The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Nice eggs..!

My D'uccles are peeping in the eggs. Out of 12 shipped I have 6 fertile ..so a good shipment. They should all hatch I would think. Those are some tiny eggs. They are due tomorrow..

 

[armorfirelady]

Thanks I knew she would probably lay soon since Sally8 said one of her sisters had laid already. Maybe they will get bluer as they lay longer?

Yeah Edie!

Don't count on the eggs getting bluer. I'm thinking what we see is what we get. They are very personable chickens and I like their coloring. And....I'm all about having different colored chickens and different colored eggs. Not long ago I realized that if I want those very dark eggs, it will involve hatching many, culling many and many years of hatching ahead of me. I just enjoy having chickens. The end.

I am happy with the color they are. I am going to blow it out & save it. But put it someone safer than my first egg ever that got broken. If my 2 BCM lay dark eggs we could always have George come visit and you could have fertilized eggs to hatch Oh wait he's their brother probably can't do that?

 

[armorfirelady]

Nice eggs..!

My D'uccles are peeping in the eggs. Out of 12 shipped I have 6 fertile ..so a good shipment. They should all hatch I would think. Those are some tiny eggs. They are due tomorrow..

Congrats Delisha. I like the looks of those hens. They have beautiful coloring form the pictures I have seen.

 

[rowerjen]

Quote:
As am I. Stopped here first and saw that I was only 5 posts behind...and 88 behind on Mumsy's gardening thread! Also experienced a moment of congnitive dissonance reading about goats as guard animals here and all the things they eat on the gardening thread. Actually, I think I knew that already but I'm glad I subscribe to both. Keeps me out of trouble. I'm heeding that video about chickens being "gateway livestock."

 

[midnightroo]

Sally8, that silkie looks like the cutest feather duster I have ever seen.

Armorfirelady, the eggs may stay that color.  I have many blue wheaten ameraucanas, lavenders, and EE's, and a couple of the BWA's lay the palest washed out light blue egg while most lay a pretty blue or light blue.  

Mumsy I hope Mr. Nasty gets better, but you can send him to me if you get tired of him.  It seems that your new gardening thread has drawn everyone over there lately (I'm suscribed.)

Haha so true. I have been super busy too.

Congrats armor!

Lala send some of that cool weather here. It finally has cooled down to the 80's so I am super happy.

Sounds like things are progressing well with your nasty roo Mumsy. Glad to hear that. It also sounds like there will be lots of chick photos soon! My hens are acting the same way when I go outside. I worry that I am not feeding them enough.

Would just seeing a fox during the day, but (as far as I know) no interaction with it cause them to stop laying? I was told by two neighbors that a fox came through the area on Friday during the day. I have been keeping them in the fence when I am not home, but one came over and said I wasn't home and the fence was down. I only have two laying and have gotten no eggs in two days with only two since Saturday. I figured with the cooler weather I would be getting more eggs. I did see a black snake and have had a squirrel bothering them about food recently also.

Thanks

 

[MumsyII]

As am I. Stopped here first and saw that I was only 5 posts behind...and 88 behind on Mumsy's gardening thread! Also experienced a moment of congnitive dissonance reading about goats as guard animals here and all the things they eat on the gardening thread. Actually, I think I knew that already but I'm glad I subscribe to both. Keeps me out of trouble. I'm heeding that video about chickens being "gateway livestock."

This made me laugh out loud. Hah! Between these two threads I forgot to eat lunch!

 

[aoxa]

Nice eggs..!

My D'uccles are peeping in the eggs. Out of 12 shipped I have 6 fertile ..so a good shipment. They should all hatch I would think. Those are some tiny eggs. They are due tomorrow..

I did not think you would go for the D'Uccles! They are the friendliest chickens. Even more so than silkies. Not as much as my Bantam Ameraucanas though.

Margaret has been put in the broody pen - which right now is the baby barn and run. She does not like any of the other chickens, and especially hates the boys. They abuse her. So this will keep her boy free while she learns to make friends. The broodies she is with are not aggressive broodies.

Three of my hens hatched out chicks today.

 

[lalaland]

am totally traumatized but all are safe and sound.
worked from home today - all was well. left about 5 to go out to dinner, came home at 8:45, about dusk, to find half the chicks roosting outside as close as they could get to the door - they couldn't get in because they were on the wrong side of their tunnel/run/enclosure. Others were in the coop, but wedged into boxes, rafters, whereever they could take cover. I collect them all and they are piling in the corner, cheeping distress calls, and crawling under and over each other, all vying for the "safe" corner spot underneath everyone else.

I"m kneeling in chicken droppings, trying to count them by flashlight and it takes about 5 tries til I figure I am missing two. searched otuside, inside, and found one literally wrapped up in the bird netting roll that covers the doorway - the extra length is rolled up at the bottom and tied with twine, looks like a big sausage. how she got rolled up I dont know. I used scissors to extricate her. another 10 minutes and I find the last one wedged behind a tool box.


THe adult hens are all in their section of the coop, but totally huddled together on one roost, instead of their normal places.

I scouted around the outside of the coop and the interior run and the chick pen by flashlight, and I can't see anything amiss.

But something happened.....what?

feel like Justine, I need a hug! I hate that adrenaline rush. But very grateful everyone is safe and sound....only....I have to leave early for work tomorrow...not sure what happened. how did they all get on the outside?

 

[Eggcessive]

Lalaland, sorry that you probably won't be able to sleep tonight, and glad you found all of the babies and everyone is safe now. Hope you can figure out what happened. I would love to have a stop-action camera on my chicken yard and inside my coop to find out what goes on when I am gone.

 

[bruceh]

okay i am reading all these pages