Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[BullChick]

Added 2 new nest boxes yesterday afternoon. All 4 eggs were laid in the original despite baiting the other two. Oh well. At least none were on the floor. 4 eggs IN THE BOX the last 2 days. Woo hoo!

Eggs of four,
and none on the floor
The only one missing,
is the one by the door.

 

[cheeka]

Two eggs today, one from Blu, one from a BR... probably Betty...


happy gang, in from ranging... Peach's feed and water station is visible in the back, it's been working out nicely. she doesn't have to risk being squashed or pecked or mounted to eat or drink... she has her own nest box in the apple coop, but she doesn't use it (yet?), I may try mounting one to the back wire and the roost... might become a poop station tho'...

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Those two roos fighting over peachy?

 

[cheeka]

the 2 on the roost with her... Si on the left, Archie in the middle... came with her, they are her bodyguards, however, when Si is frustrated bc the LF hens are not interested in his juvenile bumbling ways... he will go after her, she's pretty quick tho' and uses the roosts to her advantage... she flies from one end to the other, where I am standing to take the picture, there is another long roost to my right... she zooms around back and forth... pretty funny, he can't catch her, and he can't mount her from up on the roost... during range time, she usually hangs out on top of the coops or the portable run... or right on top of the enclosure... the 3rd roo, on the ground with 3 hens, is Royce, he's 4 weeks older, and only chases Peach to punish Si for breaching his personal flock rules... he doesn't try to mount her really... just chases her around. Archie is the "Defensive Cockerel Blocker". he knocks both other roos off any other bird. He is the Supreme Protector of the Entire Family. He stays. he's a lot larger than Royce, despite his younger age. I think he will be huge when fully grown.


I knew Blu was going to hop onto the roost with Peach, and I was hoping to get a nice picture, but the instant Blu landed, Peach took off, and flew to the back roost


showin' off!
I brought her around to the front yard while I unloaded the car, got feed for everyone, me included... she got some private range time, to eat grass and clover undisturbed, while the rest of the flock was just off to the side of the house... I could keep an eye on everyone and unload 140 lbs of feed, seed, kibble and litter, and probably another 60 lbs of human food. got a good workout...

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Didn't get home tonight until dark-thirty. While locking up, I checked the coop with a flashlight and counted 10 girls.

Someone was MISSING and that someone was Spot!

Heard a little huuurrrrr coming from the nest box and found her there

along with 2 more eggs which I promptly grabbed. But Spot just stood there making that huuurrrr noise. Standing. In the nest box. I pet her and talked to her, but she just stood there.

I was starting to worry that something bad had happened to her, acting so strange and huuurrrrring, and not on the roost with her buds. Then I began to suspect what was going on.

Sure enough, with another little huuurrr, the egg she was laying dropped out!

I guess I wasn't expecting that since it was after dark. Now I'm wondering why we say "laying eggs" when it really is more like "dropping eggs"!

So with that last egg we reached a total of 7 for today!

I also can report that Belle the Slayer of Skunks has happily returned from exile.

She is accompanied by her faithful squire, Scooter the Pest.

Part of the squire's duty is to assist Belle with her training. He plays the role of the skunk.





Scooter makes a very good skunk!!

Awww they are precious! Glad her quarantine ended, looks like scooter is too! What a good girl, belle the skunk slayer deserves a huge WTGl. I was sprayed once a long time ago. I did animal control for 5 years, and trapping/nuisance animals was a big part of it. I had to remove a distempered skunk out of a Lady's yard. Welllll..the protocol in that instance is to approach with a large blanket slowly and cover it, then scoop and remove. Of course, it had to be a windy day. Full on spray and ugh i thought i was dying! I gag if i even smell hint of skunk even today...this was18 years ago.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

the 2 on the roost with her... Si on the left, Archie in the middle... came with her, they are her bodyguards, however, when Si is frustrated bc the LF hens are not interested in his juvenile bumbling ways... he will go after her, she's pretty quick tho' and uses the roosts to her advantage... she flies from one end to the other, where I am standing to take the picture, there is another long roost to my right... she zooms around back and forth... pretty funny, he can't catch her, and he can't mount her from up on the roost... during range time, she usually hangs out on top of the coops or the portable run... or right on top of the enclosure... the 3rd roo, on the ground with 3 hens, is Royce, he's 4 weeks older, and only chases Peach to punish Si for breaching his personal flock rules... he doesn't try to mount her really... just chases her around. Archie is the "Defensive Cockerel Blocker". he knocks both other roos off any other bird. He is the Supreme Protector of the Entire Family. He stays. he's a lot larger than Royce, despite his younger age. I think he will be huge when fully grown.


