Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[cheeka]

DanaeRose! Welcome! would love to see some pics of your flock - and x2 on the egg thing... they will resume once they are accustomed... do you plan to hatch some if the oldest one does want to brood? I would... given the age of your flock, you'll want some younger girls to keep your egg counts up for next winter...


I got the 2 additional eggs I was expecting, pink from Stella and Delilah's egg is one of the gorgeous cafe au lait colors I've been collecting. dark enough that her offspring could be nice Olive Eggers. 9 total.

 

[cheeka]

Welcome DanaeRose.

Just give them fresh food and water. Heat isn't really necessary if they are that old. It's surprising how hardy they really are. Oh don't forget PIE! You won't get any eggs without lots of pie!

Agh I just woke up from my nap... It was delightful!

I've officially lost it. I had a photo shoot today. I'm much braver w this lot cause I'm more comfortable around them now. I feel like a pro!!

keep em coming!

Well, we got up and went to church this morning... I didn't open up the run since we weren't going to be home. I got home and went down to check on everyone. Feathers everywhere, and 6 of the chickens missing..... Everyone else was under or in the coop. I got some BOSS and coaxed them out... the new Roo came out from under the new building, so only 5 of the comet girls were missing. I got to looking and Giselle (one of the new EE's) looks funny and is just standing hunched up. I reached for her and she ducked under my hand, but I was touching her...My fingers got blood on them! So I spent half an hour trying to catch her and she kept running under the coop. When I finally got ahold of her, she had a big bald spot on the back of her hand, and a wound on the side of her neck. Hubby found the other Comet girls up next to the house in the brush and briars. So, I brought her in the house, used a syringe to squirt water into the wound and clean it out, and then put some Nustock on it. I kept her in a dog crate in the laundry room for a few hours and fed her. I took her back down to the coop when I went down to lock up. We will see how she is in the morning and go from there.

Graphic Photo!!!!!!!!













she certainly was grabbed hard by something! such a relief that all are accounted for and essentially fine! sometimes I go out to tend to the flock and all "looks" fine, but no bird is making a single sound. it's freaky. I'm talking to them through the door as I unlock... no responses...get in, and all is fine, they're just standing there or roosting there, waiting... normally, someone perps...

 

[lindz8504]

It was definitely weird! Everything was completely quiet, and I couldn't get anyone to come out! Kinda Creepy!

 

[BullChick]

Hi, DanaeRose!
Cheeka, that is what I think happened. So funny. If the water had been on the water heater it would have been funnier. My first thought was, "are they trying to make booed eggs?" When I told dh he said the same thing!
DanaeRose, dh= dear husband )or other names for a husband)
Dd= dear daughter
Ds= dear son

Just a few abbreviations to get you started on BYC.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Well, we got up and went to church this morning... I didn't open up the run since we weren't going to be home. I got home and went down to check on everyone. Feathers everywhere, and 6 of the chickens missing..... Everyone else was under or in the coop. I got some BOSS and coaxed them out... the new Roo came out from under the new building, so only 5 of the comet girls were missing. I got to looking and Giselle (one of the new EE's) looks funny and is just standing hunched up. I reached for her and she ducked under my hand, but I was touching her...My fingers got blood on them! So I spent half an hour trying to catch her and she kept running under the coop. When I finally got ahold of her, she had a big bald spot on the back of her hand, and a wound on the side of her neck. Hubby found the other Comet girls up next to the house in the brush and briars. So, I brought her in the house, used a syringe to squirt water into the wound and clean it out, and then put some Nustock on it. I kept her in a dog crate in the laundry room for a few hours and fed her. I took her back down to the coop when I went down to lock up. We will see how she is in the morning and go from there.

Graphic Photo!!!!!!!!

I'm wondering if it wasn't done by the other birds in the flock. Hawks are experts at taking out their prey when they get to it. Also a hawk would have killed the bird before taking a plug/bite out of it. Any larger predator would probably not left empty handed after gaining access to them. If that bird got injured and was bleeding the other birds would have picked at the injury. Looks like it will survive that injury to me. Just some thoughts.

 

[lindz8504]

I'm wondering if it wasn't done by the other birds in the flock. Hawks are experts at taking out their prey when they get to it. Also a hawk would have killed the bird before taking a plug/bite out of it.  Any larger predator would probably not left empty handed after gaining access to them. If that bird got  injured and was  bleeding the other birds would have picked at the injury. Looks like it will survive that injury  to me. Just some thoughts.  

I would have thought that if everyone else hadn't been hiding and very skittish. I didn't see the blood on the bird until I had a hold of her and moved feathers out of the way. I am thinking that her saving grace was the fact that I have a couple of ropes across the run helping to keep a tarp stretched out like a tent. Not really sure what happened but that was my best guess. You can't really even see the wound until you move the feathers and hold them out of the way.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

GRRrrrrrrr.... I was so proud of the chicken curtains that I put up today. Did the girls??? Heck no!!

