Stinky Acres Farm

StinkyAcres · May 6, 2025

Callender Girl said:
I also have had some disappointments when it comes to colorful egg baskets. My Olive Egger is one of the rare ones who doesn't lay olive-colored eggs; only one of my two Easter Eggers lays an other-than-cream-colored egg. But I do get blue, green and deep brown eggs from others in the flocks.

On the other hand, my Speckled Sussex, Bronwyn, is Miss Personality Plus. Friendly, almost to a fault, she is constantly trying to "help" me with tasks and has successfully trained me to lift up stepping stones so she can remove any and all wriggling nightcrawlers.

And, congrats to your happy mom!

Wow, that is disappointing! It makes me wonder if I should buy more Olive Eggers than the two I was originally going to get just to increase my chances of getting an olive egg.

I have heard a lot of good things about Speckled Sussex. I love chickens that make you forage for them!

The only reason I didn't want SS is because they lay brown eggs. I have too many brown egg layers and it's become a problem because I can't tell who lays which.

Now I have to figure out which chickens to cull in order to make room for Olive Eggers. Not a fun decision to make.

thistlewick · May 6, 2025

Are you at your limit?? What # is that? my max for housing overnight in the hen house is 70 - but I don't think I'll ever go near that number, less than 50 always.

What do you decide for? Do you auction off or just..

StinkyAcres · May 6, 2025

thistlewick said:
Are you at your limit?? What # is that? my max for housing overnight in the hen house is 70 - but I don't think I'll ever go near that number, less than 50 always.

Yeah, at 16 I am about at my limit. My coop is 10'x12' but have only about 10 square feet of permanent ventilation so I don't want to overload it.

thistlewick said:
What do you decide for? Do you auction off or just..

Extra cockerels, bullies, etc. I've given away and sold through Craigslist and dispatched in the past.

Callender Girl · May 7, 2025

You will likely be fine with just one Olive Egger; the probability of them laying anything but greenish eggs is extremely low. I tend to "beat the odds" in the wrong direction.

That's also true when it comes to coloration. My two Sapphire Splashes could have been beautiful blue-gray or blue-gray and white birds. Alice and Cora are completely, totally and boringly solid white. Well, except during the muddy days of spring!

And, it's the same with genders. Of three straight run Bantams, two were male. Three of four runner ducklings -- which I hand picked from a breeder when they were two days old -- were drakes. At McMurray Fest last year I got seven expertly "sexed" female chicks, or so I thought. The first and most lovely had to have its name changed from Theodora to Moses.

Moses and the last of the Bantam roosters recently went to live on a friend's farm; the hens and I are greatly relieved.

StinkyAcres · May 15, 2025

Forgot to update here. I have successfully integrated the Swedish Flower chicks in with my adult hens this week. With the new coop divider wall it went very well, probably the smoothest integration I've done. The chicks were 3 weeks old when I put them in the coop in their separate "room" and now they're foraging and roosting alongside the adults at 6 weeks. It's quite adorable.

StinkyAcres · May 15, 2025

The 6 younger chicks got to go outside in the screen tent for the first time today. They enjoyed the extra space, pecking at the grass and eating worms. It started thundering though, so I had to bring them back inside and back into the cramped brooder. It won't be long until they get to go live in the coop too.

StinkyAcres · May 15, 2025

StinkyAcres said:
Forgot to update here. I have successfully integrated the Swedish Flower chicks in with my adult hens this week. With the new coop divider wall it went very well, probably the smoothest integration I've done. The chicks were 3 weeks old when I put them in the coop in their separate "room" and now they're foraging and roosting alongside the adults at 6 weeks. It's quite adorable.

Bjorn, Freya, and Sven

Callender Girl · May 16, 2025

Congrats on the successful integration; it's always an anxious time, isn't it?

Your youngsters are clearly going to be beauties when they get all of their grown-up feathers.

I like that you gave them names that reflect their Scandinavian heritage.

StinkyAcres · May 25, 2025

I was planning on moving the younger six 4-week-old chicks out to the coop on Monday, but decided last minute last night to do it then. The brooder was getting very cramped and stinky! They have an infrared heater out there and they looked fine this morning even though it was in the 40s (F).

I really need to get updated photos of everybody, especially my Swedish Flowers - they are so pretty! Too much going on lately and the weather's been miserably cold and wet.