Pullet Police?!

[Faraday40]

I have an Orpington girl with legs like tree trunks. I noticed them the day I brought them home, freshly hatched. So don't let that worry you. One way to tell if your RIR is going to turn out to be a cockerel is the tail feathers. They grow beautiful green tail feathers.

Yes "Orpington girl with legs like tree trunks" is what I always say.
My gals are HUGE!

If you want a very docile breed, Orps are great and their eggs are big. My roos never went through a bad hormonal stage at 1 year. (A little too frequent mating the hens & a little comb pecking of each other around their 1st birthday.) They never even entertained the idea of chasing one of the children or circling them. I only had to get rid of one adult male orp. He wasn't aggressive all the time, but unpredictable. Too many good roos around, so that boy went to freezer camp. He never actually attacked a person, but kept trying to stand his ground & attacked plenty of shovels, brooms, & the pooper scooper.

However, orps are not very efficient with the feed. They also take a long time to mature. I'm very impressed with my Dominique hen. She's intelligent, a great forager, has natural hawk camouflage, gentle, and very, very friendly. I've heard most Dom roos are fairly gentle, but I never had one. That may be a breed to look into if you want a good dual purpose heritage breed.

 

[rIrs roost]

beautiful big hen!

 

[akorte]

Yes "Orpington girl with legs like tree trunks" is what I always say.
My gals are HUGE!
View attachment 1058502
If you want a very docile breed, Orps are great and their eggs are big. My roos never went through a bad hormonal stage at 1 year. (A little too frequent mating the hens & a little comb pecking of each other around their 1st birthday.) They never even entertained the idea of chasing one of the children or circling them. I only had to get rid of one adult male orp. He wasn't aggressive all the time, but unpredictable. Too many good roos around, so that boy went to freezer camp. He never actually attacked a person, but kept trying to stand his ground & attacked plenty of shovels, brooms, & the pooper scooper.

However, orps are not very efficient with the feed. They also take a long time to mature. I'm very impressed with my Dominique hen. She's intelligent, a great forager, has natural hawk camouflage, gentle, and very, very friendly. I've heard most Dom roos are fairly gentle, but I never had one. That may be a breed to look into if you want a good dual purpose heritage breed.

@Faraday40, when do your orps start laying? I have one born Jan 28, and two Feb. 8. We are ready for some Orpington eggs!!!

 

[akorte]

They are English Orpingtons from a breeder, so supposed to mature slower than hatchery chicks.

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40, when do your orps start laying? I have one born Jan 28, and two Feb. 8. We are ready for some Orpington eggs!!!

Mine take 8-9 months. It's because the bigger breeds just take longer to mature. They have most of their height by 6 months, but don't get full sized until 18 months - usually look their best at around 2 yrs. when they're all filled out.

You'll probably see eggs at the end of summer beginning of fall.

 

[akorte]

Mine take 8-9 months. It's because the bigger breeds just take longer to mature. They have most of their height by 6 months, but don't get full sized until 18 months - usually look their best at around 2 yrs. when they're all filled out.

You'll probably see eggs at the end of summer beginning of fall.

Thanks!

 

[newlyaddicted2chickens]

With that much combs...they should be laying. Look for hidden eggs. You've got really red, developed combs. Those breeds tend to mature quicker, so I'm expecting pullets at point of lay.

Otherwise....sadly...you may have about 2 to 3 roosters.

LofMc

You were right, they started laying yesterday! We are over-the-moon excited... especially to take $4/dz organic free range eggs off the grocery list

First two pics are their eggs, 3 yesterday and 2 today. Third is their first day batch with a store bought for size comparison. They are definitely small at the moment!

We are still working on our lady who wants to rule the roost and us. We have worked out a plan for if we need to separate her from the flock for a while - she can hang out in our garage in what I used for their brooder (modified for a full grown chicken) and free range alone until she gets her act together! Hopefully the change in how we act and let her act around us will do the trick though.

Oh, and all of the eggs have been in the nesting boxes, so that's a plus! Smart ladies

 

[Faraday40]

View attachment 1063567 View attachment 1063568 View attachment 1063571

You were right, they started laying yesterday! We are over-the-moon excited... especially to take $4/dz organic free range eggs off the grocery list

First two pics are their eggs, 3 yesterday and 2 today. Third is their first day batch with a store bought for size comparison. They are definitely small at the moment!

We are still working on our lady who wants to rule the roost and us. We have worked out a plan for if we need to separate her from the flock for a while - she can hang out in our garage in what I used for their brooder (modified for a full grown chicken) and free range alone until she gets her act together! Hopefully the change in how we act and let her act around us will do the trick though.

Oh, and all of the eggs have been in the nesting boxes, so that's a plus! Smart ladies

A big congrats! Those eggs will grow in size & soon you may get a day when all the hens lay on the same day! That's always fun!

 

[newlyaddicted2chickens]

Yes, we are quite excited There is just the two of us, so we will definitely have a surplus of eggs. Our parents will reap those benefits as well, especially since I enlisted my father and father-in-law-to-be for a lot of manual labor getting the coop built. If only you could pay for everything with eggs! What we have left between our family and friends who want them we will likely sell by just putting a sign out at the end of our driveway. In about 100 years that coop will pay for itself!! lol

 

[Faraday40]

We felt the same way & had many egg IOUs that 1st year. We actually did trade some fresh eggs for services (when our handyman refused our money). We even use them as small thank you gifts. We sell eggs to the neighbors who easily buy us out every time we gather a surplus. Spring & summer are great, then we go through the lean times of fall & winter. That's when we no longer can sell eggs & must also ration our baking. (I refuse to buy eggs at the store.)

So when you decide to sell eggs, make sure you price them high enough to pay for the feed for the year. That way your hobby/pets can pay for themselves. Also, you can always sell some chicks.