Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[mortie]

Pie!

That is boiled egg yolk put through a garlic press garnished with meal worm sprinkles. They have had some grit so I think it's ok.

What is this trickery?

Picking out all the sprinkles...

 

[Scrambles55]

I set these at about 11:30 this morning! Hope to have chicks around April 12th!

 

[Scrambles55]

Mortie.... Looks yummy!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I have 3 Marans. one Cuckoo, the other 2 are Marans crosses - but crossed with other Marans. one looks like Lemon Maran x Cuckoo, the other Copper mixed with Cuckoo... they are lovely girls, not flighty, not mean, moved up the ranks because they're not pushovers, even Esther, who is a bantam... all 3 are good layers, started laying near the 6 month mark, the LF a bit earlier, I love them. I say go for it. the eggs do not start out super dark right off the bat. it takes about 2 months and you'll notice the change.

temps near the 40° mark today, but snow is expected this afternoon. then we're plunged back into the cold temps for another whole week, with more snow Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. with single digits overnight. in 7 days tho', they expect temps to finally rise back to the 40's and stay there. it had better... I have 3/8 of a tank left fuel-wise. I cannot budget in another tank. off to work! have a great day everyone!

Brrrrr..... Poor Cheeka.

Oddly enough, your expected cold spell again corresponds with our predicted rain on Tues, Wed, Fri. Our area is classified as an Extreme Drought area. South of us is Exceptional Drought (or some such dire sounding title) so any little drips are welcome!

Mid 60s this weekend and sunny. The grapefruit tree is loaded with buds and the scent is wafting all over the yard. Mmmmm...... love the smell of citrus blossoms. Wish I could bottle it and send you some!

Have to go water the garden (in March!

) and help Hubs with the run. Mostly to say Don't worry about it so much, it'll be fine like that!

Pie!

That is boiled egg yolk put through a garlic press garnished with meal worm sprinkles. They have had some grit so I think it's ok.


What is this trickery?

Picking out all the sprinkles...

What a bunch of chickens!! They are surprisingly suspicious of new things, even as adults. Only takes one to get started, though. So amazing to see how well they learn by watching others. (You can use your finger to mimic a mama hen's beak, tap the food and make excited clucking noises. It works!)

The two light gray chicks (lavenders?) are beautiful.

One in particular, with the lighter tummy, reminds me of Ming.

cheep cheep cheep!

 

[Scrambles55]

Another question.... is it possible for an 8-9 month old pullet to go broody? Rumples is spending a lot of time on the nest all spread out. She was on the nest early this morning and 3 hours later, I scared her off the nest, took her egg and she did the alarm call. 1/2 hour later... she is back on the nest all spread out again.

 

[BullChick]

Another question.... is it possible for an 8-9 month old pullet to go broody? Rumples is spending a lot of time on the nest all spread out. She was on the nest early this morning and 3 hours later, I scared her off the nest, took her egg and she did the alarm call. 1/2 hour later... she is back on the nest all spread out again.

Yup! Cheeka had one do that.
No, Mortie. No chicks. It was soooo tempting though!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Rumples is sounding broody! Do you want her to be? If she is very serious, you will be able to pull her off the nest, put her outside on the ground, and she will stay all flattened and squawl (squawk-growl) at you for a while. Then she will dash back to the nest. (Maybe after grabbing a quick snack and gulp of water.)

If you want to break her of being broody, so she is not a free-loading-food-eating non-layer, then sooner is better than later, when the hormones really kick in.
If you want her to hatch eggs (you say to your hubby Gee, where did those eggs come from?

) then there is an optimal time to wait to see that she is truly broody, but not so long that she will give up on a halfway incubated clutch of eggs (if the hormones run their course too soon). It's something like 10-15 days, which is about how long it takes to lay and collect up a clutch of eggs before starting to sit full time.

My Ameraucana was sooo broody, she lost a lot of weight. I had to break her 3 times. Some hens will accept very young chicks as their own, and that will break the cycle too.

 

[cheeka]

yep that is right! Peach was just about 9 mos when she brooded seriously! she had laid 8 eggs total. so I gave her 3 LF eggs, only 1 hatched... that was, of course, a cockerel... and he lives in Gilboa - very handsome fellow... Peach was dead set on brooding last year, and did 4 rounds of eggs/chicks - I so hope she will do the same this year! she was inside last year from the yucky injury to her back, so she had a head start - warm spot... it's far too cold, kinda glad she isn't wanting to brood now, but I hope in another 2 - 3 weeks she will!

I collected 19 Eggs today and got a call from the Realtor - the first folks are coming to look at the house tomorrow at 12:30!!! I'm not overly excited, but I do have to spend some time tidying tonight. these people are looking for a second home, have a price range and this is above it... but what they've seen for the money they want to spend is insufficient for their wants. maybe they will be willing to come up a bit in price. you never know...

 

[mortie]

Still no eggs. The pie didn't work. Maybe tomorrow

Cheeka - hope you get a nibble on the house! Selling our last house was the most stressful thing! It was 25 or so degrees here today. Old Man Winter doesn't want to leave! It's better than -50 though I suppose which is what we were getting a couple of weeks ago!

Lindz - that looks like the group of eggs I had! Except you have a lot more lol. Good luck!

 

[cheeka]

ahh taking a break. still have to flip a load of laundry, and probably will be awake long enough to do one more. the whole downstairs is finished except vacuuming the living room. Chester is so afraid of the vacuum and he is still up. he'll go to bed in about 20 min or so. I'll do it then. and I still have to tidy my bedroom and wipe down the upstairs tiny 1/2 bath. it's just dusty... and clean laundry needs to be put away. oh and the mud room... needs sweeping, but I figured I would do that tomorrow morning after chicken chores. I hate tracking mud in a clean mud room

.