Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Whoops]

Wow... Lots going on...thank you all for such a warm welcome. Predators here in nm are mainly hawks, owls, coyotes, and my lab mix Deuce.
I love the pie idea too...lol.
Still no eggs but Will def post my first eggs.
We had a cold snap here last week but now it is getting warm with temps almost in the 60s so no more heat lamp for now.
My girls are so funny...when I go out to the pen I always cal to them with chickchickchick.Well now my RIW Will sit by the food bowl and make funny noises whenever I come out and she is hungry. Kinda like she is scolding me for not bringing her breakfast sooner....lol. I am really starting to see their personalities and can't wait for it to warm up more so I can see more.
Oh and I love my rooster big Ben. He is a huge americana I got for free (to test if my fencing was fort Knoxy enough) and I fell in love. He is so funny with his strutting about with his chest poofed out and flirting with the girls...lol. And even tho he makes a big fuss about being caught he likes to be held and petted.

These are my birds this morning. This time it was 3 demanding breakfast.lol

Dang, I knew from the description they would be pretty, but they are a beautiful flock!

 

[chickenlindz]

60s you say???? Ahhh I'm just glad that when it's super cold enough that I'll worry about the water freezing quickly it means my husband usually doesn't work so he's home to take care of them and check on them.

 

[lindz8504]

Beautiful birds! Welcome to the thread!

Giselle is still fine this morning... her head looks a little wonky where she is missing so many feathers on the back of her neck. She is eating, drinking and pooping, so I think she will be fine. I will probably try to catch her this evening when Hubby gets home and check out the wound so I can make sure it isn't getting infected or anything. May put some more Nustock on it. Just have to wait and see! Everyone was really loud and anxious to get out this morning. I guess they can tell that the snow is coming, and wanting to load up before it gets here? I dunno.... I think if I had fell in there this morning, I would have been stripped clean in a matter of minutes... they were like piranhas!

 

[cheeka]

the flock block is ready and plated with lettuce and Spanish rice



those boys are always hesitant, but they got busy...

the Fosters and Royce dove right in... should have been my first "warning"





and I got 2 Eggs from the Fosters!

darn it if I didn't barely get the door open and I was mobbed! Olive jumped up on the platter and dumped it on the ground!



they don't care....



what a mess!

scooped it up with as little snow as possible and served the rest inside.

Catch of the day! 8, a couple of kinda dirty ones, but not bad enough to give to the dogs!

 

[chickenlindz]

I love the 4th pic with the rooster. He has beautiful colors!!!!

Do you guys wash your eggs????

 

[cheeka]

that's Red... he's a banty RIR with some serious show sheen... I love him!

I don't wash the eggs. I box up the most pristine for customers, keep the dirty looking ones for myself, there aren't ever many overall... they are due for some fresh bedding. I crack them on the clean side... or I will take a moist paper towel and wipe them before cracking...sometimes tho', the dirt just brushes right off and you can't tell it was ever there, then those will go to customers too... unwashed eggs have a much longer shelf life.


Edited to say that if the customer wants them washed, I will wash them. if they are really dirty and I know I'm keeping them and going to eat them within a day or so, I will wash them. but washing is so minimal, super soft cloth warm water that is a mere trickle, to keep the towel moist... I squeeze it out and only wipe the spots that need it. I really don't want to lose the bloom. most of my "country" customers want them unwashed, and they are amazed at how clean they are... it's all in clean nests... anyway, the city people... they want washed eggs. they aren't as washed as they think, but whatever.... last year, I washed them more because old BH would have a fit if I didn't.

 

[DanaeRose]

So I was trying find out if citrus is safe to give to chickens and seen there is a lot of arguments about it and then seen this article. Was wondering what you all thought...
http://www.examiner.com/article/why-feeding-oranges-to-cows-and-chickens-could-save-lifes

 

[cheeka]

don't feed them the skins is all... there is an oil, particularly on orange rinds... that is used in munitions manufacturing. I have a few who won't touch certain food / fruit. but I find that melons of all types are loved by all... but I do give them anything that gets soft, including lemons and oranges. I do not like grapefruit, so they've never tried it.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

TEN

TEN......Today We Set A New Record.............10 Eggs. Most Ever In One Day...... For Our Awesome Dad OK

 

[lindz8504]

Crazy day today..... The baby was up when I got up at 6:30 and was in her oldest sister's room trying to wake her up! I have no idea when she got up, but Hubby says she wasn't up when he left! Then before lunch they both were asleep and slept until around 1:30! Then my mom and her boyfriend came over for me to do his taxes. On top of all that, I have done several loads of laundry. Shew, BUSY!!!!
When I went down to close up the coop and do a head count I found a shell-less egg sitting on the roost. Eleanore was standing there, and it was directly under her... I am thinking it is probably because of the attack the other day... She isn't the one that got hurt, but who knows how stressed she was and what that caused! I'll be watching out for more, and figure out what to do from there!