Whiting True Blues

[Kung_pao]

My rooster has been helping my ladies lay their first egg lately.. follows them in the box and scratches and squats lol

He also egg sings when they lay

That’s so funny. It’s weird how they can show traits of the opposite sex when they are young and full of hormones.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

(She's very pretty and very flighty.)

Mine was very flighty too until she started laying, then became a social butterfly

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

She definitely sounds like a crazy teenager lol. Because there are only a few laying, all of the birds circle the next boxes and go nuts when my pullets lay an egg. It’s like some kind of lion king stuff!

Yes, my Eggers did that, too -- being ~7-8 weeks younger than the other girls, they'd go in the coop and stare at whoever was hunkered down in a nest box like, "This is important for some reason but I don't know why?" or "HOW does she DO that?!?" Two of the laying pullets got visibly annoyed with their close scrutiny and scolded them. ("Dang it, some PRIVACY here, children!") And those were just the encounters I saw. Now that everyone's laying, the Eggers don't go watch anymore, but Martha the WTB likes to watch from the coop window across from the nest boxes and announce the egg's arrival. At least she's not pacing the coop floor and annoying the laying girls!

 

[Kung_pao]

Mine was very flighty too until she started laying, then became a social butterfly

Mine are still not social but not as flighty as they were when really young.

 

[Kung_pao]

Yes, my Eggers did that, too -- being ~7-8 weeks younger than the other girls, they'd go in the coop and stare at whoever was hunkered down in a nest box like, "This is important for some reason but I don't know why?" or "HOW does she DO that?!?" Two of the laying pullets got visibly annoyed with their close scrutiny and scolded them. ("Dang it, some PRIVACY here, children!") And those were just the encounters I saw. Now that everyone's laying, the Eggers don't go watch anymore, but Martha the WTB likes to watch from the coop window across from the nest boxes and announce the egg's arrival. At least she's not pacing the coop floor and annoying the laying girls!

As small as their brains are I always wonder how much they can learn. I don’t think they are genius’s but I do think they can observe and learn some from some circumstances. They do seem to benefit from mental stimulation and appear happier when they have something to do. Especially in bad weather or winter when they are more confined.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

They are definitely happier with some stimulation, enough novelty to get them interested but not so much that it freaks them out! A new straw bale to hop on and scratch in, a few big clumps of weeds with root balls attached -- they're good for awhile! Plus lots of different perches at different heights. They aren't fond of changes inside the actual coop, except when I opened a new nest box last week and suddenly everyone wanted to lay in that one.

 

[Kung_pao]

Eggs are slowly sizing up.

 

[Medodge]

Awesome! Mine too. And these girls give me 6/wk

 

[Kung_pao]

Awesome! Mine too. And these girls give me 6/wk

Nice!

 

[SchwartzLakeFarmNC]

Good afternoon, we received a chick from McMurray this spring that we never have quite figured out what she might be, but others have commented she looks like a WTB. She is 22 weeks and no eggs yet so I can't make that determination based on egg coloring yet. Just wanted to get anyones thoughts if she might have the characteristics or features of a WTB? She is turning very red these days and is the "top hen" in our flock of 8, has the pea comb but I've never seen anything like her coloration before so anything could be a possibility.