Texas

[winteree]

Ah, well good to know!
Hers is never blue but it's like a little color changing spoon! lol

lols

 

[winteree]

I'm trying to respond to the euthanized kitty post - but not sure if I did it correctly...

you want to quote the original post or find a comment with the original post in it and click the name in the upper left hand corner with the original post

 

[tiedyemommy]

My ladies are 18 weeks old. No chicken eggs yet. We still get duck eggs from Daisy and Ebony, but Ivory still hasn't laid, which has me a little concerned for her.

Has Loudmouth laid any either?

 

[tiedyemommy]

Odd (for The Ladies) Behavior:

Yesterday, while shooing The Ladies back into their yard after letting them run amok in our back yard, two of them did something I've never seen them do before. Fred (white leghorn) squatted down and stuck out her wings a bit when I hovered my hand over her. Usually, this gets her to walk away from me, but this time she stayed squatted with her "elbows" out and let me pick her up. She is the one we believe is laying our eggs. After I carried Fred back to their yard, I went to shoo in the others...when Red (red sex-link) wandered off and wouldn't go with her friends. I thought I could just startle her and she'd run into the chicken yard with the others, but when I pretended to run at her (from behind), she too squatted and put her "elbows" out. So I picked her up and put her in the chicken yard.

Normally The Ladies avoid getting caught at all costs. They never really mind being held, but they don't like being caught...so for two of them to "let" me pick them up without any effort or fuss had me a little concerned. Is this something chickens do when they are getting close to laying age? Otherwise, they are feisty as normal...

 

[bnjrob]

I'm trying to respond to the euthanized kitty post - but not sure if I did it correctly...

No worries. BYC is weird - it has the "reply to post" and you would think that it would notify the person of which post you are replying to or something, but it doesn't. At least it never has for me. Most everyone just ends up doing the "quote post" since replying to a post using the regular reply button doesn't work right and sometimes people will respond to stuff from pages way back and then can't figure out what was being replied to.

 

[bnjrob]

Odd (for The Ladies) Behavior:

Yesterday, while shooing The Ladies back into their yard after letting them run amok in our back yard, two of them did something I've never seen them do before. Fred (white leghorn) squatted down and stuck out her wings a bit when I hovered my hand over her. Usually, this gets her to walk away from me, but this time she stayed squatted with her "elbows" out and let me pick her up. She is the one we believe is laying our eggs. After I carried Fred back to their yard, I went to shoo in the others...when Red (red sex-link) wandered off and wouldn't go with her friends. I thought I could just startle her and she'd run into the chicken yard with the others, but when I pretended to run at her (from behind), she too squatted and put her "elbows" out. So I picked her up and put her in the chicken yard.

Normally The Ladies avoid getting caught at all costs. They never really mind being held, but they don't like being caught...so for two of them to "let" me pick them up without any effort or fuss had me a little concerned. Is this something chickens do when they are getting close to laying age? Otherwise, they are feisty as normal...

That is the subservient behavior that the hens do to signal for the male to mount them. Generally they should be laying eggs by this time or very quickly if they are ready for mating. Doing it to you - they see you as the leader. Which is convenient when you need to pick one up. Not so convenient when they do it and trip you squatting down in the way.

 

[tiedyemommy]

That is the subservient behavior that the hens do to signal for the male to mount them. Generally they should be laying eggs by this time or very quickly if they are ready for mating. Doing it to you - they see you as the leader. Which is convenient when you need to pick one up. Not so convenient when they do it and trip you squatting down in the way.

Wow...That is interesting.

I am their leader!

So, since Fred is the one we believe is already laying eggs (we've gotten one a day since she started on Monday), that might mean Red isn't far behind. Our three Easter Eggers have not displayed any sort of submissive behavior. Since they are all around 17wks old, I didn't expect anyone to be laying yet. Do red sex-links generally lay before 20wks, like leghorns do?

 

[losttexan]

Odd (for The Ladies) Behavior:

Yesterday, while shooing The Ladies back into their yard after letting them run amok in our back yard, two of them did something I've never seen them do before. Fred (white leghorn) squatted down and stuck out her wings a bit when I hovered my hand over her. Usually, this gets her to walk away from me, but this time she stayed squatted with her "elbows" out and let me pick her up. She is the one we believe is laying our eggs. After I carried Fred back to their yard, I went to shoo in the others...when Red (red sex-link) wandered off and wouldn't go with her friends. I thought I could just startle her and she'd run into the chicken yard with the others, but when I pretended to run at her (from behind), she too squatted and put her "elbows" out. So I picked her up and put her in the chicken yard.

Normally The Ladies avoid getting caught at all costs. They never really mind being held, but they don't like being caught...so for two of them to "let" me pick them up without any effort or fuss had me a little concerned. Is this something chickens do when they are getting close to laying age? Otherwise, they are feisty as normal...

Ah - they are doing what many refer to here as "The Squat." This is the pose they will normally assume for a rooster trying to mate and indicates 1) submissiveness and 2) impending laying behavior. This, combined with a reddening of the comb and wattles indicates eggs are not far behind. Congrats!

 

[losttexan]

Everyone has different experiences with different birds, but I would think 17 weeks is still young, even for a leghorn. Of course, someone here will inevitably post they had a leghorn once that started laying at 10 weeks, blah, blah . . . . That's why I said experiences vary. I am comfortable saying that your leghorn and RSL will probably start laying before the other breeds you may have. I would watch daily after the next two weeks or so.

 

[Starfire669]

I'm trying to respond to the euthanized kitty post - but not sure if I did it correctly...

Thank you