old. We built them a little secure pen in the coop and We are feeding and watering them, but letting mama do all the heavy lifting. I imagine that they will all be together in "the annex" until at least Thanksgiving. We have never had a broody mama before so the mama raising chicks thing is new to us.
CAN ANYONE TELL ME:
How big do the chicks need to be (with a mother protecting them) to be exposed at all to the rest of the chickens?
Should the Mama stay with them until they are big enough to co-mingle, or will she loose the desire to stay with them when they get to a certain point in development?
At what point will she probably start to lay again?

Hope all is well with you all and that you and your flock are enjoying the nice weather!
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I have a silkie that goes broody twice a year. I keep her and the peeps in a coop within the coop so they can see the older aunts. When they are 3 weeks old I open the gate for a short while, staying with them, momma is very protective of the peeps. I'll do this for a couple of days, then if no one is picking on momma I will leave them all together. The peeps are not seen as a threat to the peeking order and learn to stay with momma.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
One more post! Just had to share these pics of my bantam Langshan duo from @msladyhawke . Batman is so stunning, and I think he and Robin were posing today. He has the most intense green sheen on his feathers. Highly recommend this breed. All the chickens and turkeys love this boulder. There is someone on it daily, usually in the morning. Oh yes, and in the first pic, he is crowing!



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LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture! :love
 
LadyBehir said:
daggnabit, I think Barb really is Barbecue. And now Hippie is looking boyish. Daggnabit.
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I'm I just lucky? Because my chicks were clearly boy or girl at like 6-7 weeks. Or is a breed thing? Right now I'm having decide which cockerel I want to keep. Or if I want none lol.
 
I have a spoiled rotten little showgirl! Sylvia was down and out over the past week with, I'm assuming, was cocci. I treated her for 5 days but she was weak and felt like skin and bones. So every morning, I started making her a special breakfast of scrambled eggs with electrolyte powder and added vitamins. She's recovering well, eating, and is healthy enough to be back in with the flock. But now, she expects her special eggs still, every morning lol. She'll come out of the coop, grab half a crop full of food then comes running out front to meet me at the porch steps when I get back from taking the kids to the bus stop. She just talks and talks and follows me until I go in abs make her special eggs. She coos and purrs while she demos them lol. She was never overly social before all this but now, she follows me everywhere lol. I'm still wondering when she'll start laying song as how she was hatched on New Years Eve...

I also have some pictures I need to show since Lollipop decided to try to "help" me paint yesterday. I'm not sure how long his bill will be trimmed in white now :barnie
 
This was after Lollipop's first attempt to "help" me. I didn't get the camera fast enough and he had washed most of it off by then.

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This was the SECOND time he managed to sneak past me and get into the paint bucket. Notice Sunshine is perfectly clean lol

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He made more attempts. I practically had to sit on the bucket to keep him out of it! Brat!
 
Auroradream26 said:
I have a spoiled rotten little showgirl! Sylvia was down and out over the past week with, I'm assuming, was cocci. I treated her for 5 days but she was weak and felt like skin and bones. So every morning, I started making her a special breakfast of scrambled eggs with electrolyte powder and added vitamins. She's recovering well, eating, and is healthy enough to be back in with the flock. But now, she expects her special eggs still, every morning lol. She'll come out of the coop, grab half a crop full of food then comes running out front to meet me at the porch steps when I get back from taking the kids to the bus stop. She just talks and talks and follows me until I go in abs make her special eggs. She coos and purrs while she demos them lol. She was never overly social before all this but now, she follows me everywhere lol. I'm still wondering when she'll start laying song as how she was hatched on New Years Eve...

I also have some pictures I need to show since Lollipop decided to try to "help" me paint yesterday. I'm not sure how long his bill will be trimmed in white now :barnie
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Sounds like one smart cookie! Well at least now you have a new friend.
 

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