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Rocky Rhodes said:

I suspect my CCLs are reaching the end of their laying cycle. I collected this egg today. It has a little mud on it from the sloppy conditions this weekend. I have been told that this is a sign that they
are about to stop laying. The odd thing is that while this egg has warts some of the others were porous.


Today is day 21 for 11 CCLs, 5 have already hatched, 1 pipped and 5 still waiting.
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Your egg just looks like it has extra calcium on it. Those little bumps totally scrape off with your fingernail. It is just a case of that chicken eating a lot of calcium. I have one chicken who pigs out at the calcium feeder. I have to scrape her eggs all the time. Your chicks are so cute. I hope they will be laying in early July because I want to get some eggs from you!
 
Rocky Rhodes said:

I suspect my CCLs are reaching the end of their laying cycle. I collected this egg today. It has a little mud on it from the sloppy conditions this weekend. I have been told that this is a sign that they
are about to stop laying. The odd thing is that while this egg has warts some of the others were porous.


Today is day 21 for 11 CCLs, 5 have already hatched, 1 pipped and 5 still waiting.
pop.gif

Click to expand...


That actually sounds more like they have a problem with calcium. Almost like it's getting too thinned out in their body, and then catching back up with extra (thus the "warts"). You can feed extra calcium to the chickens by giving them crushed oyster shell, barn lime (the powder type, NOT the sandy type), or just making sure they're on an actual LAYER feed (not a flock raiser, starter crumbles, or grower/finisher formulas). Also, make sure they get plenty of sunshine during the daylight hours. Vitamin D3 is produced naturally in the body (chickens AND humans) by exposure to sunlight, and it's necessary for the body to properly absorb calcium. So if they aren't getting enough sunlight, their body just may not be absorbing enough calcium, no matter how much is in their diet.
 
ChickDancer said:




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Okay, now that I finished replying to everyone else's posts, I need to explain the photos. I simply uploaded them from my phone, and then shut it off (I'm on the computer now).

The first and third photos show the bottom of the frame. It has not been glued yet, because I'm going to cut one side and put a Tee in there for the "gate". But this is how big it is, and the basic idea of it. The top will be the same. The pipes were purchased as 10-foot pipes. The sides will be some of those pipes merely cut in half for an enclosure that is 5-feet tall. So four on top, four on bottom, and two cut in half to make the four vertical corners.

Total pipes per pen: 10.

But the elbows you see in those photos, are the ones that I don't have enough of. One store had absolutely NONE of them in stock, and the other store had four. So I bought those four, and this is all I can do for now. I need another four for the top to finish the basic frame.

About 18-20 inches from one corner, I'll put the pipe Tees - one on top, one on bottom. That will leave me the 18-20 inches for a "gate". It will also be made of PVC pipe, with simple elbows making the corners of the gate, and couplings to make the actual hinge. I have a dremel I plan to use to enlarge the coupling space JUST a bit to slide smoothly around the pipe. The coupling will be screwed directly onto the gate with a flush screw, and go around the corner pipe for the frame, and a second coupling glued to the corner of the frame right below the first to hold the gate UP. I'll repeat this pairing near the bottom for a dual-hinged gate.

I'll try to take pics as I'm doing all of this too, in case anyone wants an idea for a cheap, moveable chicken pen.

Tops will be 10ft x 12ft tarp. They don't actually have 10x10 in the stores near me, and the 2-foot can be extended over one side for more privacy, and better rain protection. The tarps will be secured to the pens with SEVERAL zip ties. I did the same with that on my sumatra pen and it actually works great as long as the zip ties go through the actual RIVETS on the tarp, and it's taut and no extra holes are made. Bonus that they get pine needles AND rain on their tarp in the Sumatra pen, but it still holds up! I go through every now and then and punch the top to scatter the pine needles.

And the photo in the middle, is the welded wire fencing. It's 5 feet tall, which I had been looking for specifically, so I didn't have to double up the fencing vertically to cover the height of the pens. I went with welded wire because it's not "weak" and "bendable" like chicken wire, but also because it doesn't need to be pulled tight to hold up properly. With a PVC frame, it would be too weak to hold up to chicken wire being pulled really tight across the length. I'd have to use MUCH thicker pipe, and probably also add in extra supports across the center of each side to hold up to the tension. And chicken wire is REALLY expensive to get 5-foot height. Overlapping a smaller size would reduce the strength, and it would be too easy for something to squeeze between them.

Welded wire, however, is too strong for most predators to get into. It doesn't bend as easily, and could actually help SUPPORT the top of the pen once installed. The biggest disadvantage is that I can't keep baby chicks in it - or broody hens with babies. The chicks will definitely be able to run right through the fencing, and that will leave momma hens freaking the hell out. But the big pen that everyone is in right now with sheet metal sides, could become the grow-out pen and/or the broody hen pen.
 

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