We just got home from the boat show and 3 of the girls were outside staring at the coop door.

So... I took the double set of curtains down. I tried to make the girls happy and comfy with more privacy, but I am not going to force the issue. If it ain't broke, it won't get fixed. I will check on them in a few to see if they decided that it was safe to enter the coop again. Penny did lay an egg.

Two things really surprised me about chickens now that I interact so closely with them. First, most have pretty distinct personalities and preferences, and secondly they really are CHICKEN! Afraid of anything new, including treats. Wish I had video of my girls desperately trying not to walk on the coop floor, newly covered with sand. Yesterday, I hung a cabbage in the run to keep them busy during the downpour. Only 2 were unafraid enough to start eating. The rest were all highly suspicious that the swinging cabbage was a chicken killer! Your girls must have thought that those curtains were Death's door!

They do learn from each other, though. Once they saw Peach and Poppy eating cabbage without being murdalized (remember that from Looney Toons, Cheeka?), most jumped right in.

Help! I can't seem to stop buying/hatching chicks!!! I took a class offered by the University of Florida today. "Chickens 101". Great class, very informative. One of the speakers brought chicks

Luckily most of them were bantams and since most of my chickens free range, I thought they would be an easy target for the overhead threats. So I got a BO, 2 runner and 1 harlequin ducks (but they were so cute!), 1 something I don't remember, and 5 BR's. Although her chicks had more white than black and my last batch of BR babies were mostly black with a little white on the underside. It will be interesting to see how they feather.

Janet, I wish a speedy recovery to your brother. You can't seem to catch a break. You are a wonderful sister!

W4W, good to see you are finally getting some rain! I bet your chickens will be dancing in it!

Lindz, beautiful scenery! Your puppy is so cute!! Try spacing the puppy vaccines out by a month. It is easier on their systems. If you can separate them, you will be able to determine if any of them cause a reaction. There are some great articles on vaccines in Dogs Naturally Magazine if you are interested.

I got 18 eggs today!!! The closest I have come to perfect from 20 current layers! Things are picking up!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Chickens 101 sounds great! I hope you are going to post some pics of your new ones, especially the ducks.

About the sex of your new BR chicks, they're not feathered out yet, right? If they are still in the fluffy down stage, I don't think they can be sexed by color, you'll have to wait until they feather out. Everyone is right about sexing them by the amount of white, but that is for feathers, not down. In chickens, the males have two copies of each gene (opposite of humans), so they get a double dose of barring resulting in a fatter white bar on each feather, making them lighter overall. The females only get one copy of the barred gene (it's sex linked) so the white bars are narrower, making the feathers look darker.

However, SpeckledHen, who really knows her stuff, claims that a just hatched male chick will have a larger, diffuse or splotchy head spot, a slightly silvery look to the down, and no black wash on the front of the legs. Females will have black fluff, a smaller well-defined head spot, and distinct dark leg wash. She can tell just hatched males with 90% accuracy. Maybe it's something that happens in her own breeding stock and doesn't apply to other breeders' chicks or hatchery birds, because I know the hatcheries can't sex them this way.

Sooooo, long story short, your little BR chicks may actually be pullets as claimed.

I wouldn't have got caught if they didn't turn off those motion activated doors. I have a better plan next time. I need you to create a disturbance on the other side of the store. I will take care of business in the produce section. When its time to haul out of there I will set off the fire alarm. That way they can't turn off the doors to get out. What are you doing this afternoon?

Roger, I think you ought to go into negotiations with Walmart to become their new corporate spokesman spokeshen. That smiley face they have now just doesn't cut it (and is slightly creepy, kind of like clowns

). They need a new image, and the All American Chicken ought to be it. Think of the unfettered access you'd have to every store in the country! You'd be great, but have to be able to sell yourself to the Big Wigs. The positives are 1. your love and knowledge of the store and it's products, particularly in the food and produce sections 2. your proficiency in the use of social media; you could reach a whole new new demographic! 3. your silver tongue and skills in the art of blackmail persuasion will bring in new customers, and finally 4. your squeaky clean character and wholesome, hard-working, all-American image.

Well, you might need to work on #4.

Persevere, Roger! That Evil Empire of Wallyworld needs to be knocked back down a few slots. There are two within walking distance of my house. Get 'em!

My poor Hattie and Hecate. They have been so good about laying eggs every day; but, yesterday, Hattie was in the nesting box and so Hecate explored other laying locations while free ranging. I decided to nip this in the bud and left them in their coop and run a little later this morning. When I checked on them a couple of hours later, I discovered had accidentally left the coop pop door shut - they couldn't get in to the nest box. I opened the pop door and they rushed in there like it was the only rest stop in the state and they had been on a cross country drive while slugging back Big Gulps.

They always want what they can't have. Nest boxes look much more attractive through a closed pop door. Do I detect 2 potential corporate spokeshens for 7-11?

