Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Rainier]

Out of seven pullets that are 21 weeks, two are laying. The RIR has been laying or a month, and the Plymouth Rock for 2 weeks. The eggs are generally still tiny. The RIR has laid a couple of regular sized eggs, but today was small. The Rock laid a big egg today, but it was a double yolker. The pullet that is 6 months old is showing no signs of wanting to lay. LOL

I don't think I could ever cull a healthy bird myself. If it was sick and suffering I could do it. DH has no problem at all culling one, but fortunately we have not had to do it yet. Currently I have about 3 baby cockerels that are going to have to go. I have no desire to eat my own chickens, so I'll probably take them to a place that will humanely cull them and feed them to birds of pray.

My flock is about the same age and seem to have started laying around the same time as yours.

Not only do we eat them but so do our ferrets, cats and dogs who all eat a raw diet. I think it's awesome that you would donate any you cannot keep or eat yourselves to a conservation establishment. I never thought of doing something like that, or even if you could.

 

[LovemyBabies]

Next spring when they'll be closer to a year old?

Some I've read say wait until a yr old before hatching- we did that - I think we had done a couple who weren't a year yet but were laying standard eggs for their breed and they came out fine- guess it's up to you on when you feel comfortable doing it -

 

[Hinotori]

Just wait until the eggs are standard size to hatch. That's really the only reason against hatching pullet eggs. Small eggs give small chicks that don't do as well

 

[Rainier]

well since hatching is out guess I'll have to head out and get some silkie chicks tomorrow. We really don't neeeeed them but ..

Hi my name is Amy and I have an addiction!

 

[Manningjw]

Just wait until the eggs are standard size to hatch. That's really the only reason against hatching pullet eggs. Small eggs give small chicks that don't do as well

This ^

I hatched pullet eggs last year and they did well but they were fairly decent sized when I did it. What I have read about the reason not to hatch is exactly as you said, the size of the egg, I cannot remember the gram weight recommended off the top of my head. I suspect my chicks and hens were a bit smaller as a result of hatching the slightly smaller eggs but who knows.

 

[Manningjw]

Night #2 of Raccoon vs humans: Raccoon wins again.

I made sure to latch my chicken up earlier and make sure they are safe in the pullet coop. I also set a live trap and I baited the trap with cooked fish and chicken scraps. He left the trap completely alone and found my garden which previously he had never touched. He ripped off ears of corn and knocked down half of my cornstalks in the process.

What is most frustrating is that the raccoon took small nibbles out of the sweet corn and left the rest on the ground to tear down more. Several ears of corn were ripped partially open on top and damaged but left on the stalk - should I pull them off the stalk or will they continue to grow/mature?

So far the score is Raccoon: 2, Human: 0 with 1 dead rooster and 4 stalks of corn destroyed in 2 nights of our little battle. Hopefully I will come home to a trapped raccoon tomorrow morning.

 

[ochochicas]

Night #2 of Raccoon vs humans: Raccoon wins again.

I made sure to latch my chicken up earlier and make sure they are safe in the pullet coop. I also set a live trap and I baited the trap with cooked fish and chicken scraps. He left the trap completely alone and found my garden which previously he had never touched. He ripped off ears of corn and knocked down half of my cornstalks in the process.

What is most frustrating is that the raccoon took small nibbles out of the sweet corn and left the rest on the ground to tear down more. Several ears of corn were ripped partially open on top and damaged but left on the stalk - should I pull them off the stalk or will they continue to grow/mature?

So far the score is Raccoon: 2, Human: 0 with 1 dead rooster and 4 stalks of corn destroyed in 2 nights of our little battle. Hopefully I will come home to a trapped raccoon tomorrow morning.

I'm an animal lover, but there are a few that don't fit in the category of being loved. Raccoons are one of them. You'd be best to sit out at night with a firearm. Racoons are not afraid of people. It will walk right up to you and you can get rid of it. Or you can put something like canned cat food in the trap. Be sure to cover the trap with something - either a sheet or plywood or something similar.

 

[tridentk9]

IMO waiting does give you a better (truer?) idea of the hen. Health, temperament, laying ability, conformation at maturity, etc.

Another BYC poster mentions articles over the years advising against breeding young poultry as well as immature individuals in other species. The offspring from the same parents in later years are an improvement.

Studies on wild birds indicate immature birds typically don't mate or if they do their offspring have less of a chance living to reproduce.

 

[Rainier]

IMO waiting does give you a better (truer?) idea of the hen. Health, temperament, laying ability, conformation at maturity, etc.

Another BYC poster mentions articles over the years advising against breeding young poultry as well as immature individuals in other species. The offspring from the same parents in later years are an improvement.

Studies on wild birds indicate immature birds typically don't mate or if they do their offspring have less of a chance living to reproduce.

That makes sense.

 

[Manningjw]

I'm an animal lover, but there are a few that don't fit in the category of being loved. Raccoons are one of them. You'd be best to sit out at night with a firearm. Racoons are not afraid of people. It will walk right up to you and you can get rid of it. Or you can put something like canned cat food in the trap. Be sure to cover the trap with something - either a sheet or plywood or something similar.

Unfortunately I live in an urban setting so I cannot just go out on the hunt with my rifle or I would! I am planning to trap him then dispatch him, he has lost his chance at living now with the damage he has caused. The first year living here I saw the raccoons but they never tried getting into the coops or tearing up my garden until now.