Washingtonians

[Chicken Rustler]

CR!!!! You need to go to RA!!!! Rustlers Anonymous!!! All this denial is bad for and old guys heart!!

I think ya have confused with somebody else. I won't mention any names but his initials are RonB.

 

[T Hi]

Don't get all crodgedy!!!

RonB is such a sweet, nice, innocent, angel!!!

 

[T Hi]

Okey Dokey! All this fibbin is making my head pound again!!! Gotta go horizontal!

 

[VelvettFog]

I think this is a cooper's hawk. I took this last spring.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: I do agree that some breeds are better winter layers. But the year I added light I got more eggs per week than the year I didn't. That is taking into account the age of them, since I seem to have different ages all of the time. I think temps can have some affect too because when we have a few days of hot weather my girls slow down too, and same with really cold.

Now as personal preference, I don't add light. I have gotten some really good winter layers and I like nature to do it's thing as much as possible. But that's just me.
A chicken is born with a certain number of eggs in her ovary (she only uses one for some reason). She can't make any more. If she lays the eggs faster, she will quit laying sooner. If she lays slower, she will lay longer. The choice is up to you. Winter lights mean you will get her eggs sooner rather than later, but she will need to be replaced sooner, too.

 

[Imp]

Quote: I do agree that some breeds are better winter layers. But the year I added light I got more eggs per week than the year I didn't. That is taking into account the age of them, since I seem to have different ages all of the time. I think temps can have some affect too because when we have a few days of hot weather my girls slow down too, and same with really cold.

Now as personal preference, I don't add light. I have gotten some really good winter layers and I like nature to do it's thing as much as possible. But that's just me.
A chicken is born with a certain number of eggs in her ovary (she only uses one for some reason). She can't make any more. If she lays the eggs faster, she will quit laying sooner. If she lays slower, she will lay longer. The choice is up to you. Winter lights mean you will get her eggs sooner rather than later, but she will need to be replaced sooner, too.

Here's some info about hens laying physiology.

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afspoultry-files/pubs/Anatomy_Female_reproductive.pdf

The info I have read is 50,000 eggs and up. That's an egg a day for 140 years. (

,I want that hen) I think that is an old wives tale, that they'll stop sooner.
I have always had lights in my coop, and have not had a hen stop early. Or earlier than I expected.

Russ

 

[itsren]

OK MAYBE Justahannah will speak up here and help me out I bet she saw no such incident's

You silly

goose! Justahannah wasn't there at the time! Admit it! You got caught red-handed, now yer jus' trying to get out of it.

 

[itsren]

I think this is a cooper's hawk. I took this last spring.

So both and JenS posted beautiful pictures of Cooper's Hawks. What hawk (or larger predatory bird) wouldn't be so dark on top? I did not see the bird's head. At first I thought it was an owl. DH thought it was a hawk of some sort. The neighbor who saw it fly out of my yard thought it might have been a hawk. Both my husband and neighbor saw it from the back side, and didn't see the head, either. It was a striped light grey - the whole bird was light grey and white. Not dark on top like these ones.

The chickens are not happy with me. I'm not letting them out. Poor girls!

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: I do agree that some breeds are better winter layers. But the year I added light I got more eggs per week than the year I didn't. That is taking into account the age of them, since I seem to have different ages all of the time. I think temps can have some affect too because when we have a few days of hot weather my girls slow down too, and same with really cold.

Now as personal preference, I don't add light. I have gotten some really good winter layers and I like nature to do it's thing as much as possible. But that's just me.
A chicken is born with a certain number of eggs in her ovary (she only uses one for some reason). She can't make any more. If she lays the eggs faster, she will quit laying sooner. If she lays slower, she will lay longer. The choice is up to you. Winter lights mean you will get her eggs sooner rather than later, but she will need to be replaced sooner, too.

Here's some info about hens laying physiology.

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/afspoultry-files/pubs/Anatomy_Female_reproductive.pdf

The info I have read is 50,000 eggs and up. That's an egg a day for 140 years. (

,I want that hen) I think that is an old wives tale, that they'll stop sooner.
I have always had lights in my coop, and have not had a hen stop early. Or earlier than I expected.

Russ
From your link.


At hatch, pullet chicks have
tens of thousands of potential eggs (i.e., ova)
which theoretically could be laid. Most of
these, however, never develop to the point of
ovulation. So the maximum number of eggs a
hen can lay is determined when she hatches
since no new ova are added once the chick
has hatched.

One of the reasons the commercial egg producers get rid of their birds after two years is that they've been bred to lay their eggs fast, and lights are rigged for maximum laying.

 

[itsren]

Interesting article. Came across it while searching for something Permaculture-related.

http://www.ubuilderplans.com/node/70

My thoughts.... interesting use of loppers.

They "hide" the kill station from the neighbors.

I want that wash station - where can I find one?

I'm thinking starting a grape trellis in my back yard, something I've wanted to do for years, has just become higher priority. It will provide shade for the back patio. A place for my girls to play out of view from predatory birds. And, if need be, a good way to camouflage things from the neighbors (like maybe, more chickens).