Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Just say no!!!!! Oh my it will be total evil devastation if you do...just sayin..... and welcome, nice to meet u

Cheeka, did you ever get any sleep last night or did you stay up doing chicken calculus?

We definitely plan on letting the girls brood, at this point I don't really have the time or space for incubating...even though my "little" scientist/chicken whisperer would love it. I was informed by DH last night that we are not allowed to eat the first bunch of duck eggs b/c he wants babies...I thought it would be easy to identify and leave be...but then I remembered the 10 pullets that he got from TSC are white egg layers...well, SUPPOSED to be. To top it off, the ducks like the community nest boxes...
I figure we will just let Fran and Half-Pint have their fun for now and hope we get a decent roo or two once these chicks get the eggs rolling.

Duck eggs have a waxy feel and appearance. They really stand out, you will know. Chicken eggs have a feel almost like chalk or new unpapered drywall (sorry but thats the best reference I can think of.) My Muscovy use nest boxes, or rafters that have a board like a loft. Will try to get Huey's pics of her latest hidden stash I plan on taking! All eggs are MINE, but I bet she will mother well if I can separate her. this is the 2nd hidden nest she set up. I have an easter egger that's making me nuts (Bunny), ferocious lil girl. She attacks anything that comes near her golf balls and has stopped laying again.

I guess I need to let her hatch some. Have way too many chickens now.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I've figured out this much over the last hour...
the 2 new reds are cockerels. and they are bantams. this is either Rose or Violet... at 14 weeks. I cropped the shot for comb and wattle viewing purposes... but I can tell from the picture that mine are substantially larger than the 2 new birds my girls faces would turn redder if it was really hot out. but all the pullets of all the breeds were still fairly pale in the album from that week, the roosters tho'... blazing red like the 2 new boys. so for the time being, they stay here, I can't place them with a little boy who will get attached and then not be able to keep them. (his mom and grandparents do not want roos) tomorrow I'll research, I've done it again, stayed up way too late, but it's just too hot

4 roosters!? Oh no! Another case of "no good deed goes unpunished."

I had wondered when I first saw the pics, but after reading your post, didn't think any more about it. I do like that dark fellow with the sort tail, though.

Your friend Ruth sure looked like she was enjoying the chickens. Petting one is new for so many people, and we've experienced it at 4H events before. It's one thing when the kids get excited, but even more gratifying to see the adult reactions.

we will make Roger as famous as Grumpy Cat.

Oh, Roger will be more famous, I hope. (I had to search Grumpy Cat.

)

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Duck eggs have a waxy feel and appearance. They really stand out, you will know. Chicken eggs have a feel almost like chalk or new unpapered drywall (sorry but thats the best reference I can think of.) My Muscovy use nest boxes, or rafters that have a board like a loft. Will try to get Huey's pics of her latest hidden stash I plan on taking! All eggs are MINE, but I bet she will mother well if I can separate her. this is the 2nd hidden nest she set up. I have an easter egger that's making me nuts (Bunny), ferocious lil girl. She attacks anything that comes near her golf balls and has stopped laying again.

I guess I need to let her hatch some. Have way too many chickens now.

So there is such a thing as too many? How many do you have now?

The road to recovery begins with facing the facts. Or, you can just say to heck with it and celebrate your life with reserved parking!

 

[cheeka]

hmmm, despite the heat, the gang kept their numbers up yesterday... 15 out of 19... 20 possible if Peach were laying... and I range between 11-17. MC, you're flock is right on track...

it's already 78* and muggy. I am in need of another shower and all I did was (slowly) walk the dogs, feed the chickens and let the big roosters out. tiny Mille Fleur boys are crowing their tiny crows... sound like toys. reds are silent. but it won't be long, I am sure!

 

[chirpingcricket]

So there is such a thing as too many? How many do you have now? The road to recovery begins with facing the facts. Or, you can just say to heck with it and celebrate your life with reserved parking!

I gotta have this sign!!! Chirp.

 

[animallover505]

My stupid dogs got another chicken. This time, my Columbian Wyandotte. She wasn't even at point of lay yet. She would've turned 4 months tomorrow.

 

[Sallysec]

Sorry AL

that bites

I just turned the turner off on the incubator...I candled a few of the eggs quickly...I saw one moving I am super excited but basically afraid I will screw this up...then I keep going back and forth about putting them under the broody outside...what if she is mean to them? I also thought I would get to basically baby these chicks and now I might give them up to broody because she is starting to look pretty bad I don't even see her eat anymore. I would leave her fruit at the entrance to the broody box and now I think she just lets the others eat ...never gets up...even when poked around.

We shall see what comes out of the incubator

 

[animallover505]

Yeah. The Columbian was my dad's favorite chicken. He always called her things like Cambodian Whitedot, because he couldn't remember the name.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My stupid dogs got another chicken. This time, my Columbian Wyandotte. She wasn't even at point of lay yet. She would've turned 4 months tomorrow.

I am so sorry

Sorry AL

that bites

I just turned the turner off on the incubator...I candled a few of the eggs quickly...I saw one moving I am super excited but basically afraid I will screw this up...then I keep going back and forth about putting them under the broody outside...what if she is mean to them? I also thought I would get to basically baby these chicks and now I might give them up to broody because she is starting to look pretty bad I don't even see her eat anymore. I would leave her fruit at the entrance to the broody box and now I think she just lets the others eat ...never gets up...even when poked around.

We shall see what comes out of the incubator

sending good hatching vibes

Quote:
total count ... I dont know!

60 quail, 6 pekin, 9 geese, 4 muscovy, 20 turkeys, 16 guinea, and at least 80 chickens could be more. I don't have an exact count of the babies

oh, and 2 goats, 3 pigs ♪♫ ♪♫ ..eieioooooo!

 

[cheeka]

oh AL, that really does stink. now with Chester around, I am so careful about who opens what doors... so far he still ignores the chickens, but I would be freaked out if he snatched one.

it's brutally hot in the flat land, but there is a fairly steady breeze up on the hill, the Big Boys Bachelor Pen is actually quite comfortable, shady... breezy... the thermometer reads 80* in the shade, the satellite weather says it's 91*, but that is for the entire zip code... I sacrificed a bag of frozen peas to the cause of keeping the gang cooler, hand fed Peach a whole bunch... the Bitty Boys are out for a stroll and to learn the lay of the land, so I have to scoot back outside to keep an eye on them.

Sally, she shouldn't be mean to the chicks... and it's up to you as to whether you transfer eggs, or chicks or none at all, but a broody is happiest when she has something to brood over... and even if you do give her chicks, you will still be able to baby them some, I can... with Peach... it seemed amusing that she would go off and do regular chicken things when Mylee was around to babysit. Peach would drive off anyone else (besides myself) tho'.