Utah!

[Cynthia12]

Cynthia -

Yay! I'm so glad they're looking girly! I really did have my heart set on the grey one that you suspect will be blue spotted, so I'm especially glad about that one. I can't wait for Wednesday night!

Speaking of chicks...does it matter what sort of place in the house I put the brooder? Do I want it to be somewhere that we spend a lot of time or should I give them their space or does it not matter at all? I was thinking about putting it in our office. We spend a fair amount of time in there, but it's definitely not an all day kind of place.

Personal preference, is fine. Just as long as they have a warm place.

red..magpies do steal don't they..I have a friend down this way that was having that problem. What about skunks..any skunks in your area..guess it wouldn't be hard to tell. lol....

 

[Sphinx]

Cynthia, as it is, I'm giving eggs away. I noticed the mission near my house was asking for egg donations. I'm really tempted to bring them a couple dozen. I think that 3-4 hens would be plenty of eggs for our family. So, having potentially 14 laying hens is a rather frightening prospect for me. In my group still to lay, I have an OE, an ameraucana, fbcm, a speckled sussex, and a polish. Coming later is a sex link, a coronation sussex and another OE. Unless I'm forgetting somewhere (which I think I am...). I'm starting to have trouble keeping track.

Red, you are much nicer than me. If I see an egg, I immediately take it. i don't want anyone to get curious and start pecking. I found a cool discussion about someone who was having trouble with magpies stealing their eggs. Maybe you can get some ideas: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=41938

Aravis, I've found that the chicks we raised in a high traffic room are much friendlier to us and much tamer. I think being around people all the time made them less scared of us. So, if you're wanting really friendly birds, I'd try to have them see your family a lot.

 

[the-bird-man]

skunks are getting bad in my area! just walked outside and you can tell there has been a skunk near my house

 

[Daloorashens]

Goodness, gracious, lots going on, of course,

Cynthia... I am pretty much beside myself on those SFH chicks... ACK!!! I might have to bag this whole FBCM and Amer thing and just do them, I LOVE the pics I have seen of them... sheesh, maybe I could just combine pens or something, because I also really like my rainbow egg basket.... Actually, what I really need is a barn like birdguys, then I could have wyandottes and the SFH's and the BTB Marans and some BBS Ameracaunas, and, and, and........Who did you get those eggs from?? (the SFH?)

Loved the pic of the coop, utahchicken, was it??

Lisa, you know if any of those roosters you had were doing their thing, the eggs can be fertile, some say, for up to 4 weeks after... crazy thought, eh?? I love all the planning you are doing for next spring.... you are going to be one busy girl again!!

Still waiting on my girls who should be laying anytime... I'm starting to wonder if the Marans BSL has started, I'm seeing a darker egg out there, but it's not everyday, and it's full-sized, my BO lays a very good-sized egg but it is light brown and she looks like she's getting ready to molt.... hmm... time for an egg cam=)

Planning on finishing one side of the coop expansion this week, and will move all of my mom's birds over and add a few of mine (original birds all came from the same flock), tear down the old, small coop so we can then finish the 2nd side, YAY!! I'm excited!! Again, we'll see about the pics, because it is in a repurposed barn/shed/old chicken coop, so, not pretty, but functional

Oh, and WELCOME all you new people!!! I might have been raised and live in ID, but I was born in Provo (yes I'm a BYU baby) and DH is from Kaysville, so I'm half Utahn, right??

And, I'm sure I forgot something, sorry!!!

 

[SashaT]

Well I got a very unpleasant surprise tonight. I went out earlier and checked the favorite nesting spot for eggs, and sure enough, I found two lovely eggs. My BO was yelling at me for taking them, so I thought, okay, I'll leave them here for a bit and appease Her Majesty. Two hours later, I went out to collect them and found ONE egg. No shell fragments or yolk/white remnants. The smaller egg was gone. So what I've suspected for a while is true: something is stealing my eggs, and I now suspect the magpies. Dirty little birds

Oh, Red....the Magpies here will actually fly into my little hen door and steal eggs if I don't get out there fast enough.

I don't doubt those darn Magpies are stealing your eggs!

 

[RedIII]

Dalooras, it sounds like you're making progress on that coop. How exciting!

That chicken math will swallow you whole, if you're not careful

Sphinx, thanks for the link! I will surely check it out. The only problem I've had so far with pecking is that the turkeys think they need to investigate everything I'm doing or have on me. I am actually wondering tonight if my RIR knew that something was getting into the nest spot. She laid inside the coop today, and under a bush yesterday. Either she's trying to set or she's a clever girl.

Aravis, I'm getting excited for you guys and your new chicks!

You are going to have a blast.

Cynthia, no ma'am. We've not had skunks in our neighborhood for I don't know how long. I haven't smelled them around here in a very long time, nor have I seen any. We've got raccoons, that I do know (

) We've also got a couple of crows that hang around here, but the magpies were the ones I saw out there in the yard today. I didn't even think they'd be a problem.

 

[RedIII]

Oh, Red....the Magpies here will actually fly into my little hen door and steal eggs if I don't get out there fast enough.

I don't doubt those darn Magpies are stealing your eggs!

Yeah, the thing that really annoys me is that I have always liked magpies. I know some people hate them because of the noise they make, but it's never bothered me. Well, guess I'll be camping out some time with a low-power pellet gun.

 

[Cynthia12]

skunks are getting bad in my area! just walked outside and you can tell there has been a skunk near my house

eewww, I would turn green and be making this face for sure...I can't stand the smell, even if we just pass one on the road and it is a quick wiff! It's almost always simultaneous, everyone yelling out...eewww, skunk!

 

[RedIII]

My dad has seen skunks by his house that were as large as a medium-sized dog

I checked that mystery egg yesterday. It was fertilized, but it definitely tasted different than one of the BO's eggs I cooked alongside it. And then I saw my black Amer. cockerel mount one of the other pullets who's laying........So, that wasn't the best strategy to solve the mystery.

 

[dsqard]

Welcome Lithium!

dsgard, pretty pretty girls! So now I have to ask, what about your Blue Am and Black Am 1 yr olds girls' egg size and colors, whose are bluer and whose are biggest

I aplologize for not responding sooner. The blue's eggs are usually bluer and larger than the blacks since they are usually larger in body size. They are a nice light greenish blue. You can ask Cynthia if she thought they looked more blue than green. She hatched some last year I think. Right now I am kind of holding off on giving any more away until my situation firms up a little more. I got news Saturday afternoon that makes me think it is a little more "iffy" than I thought. I will keep you all posted if anyone is still interested in any of them.