Show off your Delawares! *PIC HEAVY*

[speckledhen]

and what great timing!!

 

[joletabey]

Cynthia, I have not got one good idea to add to the pot, but you certainly have my sympathy- those rotten girls!!! The only thing I can think of is what we do with the cats- squirt them with a water pistol. But you would have to sit out there, and it might make them so scared of him that he couldn't breed. Or scared of you.
That sweet, sweet boy! GRRRRRR!!!!!

Laney- lucky you- MORE DELS!!!!!!

 

[Laney]

Cyn,

Do you have cages? Maybe if you separate the girls out into cages so they are all alone, then introduce them into the flock again one at a time? It's only an idea, maybe reorganizing the pecking order will help somehow?

Laney
Who now doesn't know if her daughter is crazy. Helen was off the nest when she went out to get the eggs.

 

[Laney]

Ok ladies.....

Which one of these is a Delaware Egg... They were both in the barn this morning. None of my hens will lay in the nest boxes. I have 2 Cochins and 1 Delaware that could be the layers here.... Helen the Delaware was seen sitting on the egg pile. There was one obvious Phoenix egg in the bunch, but it's almost white and only 1.5 oz so I can easily tell them apart.

The one on the left is slightly lighter in color and 2oz. The one on the right is 2.25oz and a darker colored egg. One more of a Latte, one more of a Mocha I guess.

Laney

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Laney...based on my girls eggs (from Cyns flock), mine look more like the one on the left....pinkish-tan in color

 

[speckledhen]

My Dels' eggs go from cream color (Kira) to dark peachy tan, some with speckles, but they are almost always very round or oval. Here is a carton of them, though they are much larger now, generally.

 

[Laney]

You know that's the funny thing. My Cochin eggs used to be practically round as a softball, and I could always tell them because of that. They also were always medium size. Now of course they are coming into their second season they are much bigger hens and are laying bigger eggs. I just didn't expect the shape to change as they started laying again.

I wanted to set a few of my Delaware eggs in the next few days, but short of putting Helen in confinement, I don't know how I'm going to do that if I can't tell hers from a Cochin egg....

Kathy can you post a link again of where you got those wonderful leg markers?

Laney

 

[Laney]

Does the shape of the hen's egg changed based on the rooster that is fertilizing them? Is it possible that because the Cochin eggs are now CochinxDelaware that the egg shape and size will change? Just curious as to why the shape of the Cochin egg, even compared to the ones I have looked up online now seems wrong. I know both of these eggs were laid today because I checked the barn myself at 2:30 in the morning because Libra's heat lamp had gone out.

Laney

 

[speckledhen]

No, the rooster has nothing to do with it at all, Laney.

 

[Laney]

I know, I was just rationalizing.

Probably more to do with the size and age of the chicken involved. I'm going to keep both of these eggs out for now and see what I get tomorrow. Maybe then I'll have a better idea

Or what I get later today.

Laney