Show off your Red sex-links!! [[pictures included]] !! (:

[minamisfit]

One of my girls

 

[cmom]

Very pretty... Is she laying yet?

 

[minamisfit]

Very pretty... Is she laying yet?

Not yet she's about 10 weeks old. But they are getting pretty big!

 

[KlingKlan]

We just got our 4 girls this past Friday at a small animal auction at a loca flea/farmer's market... we won't be doing that again! However, it is obvious that we saved the poor dears from their previous farm production lifestyle lol. Apparently they are going through a molt (one of them pretty hard) and they may be past their peak production years. Live and learn, right?!

We're going to keep them and spoil them until the molt is finished and see if we gets eggs. If we don't, well we have to replace them with layers. I know we'll be keeping at least one; Penelope, because she is very kind to her flock mates, she helps direct them to food & water and she even waits for the other girls to make it safely into the coop for the evening before she goes in. She even does a "perimeter check" of the run to make sure she didn't miss anyone (there's only 3 others

), adorable!

Penelope


Penelope figured out the swing the 2nd night (no one's been on it since lol).


This is Gertrude, Gertty, after her 2nd dirt bath the first full day we had them.


Here are all 4 girls enjoying their treats (tomatoes, red & green peppers, bananas and apples).


This is Peckers, she's going through the hardest molt.


And here's Zero (my 10 y old son named her). Sorry it's blurry and dark, it's from inside the coop on the 1st night.



So there's my RSL's, hopefully they're not too old and will start giving us eggs soon!!!

 

[cmom]

We just got our 4 girls this past Friday at a small animal auction at a loca flea/farmer's market... we won't be doing that again! However, it is obvious that we saved the poor dears from their previous farm production lifestyle lol. Apparently they are going through a molt (one of them pretty hard) and they may be past their peak production years. Live and learn, right?!

We're going to keep them and spoil them until the molt is finished and see if we gets eggs. If we don't, well we have to replace them with layers. I know we'll be keeping at least one; Penelope, because she is very kind to her flock mates, she helps direct them to food & water and she even waits for the other girls to make it safely into the coop for the evening before she goes in. She even does a "perimeter check" of the run to make sure she didn't miss anyone (there's only 3 others

), adorable!

Penelope


Penelope figured out the swing the 2nd night (no one's been on it since lol).


This is Gertrude, Gertty, after her 2nd dirt bath the first full day we had them.


Here are all 4 girls enjoying their treats (tomatoes, red & green peppers, bananas and apples).


This is Peckers, she's going through the hardest molt.


And here's Zero (my 10 y old son named her). Sorry it's blurry and dark, it's from inside the coop on the 1st night.



So there's my RSL's, hopefully they're not too old and will start giving us eggs soon!!!

They look like older birds. The one without feathers on her back looks to me like she was one of a males favorites. I have some older girls that lay well. I'm very sure they have a much better home now...

 

[KlingKlan]

They look like older birds. The one without feathers on her back looks to me like she was one of a males favorites. I have some older girls that lay well. I'm very sure they have a much better home now...

I figured, once we got them home anywayz, that they were older. My hubby worked so hard on their accommodations and didn't want to leave without bringing home some chickens... he was a little impatient, but I couldn't blame him lol. The whole "chicken thing" was my idea, but as we got the project underway, he got excited too.

Now we're thinking about keeping these girl and just getting some younger girls to ensure we get some eggs. We're already attached so now it's flock growth instead of "replacement".

Yup, we're hooked

!!

Off to research flock integration

.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
They may not lay right off, but with some TLC they should lay some eggs. Changes of any kind (environment, feed, etc) will often times cause them to stop laying for awhile until they get familiar, which could take awhile or they could start laying sooner. You just never know. My older birds lay but skip a couple of days or so between eggs. They do slow down but my older birds still lay 3 to 4 eggs per week. One way to integrate them is if you free range them any. There will probably be some pecking order issues but they will eventually work them out. When free ranging it gives the birds being picked on room to get away from the ones picking on them. Just a suggestion. Good luck and have fun...

 

[KlingKlan]

They may not lay right off, but with some TLC they should lay some eggs. Changes of any kind (environment, feed, etc) will often times cause them to stop laying for awhile until they get familiar, which could take awhile or they could start laying sooner. You just never know. My older birds lay but skip a couple of days or so between eggs. They do slow down but my older birds still lay 3 to 4 eggs per week. One way to integrate them is if you free range them any. There will probably be some pecking order issues but they will eventually work them out. When free ranging it gives the birds being picked on room to get away from the ones picking on them. Just a suggestion. Good luck and have fun...

That's good to hear! The opinions on here vary greatly, but you are VERY encouraging lol. When we first brought the girls home I was of the opinion that Peckers must have had a "roll in the hay" before leaving the farm for auction... I've seen pictures of rooster favorites and that's exactly what she looked like to my inexperienced eye. As far as them laying, we are trying to give them a happy, safe home where they can relax and allow nature to take it's course. We've increased their protein and calcium intake through treats (cuz we're kinda broke hehe) and I've read that some people ONLY feed their chickens kitchen scraps and free range them. We at least have crumble feed for them, but can't really afford to buy pounds and pounds of feed. That's on of the reasons we went ahead and took on chickens, because of the article on here about raising chickens on a shoe string.

My hubby decided to build our tractor/playpen thing before we get new chickens for integration purposes. Right now our girl's "free range" in the 9'x13' run, but we have always planned on letting them out into the yard sooner rather than later. So, the yard will be neutral ground for all.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your knowledge, it means a lot to this newbie

.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
Just give them some time. Some need more time to readjust than others. It appears you are going in the right direction. If you buy a bag of feed, Game bird feed is higher protein and good to use. Again, good luck and have fun.

 

[minamisfit]

How many weeks is it before the red sex links start laying? I know it varies by breed. What are your guys personal experiences?