The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[TeaChick]

Nope.. My chickens are wild. Going all over the place. Maybe your chickens have OCD?

OCD chickens.

 

[TeaChick]

If I had to guess I'd say, top to bottom, JG, Bantam Cochin, and Gold Comet.

Oh - and while "OTs" here refers more to Old Timers, your puppy news (especially when it includes pictures!) is most welcome here

Thanks for the guess.

Oohh, I had no idea. I'm sorry. Glad you enjoyed the pics. =)

 

[TeaChick]

Gold comet is probably the top one. My RSL eggs are always very dark. My darkest eggs.
I'd agree with the middle and the bottom one my guess would be the JG

Thanks for the guess. I think the top is comet too, but now I don't think my JG has been laying. She's been a little standoffish, but that's "normal" for her. This morning, she didn't come out of the hen house and now she's not leaving the brooder to free range with the flock and she didn't eat the yogurt and egg that I made her. Otherwise, I would say the bottom egg would probably be hers too.

 

[TeaChick]

ok it's been a long day and i'm about exhausiated... LOL

I've skipped 10 pages of posts, so if anything was aimed to me specifically, pm me. I doubt anything was, but you never know...

went to the show in Knoxville and had a ball. showed 5 dorkings, 2 LF blrw, 2 bantam blrw and 3 blue mottled bantam cochins... one of my dorkings got BB (colored girl), got 3 BV (red, silver grey, and colored) but stupid me forgot my camera at home...

I had the only blrw there, so got automatic BV for both of them (pullet for the bantam and cockerel for LF), and my blue mottled cochins, they were well represented, I got 3rd and 5th in their group (pullets) - my roo was too sunburned and was dq. I figured that might happen but he was already bathed and ready to go, and I wanted to compare him side by side with some others to see how he compared for type more than anything else.

Oh, I have a Bantam Cochin. Do you have hens? Do they lay? What size eggs?

 

[TeaChick]

I would guess they are all comet eggs if you have more than one comet. I get a range from the pink to a dark terra cotta and a speckled from my comet girls. I would say the top 2 are definitely GC eggs, but not sure how many of each breed you have.

I have four, so it's entirely possible (and looking more and more to be the case) that all three eggs are from Comets.

 

[TeaChick]

Here are my. G.comet eggs. All except the greens which are from my EE. And the two small creams are from my bantam cochin.

Okay, so I see a pink-ish brown one by that top green one, just like the one I got yesterday.
And you're saying that the two lightest ones (top right and middle left) are from your bantam Cochin, so about how much smaller are they than the Comet eggs? I'm trying to figure out whether my Bantam Cochin is laying at all yet.
That was the reason for all this.

 

[TeaChick]

When I had my first broody last February, I got a lot of good advice from the Old Fashioned Broody Hen thread which shares a lot of the same people on this thread. I left her in the coop w/the flock. My flock dynamics were different then. I had a roo, who was an excellent papa, showed the chicks where good food was & kept the mean girls from picking on them. My broody was at the top of the pecking order. Hoping to have a hatch in the spring but will have to watch my 5 RIRs. Not sure I'd trust them since my broody is a Sizzle and seems to be at the lower end of the pecking order now.

Hi Scott, Can you stuff her nesting box w/extra bedding so she'll have something to snuggle in to? I will not complain about how cold it is after hearing your temps!!

HOORAY all 14 girls are on the roost tonight! I had 2 that were sleeping in the nesting boxes lately either by choice or by default. One thought she was broody. The other was being chased off the roost. Why does everyone want the same spot in the corner?? We have 2 corners, Ladies! I did put the 2 banty cochins on the roost and now they are tucked between 2 bigger girls--the same ones who chase them off the roost normally.

A couple days ago, I posted a ventilation question. Apparently I was not thinking straight or am directionally challenged. I do know that the sun rises in the East, I live in Maine for gosh sakes!! Soooo my coop is 8' x 12'. I have two 6"x6" vents in each gable end--North & South EAST & WEST. I have 2 sliding windows--a 2'x2' in the EAST end & a 2'x3' in the WEST end. Both windows are higher than the roost. Are the vents enough ventilation or should I leave one or both of the windows open and how much--a crack, halfway, wide open? Our night time temps have been in the mid 20's lately but can get into the negative digits throughout the winter.

Delisha, you had told me to crack the North window. Does your advice change now that that is the West window? Thank you for any help!!

I will check out that thread. Thank you!!!
When I got her, she spent two weeks in the woods, and then when I got her in the coop, I lost the other hen I'd gotten at the same time, and found out that she (my JG) was sick too. So, I've spent the last two months trying to get her weight up enough for her to take (what I believe is) her rightful place at the top of the pecking order (b/c she's a year older than all the others and the SOP has her weighing something around two pounds more than anyone else, except my bantam Cochin and she'd weight almost 9 pounds more than her at proper weight).

I'm sorry for the rant. My JG is sick again, so I'm a little frazzled.

 

[TeaChick]

When I had my first broody last February, I got a lot of good advice from the Old Fashioned Broody Hen thread which shares a lot of the same people on this thread. I left her in the coop w/the flock. My flock dynamics were different then. I had a roo, who was an excellent papa, showed the chicks where good food was & kept the mean girls from picking on them. My broody was at the top of the pecking order. Hoping to have a hatch in the spring but will have to watch my 5 RIRs. Not sure I'd trust them since my broody is a Sizzle and seems to be at the lower end of the pecking order now.

Hi Scott, Can you stuff her nesting box w/extra bedding so she'll have something to snuggle in to? I will not complain about how cold it is after hearing your temps!!

HOORAY all 14 girls are on the roost tonight! I had 2 that were sleeping in the nesting boxes lately either by choice or by default. One thought she was broody. The other was being chased off the roost. Why does everyone want the same spot in the corner?? We have 2 corners, Ladies! I did put the 2 banty cochins on the roost and now they are tucked between 2 bigger girls--the same ones who chase them off the roost normally.

A couple days ago, I posted a ventilation question. Apparently I was not thinking straight or am directionally challenged. I do know that the sun rises in the East, I live in Maine for gosh sakes!! Soooo my coop is 8' x 12'. I have two 6"x6" vents in each gable end--North & South EAST & WEST. I have 2 sliding windows--a 2'x2' in the EAST end & a 2'x3' in the WEST end. Both windows are higher than the roost. Are the vents enough ventilation or should I leave one or both of the windows open and how much--a crack, halfway, wide open? Our night time temps have been in the mid 20's lately but can get into the negative digits throughout the winter.

Delisha, you had told me to crack the North window. Does your advice change now that that is the West window? Thank you for any help!!

Oh, it's great when we get them to do what we want. It's almost like either we or they have learned to speak the other's language, and all is right with the world. *sigh
I've had trouble with getting mine to even all go into the hen house. I've finally got them all going in there every night!!!

and

for yours sleeping on the roost!!! =)

 

[TeaChick]

One of my Barred Rock cockerels was trying to hypnotize me yesterday

I don't know why so many people on my facebook love this photo, but thought I'd share. I find it neat, but I don't like seeing any of my shots out of focus.

The first and second are my favorites!!!
I'll have to remember that "Barred Rock". ;-)

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Thanks guys

No problem.