Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[lindz8504]

Here are pictures of 2 of the BCM boys! 10 weeks!
#1



#2

 

[cheeka]

love the pics lindz! everyone looks great and the eggs are gorgeous... I miss eggs. I got two today...

it was horribly windy today. had some minor damage to the bachelor pen, the roof tarp actually ripped. but I was able to pull it back over, roll it some and reattached it to the frame. one of the wall sheets let loose on one corner as well, from the additional swirling wind let in because the roof was flappin'... I actually cut another 26' strip of the blue vinyl, and over-wrapped the entire south end - two pens worth out of 3. I still need to do another 10' sheet for the inner wall between chambers 1 & 2. but with putting grommets on the 26'er and getting it installed, I was just about out of daylight, and everyone needed fresh water and corn... the bachelor pen is much improved with the extra vinyl on the west facing wall - the harsh winds come from the west and hammer us. we got a good inch of snow and because it didn't rise above 14.5* all day, it's still on the ground. it's a heavy snow, resistant to being totally blown away by the winds.

 

[SullyD]

Love the boys, Lindz! Just wait until you see them at 19 weeks! That is how old mine are. Beautiful, noisy, and raging hormones! My poor girls are getting beat up! I think I have 10 roos (some are a bit young so still hard to tell), of various breeds. I am keeping two of the Am's, and a blue copper Marans. I may have someone that actually NEEDS a rooster to protect his flock from the ducks (the current one may be injured, they don't know), and my neighbor is taking the rest to process. I can't do it either. If I found someone to process them for me, I am still not sure I could eat them. Cheeka-have you eaten them yet? I almost killed one yesterday though. He was grabbing another rooster and mounting him! How bad is that! Guess none of the ladies would let him near them! He is the one I am sending to protect the new flock from the ducks!

Got 10 eggs today!!! Woohoo! And I gave away 3 dozen last week!

 

[chickenlindz]

Cheeka I won't complain about my 20 degrees knowing you had it in the teens!

Still trying to figure out my temp run situation. I'm on my5th idea but I'm thinking one of the dog kennels if I wrap the bottom part w hardware cloth. Trying to find something that would be reusable for another purpose when done.

 

[cheeka]

haven't tried it yet. it's resting, aging... would be able to eat it tonight, but I think tomorrow would be even better... so tomorrow I will eat Carl's breast for supper. the rest will go into the freezer, some to be served to my parents, I would like to have my elderly friend over to try some too... my poor Aunt Frankie was very upset when she saw the tray of meat... she thought they were all pets... I don't often post pics of the LF Roos...so she didn't realize they weren't the "regular crew" that she'd help name...

 

[cheeka]

CLindz, I have my boys in dog kennels, wrapped mostly with chicken wire, which I hate, but it's tripled layered from the guy I bought them from and it's quite a job to get it off... so I left it. parts of it does have hardware cloth... they make for excellent pens.

if it's 20* I don't need a coat. just a sweatshirt, if it's windy, I need earmuffs and want gloves, but that's it......

 

[BullChick]

CLindz, I have my boys in dog kennels, wrapped mostly with chicken wire, which I hate, but it's tripled layered from the guy I bought them from and it's quite a job to get it off... so I left it. parts of it does have hardware cloth... they make for excellent pens.

if it's 20* I don't need a coat. just a sweatshirt, if it's windy, I need earmuffs and want gloves, but that's it......

I went out in a sweatshirt today. My fingers froze the first trip out, and were killing me when they defrosted. I must have gotten them wet. When I went out again five minutes later, I was wearing thick gloves. We all know you can't work with thick gloves on. They came off when I got back to the coop. I was grabbing chunks of ice (waterer) and collecting eggs. No gloves no problem.

 

[lindz8504]

Love the boys, Lindz! Just wait until you see them at 19 weeks! That is how old mine are. Beautiful, noisy, and raging hormones! My poor girls are getting beat up!

Shew, these guys are already starting!!!!! Those 2 are already flaring their necks up, and grabbing the pullet chicks by the heads trying to mount them! By the time they are 19 weeks old they are going to be driving me and the girls CR@ZY!!

love the pics lindz! everyone looks great and the eggs are gorgeous... I miss eggs. I got two today...

Thanks! I am so excited to be getting eggs finally! Just in November I have gotten 108 eggs! WOO HOO!!!!

5 today!

 

[BullChick]

I would like to take a moment to talk about tracking. As in, keeping track of eggs and such.
I know others do it, but I feel weird that I do it.
I used to keep a daily diary of what was happening. Funny stories, etc. I began putting egg numbers on just one page within a week of my first eggs. IDK what made me begin using a calendar in the kitchen to begin tracking eggs, but I stopped using my notebook all together, and will only occasionally add other important info on the calendar due to lack of space. Last year, I kept track on the calendar of temps, wind and weather. This year ... I have written a note about weather maybe twice.
I was keeping track of who laid what egg to the best of my ability. Leghorns are easy. The EE were easy because I had two in each of two coops, and in the second coop, I even knew which girl did it due to Cadbury being a cross beak, and only beginning to lay after the EE broke her leg, and was moved out of the coop. The Marans were in a separate coop, so I knew their eggs.
NOW everyone is in one big coop, and the Marans eggs are too light to tell apart from the others. On a rare occasion I get a darker egg, but the RIR girls were laying darker eggs than the Marans from the start.
Now what I want to DISCUSS (yeah, I took the long road to get to my point). What do you use to keep track, and what info do you include? I do feel stupid keeping track, and would like to know what others feel is important.

 

[chickenlindz]

I'm glad you asked because I'm interested in keeping records... I was just going to do egg count but you make some good points on other information.