I left the door shut this morning because it was snowing still. I collected one egg.
I went back out to open the door, and was greeted with an egg laid in the water. Wanna explain that to me?
It is also snowing again. I can't win. I just hope the snow doesn't blow into the coop.

Maybe you have a wannabe duck??

I have a Serama that very skillfully lays her egg in the narrow trough of the feeder. It's a chick feeder with the red plastic bottom. The egg barely fits. Go figure.

I love elk... with huckleberry sauce. mmmm

or stew... or anyway it's prepared... so wonderful! thank goodness I'm stuffed or I would be searching the freezer for some... there is an elk farm on my route. elk meat is my favorite tip at Christmastime. I killed a loaf of GF bread making french toast. I made a bunch so I could stash some in the freezer for that time when I want something sweet... but I ate it all. 9 pieces. even ate the heels which I had intended to share with the flock. so they just got extra millet in their snack to make up for my stinginess...

Whoops

poor babies! love the description of their dash to the nest!

MC

I have found eggs next to the water bucket, never in it. so it must have been like this:

and then you turn around and drop the egg in...

I have 7 Eggs so far, with EE Stella and blue Cochin Delilah sitting now - guess who's poking her beak in to check things out??? SILLIE SOO! she's 7 months 1 week old now...

AND 2 of those eggs came from the Fosters! Finally! 2

2 in the same day!

it's starting to snow. I am going to wait about 30 minutes before I go back out to check for more eggs - toss a load of laundry in or something... then I'm going to put a movie on and take a nap!

What a cute picture! Glad the Fosters are laying, and Sillie soon. What color eggs do Silkies lay?
We got 8 eggs today!!

That's pretty good for 11 layers (minus 2 that are molting). It has been between 50-60 degrees for the last 2 days (including over nights), with steady rain ranging from heavy sprinkles to frequent monsoonal downpours. Cold front moving in next week, but no snow expected, just really cold rain, which believe it or not, we still need. This is the first real rain we've had in over a year.

Hello all...new to this thread, read a few pages and couldn't help but laugh. I live by albuquerque, nm and I am new to chickens, and after a few unfortunate accidents, a few lost birds and turning my chicken yard into fort Knox, I now have 4 wyandottes (2 silver laced, 2 golden laced), 1 Rhode island white ( that was given to my 4 year old cuz she wanted a white chicken...lol), and a huge teddy bear of a rooster named big Ben. They are all 1-2 except one golden. She is 4 but prone to broodiness. I have had the girls for about 2 weeks now and have yet to get any eggs. All but 1 silver are squating and have been for a few days now. I do have a heat lamp in my coop and are giving them warm water, plenty of feed... Don't know what else to do if anything.

Howdy and welcome!

I completely understand about the Fort Knox syndrome. Mostly, I think I have just been lucky so far. What type of predators go after your birds in NM?

Sounds like a lovely flock you have, and I'm sure they will start laying soon. Combination of moving to new digs and short winter days will cause them to take a break from laying. (So will molting.) Once they get used to the routine, the eggs will come. Don't expect too many eggs from the broody though, but maybe she'll give you some new chicks! If you haven't already, maybe trying these things will help the process along. Put some golf balls or decoy eggs in the nest boxes to give them the right idea. Supplement with some high protein treats (meat scraps, meal worms, good quality dry cat food). Making eggs takes a lot of protein. Feed greens, which supply needed nutrients (calcium for shells and carotenoids for the delicious orange yolks). Kale and collard greens are favorites with my mob, especially when served as a pie. There's just something magical about pie.

Put out a dish of crushed oyster shell so they can self-regulate their calcium needs. Do the chicken dance daily out by the coop. This will entertain and reassure them (because they are not afraid of crazy people!

).


Grumpus sends greetings to her Wyandotte sisters.

Pie! No baking required.

They love it, the hogs.

Welcome DanaeRose.

Just give them fresh food and water. Heat isn't really necessary if they are that old. It's surprising how hardy they really are. Oh don't forget PIE! You won't get any eggs without lots of pie!

Agh I just woke up from my nap... It was delightful!

I've officially lost it. I had a photo shoot today. I'm much braver w this lot cause I'm more comfortable around them now. I feel like a pro!!

That little gold one in the top picture is darling.

Tiny little legs! Is she shorter than the others or is it just the pic?

Quote: Oh boy, Lindz, so sorry to hear about another assault on your chickens. I can only think this means you live in an area with a healthy wildlife population, which is good in many ways, but not so much for chickens.

However, if you are breeding your own flock, you can bet they will be survivors!

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Quote: I agree that part sounds like predator.

 

[Chicken-Man]

:3

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My big brother is walking! Jack is off most of the tubes.
He is trying so hard! We were there off and on today. let him doze and quietly chatted.
They say he may go home Tuesday. Wow things have sure changed.
He is still very pale. But still a stinker too, and was cracking jokes

I am so relieved. This is the 2nd family member to go thru this surgery.
horrible pain, I would not wish anyone to endure it.