***Your Opinion, and a Question Just for YOU****

[chickensnax]

Molting- when a chicken looses it feathers in a mass amount, usually happens in the fall or early winter, and before they first start laying eggs. Some chickens will loose almost all their feathers at once and be almost naked, where others are slow molters and will gradually loose thier feathers one by one. The mass molt is technically in my opinion better because the hens will quit laying while in molt, the protein and calcium they use for egg goes toward feather production, and will go back to laying faster if the process is not drawn out as long. It is all natural and nothing to worry about, just a chance for their bodies to replace any missing or broken feathers before winter sets in, kinda like shedding for cats to get their winter coat.

I don't think bigger hen makes a bigger egg, I have some girls that are normal sized breed chicken and are rather small for their breed (lowest on the pecking order) and they lay very large eggs, my BR girls and my red mixes. My Orpington which is a dual purpose breed, good egg layers but can be used for their meat lay some very large eggs that I can't even fit into the cartons. Orpintons can be a very nice sized breed.

My BR rooster is very large and can be intimidating unless you're used to him, great protector but not aggressive towards us, and comparing him to my neighbors red mutt rooster he's a giant. My Austrorp is also a very large bodied girl too, and don't forget the wonderful EE's which can be just as large and very neat to look at with their different colors and fuzzy beards. My EE also lays very large green eggs which also do not always fit inside the egg cartons either, she also layed a double yoker at 2+ years of age, the thing was massive.

THese breeds are very common and easy to comeby, especially in backyard flocks.

My opinion with an auction is you run the risk of not really knowing what you are getting, quality wise and might end up paying way more than the bird is worth. Auctions are very exciting and people tend to get carried away sometimes.

But good luck in your flock decisions and have fun. I know I'm addicted and can't wait till my broody hatches out some mixed breed little peepers.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
No. Some big chickens lay only small-to-medium eggs; the large and extra-large and jumbo eggs in the supermarket are mostly laid by Leghorns (quite small for full-sized chickens, almost halfway between bantam and large fowl) and the brown ones by sexlinks (still on the small-and-light side for large fowl breeds).

What does molt mean and what are symptoms signs?

Molting is when they jettison their old feathers, gradually or rather suddenly, and start growing in new ones.

And....what are the pros and cons of going to an auction?

Pros: sometimes you can get things cheap.

Cons: quite often what you get "cheap" is other peoples' cull birds (vicious, not laying, cannibalistic, egg-eating, etc) and/or various exciting chicken diseases, not all of them curable and ALL of them pretty highly contagious to your own birds. Even if the particular birds you are buying come from a clean and healthy flock, while they are AT the auction they are exposed to germs from lots of nonhealthy chickens and so they can still bring home exciting chicken diseases with them.

I would not suggest buying at auction unless either a) you are ok with sometimes wasting your money and sometimes bringing home diseases, or b) you are very experienced in recognizing problems with chickens AND you know the local poultry community well to know whose birds to buy and whose to avoid AND you feel the remaining disease potential is acceptable to you. (Quarantine helps but is not foolproof)

Honestly, you're likely to get just about as good deals by buying privately from local breeders -- it just takes a bit more work to find and talk to them, as opposed to 'one stop shopping' of an auction.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[newchicksnducks]

Sorry, didn't have time to read all the pages but...

if you want to search for egg production and description of birds (size, personality, etc), My Pet Chicken has a good site that asks a few questions (egg production being one of them) then they tell you which birds meet your criteria. You then read the description of the breed and compare bird size,egg size, etc to find which breed you want. It's sorta fun to play around with!

 

[markb816]

Switching subject, do you think that chickens look at me as one of them? Am I part of their flock? Are they grateful and know that I am their provider? Do you think they are grateful? What are my chickens thinking??

 

[newchickmom]

I have Buff Orphingtons, Delawares and Black Australorps. All are considered dual-purpose birds. I chose these breeds for that and these reasons: All lay large brown eggs, all are docile and friendly, and all are hardy in winter. The delawares do tend to range further and are the last ones to bed at night.
Even my 3 yr-old grandson can help me collect eggs without be afraid of the chickens. He will even reach under a hen to retrieve eggs!

 

[cicene mete]

Quote:
I have no idea what they are thinking. They certainly recognize individuals, and they remember who has treated them nicely and who hasn't, but I try not to anthropomorphize too much. When they see me, they get really excited because they think I might have treats. When they realize that I don't, they are a lot less excited. I don't let it hurt my feelings

 

[markb816]

Good way to put it.
But they know where I live!! They can't see my house from their coop, they can't even see me go to my house. But they have made their way foraging to my back porch.
Most birds have a very good sense of direction and seem to have a natural instinctive compass in them.
I let them free-range, of course. Is there a way to limit how far to let them free range?
I want them to be free to roam but not too free to roam to far
What does BYC think??

 

[markb816]

I have more questions if you could help.
It deals with the weather really warming up here.
I want to make sure that managing a flock includes concerns and issues of them not overheating.

 

[markb816]

Thanks for all your help BYC!!
Please chime in, anyone else. I need your guidance on this.
Many Thanks