I knew Blu was going to hop onto the roost with Peach, and I was hoping to get a nice picture, but the instant Blu landed, Peach took off, and flew to the back roost


showin' off!
I brought her around to the front yard while I unloaded the car, got feed for everyone, me included... she got some private range time, to eat grass and clover undisturbed, while the rest of the flock was just off to the side of the house... I could keep an eye on everyone and unload 140 lbs of feed, seed, kibble and litter, and probably another 60 lbs of human food. got a good workout...

ugh thats a load, know what you mean there. I do the major shopping about every 3 weeks. Your lil Peach needed you to look out for her. Royce sounds like a stinker hehe! My roo, Red is still young, 7 months and i hope he stays as sweet as he is now. He follows me a lot during the day. I see him go after his girls but they have full feathering on their backs so far. He is really hateful with the CX meatbirds, but they all are. I try to keep them separated as much as possible when we have them, the guineas will go after any new birds, makes me crazy..

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

awwwww W4W, I love those pics! Scooter is so darling, and they look so cute together! Congrats on the 7th egg - so cool you got to watch. mine make the same hurrrrrrrin' noise in the next box, I always interpreted as Senor Mences "Close the Door" imitation...
it's so mild this morning, no ice in the waterers, no eggs yet either, but both Blu and Isis were busy nesting. Wilma decided I couldn't hear her, she must be taking lessons from Roger, she's got the peacock call down pat. I'm sure her shrieking carried down the hill for miles... Chicken Protection Services are expected later today

LMAO

block the driveway roger's coming to inspect!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Oh! Jchny, right! I Had read your post on the feed but got confused...as to who posted it! My page turning is a slow thing depending on cloud cover. But yeah, the alpaca food is definetely to blame. The should be back on schedule in another week. Sounds like you have some interesting critters! Gotta love critters.

lol i am always looking where i am, i read too many forums, no worries! you mentioned many good things everyone needs to look at if eggs are missing, thank you so much for sharing. I have some weird critters, lol but decided do it now while i am young enough to care for them. I wanted Alpaca for about 40 years. So expensive, but found these 2 boys recently and jumped on it. Life is too short, i use every moment of it so i don't miss a thing.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Here's an interesting thing. Quite awhile ago I read a thread in the meat bird section about fermenting feed...(since nutrition came up) so I thought...hmmmm. studied up on it and read agriculture articles on silage etc....so have been fermenting scratch grains for over a year...my chickens do great on this formula...and its pretty easy to do. I've noticed great feathering, and better eggs, that surprise don't seem to have much sulfa in them, and produce less gas when eaten-ask my dogs...haha. Lately I have added whole corn to the mix, I give that an extra day of fermenting. My chicens go nuts for it, they eat less of it and there is less waste as smaller grains adsorb water, swell, and get seen and eaten instead of disappearing. The fermentng sort of predigests the feed, releases probiotics and increases protein and vitamin contents. Chickens don't have a 'prestomach, like rudimentary animals, but the crop does hold food that naturally begins to ferment ( saw it first hand after opening a wild turkey crop to see what it had been eating....some of my corn I noticed) but anyhow, after my bucket was buried in snow for several days and i just fed scratch, they practically assaulted me when I finally got over to the fermenting stuff. They had managed to get the lid off the bucket, but didn't go bobbing for the grains. It does taste much better too.

I ferment too. All my critters, including alpaca love it. What a healthy choice for all of them. the pigs gain a lot faster, and the meatbirds have almost NO fat. Ugh don't let em near the bucket, total kaos and get your hands outa there!

Its a total no brainer. they all are so much healthier.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Yeah, come spring I am thinking one or two roos may need their own space. Si and peachy are still juvinille, atchie too but doesn't want to be....maybe I have rooster squabbles on the brain but their body language says trouble is on the way. Toss in Archie and for sure. Is peachy bonded with si? What are you going to do?