The Front Porch Swing

[OHhappychicks]

It's time for a Penguin update. The Freedom Mutts are all looking like little chickens ... little gravy boats covered in smooth feathers everywhere with little tail handles sticking out behind them. All of them except Penguin ... who looks like a soccer ball.



Here s/he is running away from me as usual. No tail at all.

It's still the coolest looking chick!!!

This is the bush where the Freedom Hen hatched her Freedom Mutts. We found 14 eggs in there today ... nobody sitting on them, just a nice place to lay if the official nesting boxes are somehow unsuitable, I guess.

Public side, private side, inside views. It's a little weeping spruce.

I think I would like this, if I were a chicken!!

Quiet, secluded, and probably smells great, with the pine scent! Perfect little hide-a-way!

 

[lovingmyhens]

Okay, gang, family is waiting for me to get in the hot tub but got a couple of quick questions....Little Diane, Dustin, and Ken can all keep standing around laughing at me for posting while I'm sitting in my swim suit and I really don't care!  A few pages back (well, okay, MANY pages back) I asked about how soon some of the girls would be laying if their combs and wattles were turning red, and I was advised that "squatting" is the behavior most of you rely on.


Just before supper I went out to add some PDZ to the poop board, and Matilda was acting weird.  She is usually one of my flightier chickens - managing to stay as far from me as possible while not missing out on any goodies, and she wasn't one of the ones I'd asked about before.  I just stood still and watched her as she came right up to me, then she flew onto the roost making this oddly pleasant kind of "churring" noise.  When she got closer I could see that her comb seems to be a little darker all of a sudden.  I slowly reached out to pet her and the soft noise got a little more intense, but it was still pleasant - almost like a cat purring.  She not only let me pet her, she gently moved over closer to me and then she looked like she was trying to sit on the roost. Is this what I've been watching for?  Does this means a first egg sometime in the next week or so?  And what do I do about the boys? (I think we are up to 4 roos in this little chicken family, and frankly I was beginning to suspect Matilda was a Maurice until tonight.)  Do I need to separate them if I have no plans for a breeding program or do the hens usually start laying before the boys are truly mature enough to mate?  Do I need to get the nest boxes prepped?  Anybody got a cigar?

I got a Smirnoff! And bad news. Mine started squatting and it was weeks before I got and egg. And I have a couple of hens that never not once squatted and are laying eggs anyway. Soo who knows

 

[Beekissed]

I got a Smirnoff! And bad news. Mine started squatting and it was weeks before I got and egg. And I have a couple of hens that never not once squatted and are laying eggs anyway. Soo who knows

Yep. I've never had a hen squat unless a rooster was getting ready to breed her....my hens are not that tame that I can just walk up and pet them on the back to see if they squat. They would look at me like I had three eyes if I even tried!

We have a mutually respectful relationship....they don't squat for me and I don't do diddly squat for them either.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Yummers! Strawberry jam is my favorite. I love it has no white sugar too.

You can do this with any fruit. I love that! It really is good! My strawberries are a little tart, so it isn't sugary sweet, but I don't want it to be.

 

[OHhappychicks]

Recipe please????

With a piece of the shell actually missing, i'd not bother. Do you have enough eggs to incubate without using this one? I sealed a cracked egg: the crack wasn't highly visible, (a spider web crack about the size of a nickel) with candle wax. The chick developed until about day 8 then quit. The chick also adhered to the crack. If you want to try it, try a piece of scotch tape.

Second that!

I posted the recipe site for everyone. I was afraid the chick would stick to it. That is kinda why I didn't want to use tape. I might not use it. I only have 3 maran hens. I get 1 one day, then 2 the next. Wanted to have about 8-9. I know you can keep the eggs at room temp for about 5 days and they are still good, but can someone tell me do they all have to be put under the hen at the same time, or can you add some for a few more days? I want to use wax, but I'm afraid it will come off when it gets warm. Will it or is the candle wax hard enough it won't melt at the temps of the hen?

 

[OHhappychicks]

Well what is the most sticky substance that is most like eggshell? What about taking a little bit of cracked eggshell from an egg you are cooking and taping or band aiding that on top of the cracked space?

That is a great idea!!! I keep my eggshells to feed back to the flock, so I have a ton!

 

[OHhappychicks]

Yep. I've never had a hen squat unless a rooster was getting ready to breed her....my hens are not that tame that I can just walk up and pet them on the back to see if they squat. They would look at me like I had three eyes if I even tried!

We have a mutually respectful relationship....they don't squat for me and I don't do diddly squat for them either.

You are too funny!!! I love that! I've only seen 1 that I can think of squat when I walked by and that was when we first had chickens, 4-5 yrs ago. I don't recall seeing another one, only like you said, Bee, when a roo was around.

 

[Beekissed]

Well what is the most sticky substance that is most like eggshell? What about taking a little bit of cracked eggshell from an egg you are cooking and taping or band aiding that on top of the cracked space?

Quote:
I read a post this season where someone did just that and it worked like a dream.....should have remembered that but didn't. They just glued a bit of the shell right on but I'm betting one could just use the egg white to glue that on securely for hatching. Whenever an egg breaks in the nest and the shells are stuck to other eggs I have the devil of a time getting those shells off those other eggs, so I'm thinking that egg is the perfect "glue" for the shell piece.

 

[sarahsunshine]

LOL  me too when I heard that one.... 

deb

Eating the placenta is awesome for vitamin K and all sorts of things. No some who swear by a raw placenta milk shake. I can attest to the fact that I bled less long, had fewer cramps, and healed faster the time I tried it. May be a coincidence. Definitely not tasty. One of those plug (your nose) and chug items...

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Yep Yep Yep....

I heard about that one too.

deb