So yesterday night, after dinner, I looked to see if my chickens were doing good. So I look around in the coop to see if any eggs were there. I grab the egg and head out, but take one last look. I see one egg under the coop. I grab it, and say to myself, but I only have one layer. I have 13 chickens. One is a rooster and one is a layer, the rest just pullets. So I'm curiously wondering which chicken, out of 11 layed it.
No eggs, hmmmmm
if you only have one that can lay...I'm thinkin it might be that she just layed it in a different spot. They don't all lay in boxes. And the ones that do can certainly change their minds sometimes.
Peggie, are cats a possibility? We have a one who's a master rodent hunter. I'm happy to add that he's utterly uninterested in birds. And great hunter or no, a couple of cats around seems to convince rodents that there are nicer places... down the block.
There used to be a few cats around when we first moved out here. But our next door neighbor has several dogs..........that run loose...grrrr. I'm thinking that they may have run the cats all off as they were feral. That certainly would have helped add to the population explosion of voles this year. (Who woulda thought?) Since I'm not really a cat person, I never missed them. Now
I need to get a couple of cats....................and a large fence. Nature needs to get back in balance at my place somehow. Evidently there aren't enough predators for the voles.
Peggie, go get you some outside cats at a local animal shelter. You'll be doing yourself (and them!) a favor. Mine do go over the fence (6 foot) but they come back, too. They can get safe from the dogs. Think of them as your barn cats. Of course, they might help "fertilize" your garden (which is NOT good fertilizer I'm sorry to say). Or you could get some snakes, but I think most people prefer cats.
Actually, I've found that when I need a cat, one just shows up. But if you get them from a shelter, you won't have a lot of breeding going on -- and they can produce four litters a year!
Woooooow, has anyone ever seen a green egg coming from a black Dominque ( if that's how you spell it). Just this afternoon I found a green egg in the coop. I was really surprised in a bad and good way. Bad because I think who ever might of layed the egg might have a disease, and in a good way because that egg is set colored for easter. Also I found out that there are 3 chickens laying eggs (not including that green one).
Hope you guys and gals help, Thanks
Do you have any ducks in with the chickens? They lay a greenish blue egg.
No CajuninKy, I just have chickens. I was thinking of getting those or Quail. Quail can fly right?
Yes. Quite well. Have you added any exotic chicks to your flock. I worked with a guy down the bayou who ordered chicks from a magazine. He got all kinds in one order. Mixed sexes and breeds so he never knew what he had. They laid all color eggs.
Nope, I just got a few Dominques and one white chicken, I don;t know it's name is though. Really that's it. My moms friend said that it is normal for chickens to do that weird egg. She also said it's rare for a chicken to lay the color egg. But she said their healthier than any other chicken egg. The chick that lays that, is a black Dominque.
I'd be curious to see if she continues to lay colord eggs.
Hey folks. Just noticed this thread. Peggie - my hens will eat mice. I wonder if yours will eat voles?
I'd be a little worried about eating the voles if you are poisoning them. I never knew chickens would
go after mice until I picked up something up and a mouse ran out. My buff orpington just went nuts.
She picked it up and pounded it a couple of times and then ate it. I saw them do this several times.
My hens really slowed down laying this fall ... no eggs at all for awhile. Now only about a 1/3 of the hens
are producing. Gotta have a stern talk with those lazy gals. LOL (I think it was Elvis. I moved him
into his own stall and things are getting back to normal, slowly)
Tam
Eric19
Do you have a picture of the black dominque?
I thought they were all barred......
did you get it from a reputable breeder?
The bird you have may have a cross of an americana somewhere in the line
throwbacks can have weird things come up all of a sudden
I breed 2 buff polish and hatched a golden from them........
upon investigating it turns out there was some goldens 3 generations back breed to that bloodline
right now I'm dealing with buff coming out in a line of whites
turns out the whites I got from California had been from a breeding of buffs to whites to improve the buffs
it took 2 generations for the buff to reappear and now its in some of MY whites
Wish the breeder had told me........
culling LOTS of birds.......
Well crestedchik I got my Dominique from a store called TSC. I don't know if your fimiliar with it. But I bought all eight of my chickens there, at a really young chick age. But know I have one hen and a rooster. I breed all 10 from those. Then I bought a white chicken (I do not know the name for it. I think it's a white Plymouth rock.) and got two chicks from it. I'll try to post a pic of both as soon as possible. Thanks
This message was edited Dec 25, 2006 2:45 PM
We have had so many cloudy dreary days here. My hens are still not laying. A couple of the girls gave me a couple of eggs here and there for a while, but now it's back to none.
This routine is getting a little old. They better get on the ball................New Years diets are beginning to be front and center in my mind now that holidays are over. And Chicken is always a big item on the menu for us dieters ! However, boiled eggs are good for a diet too........
they can take their pick.............but they better make up their minds pretty quick. LOL The ole bathroom scale is talking to me pretty loud.
Oooo... those gals better get with the program and quick!
We've been getting more eggs lately - still not an egg from each one but
maybe 2 eggs/week from each.
Tam
Yeah, ours are on a part time schedule, too ! oh well! That's what winter is like here in NH.
I am very proud to announce... my girls produced SEVEN EGGS today. That's seven eggs
for eleven hens. And five of those hens are four or five years old. We are back in production!
Thought you guys might be interested in seeing my new rooster. A friend gave him to me yesterday. He is from fighting stock but he is a pet. His name is Abraham Lincoln because he has a beard. LOL I forget what kind he is but he does not really look like the breed. He is a genetic throwback. That is how my friend got him. The people who ordered him from the breeder were mad because he did not look right so they did not want to use him in their breeding program so they gave him away. My friend breeds a much heavier rooster and didn't want Abe getting hurt. He is light weight and very tame. So he was given to me. I took him to the farm where we have 2 of our horses and I turned him loose with all the other chickens. But I am a bit worried as I did not see him today. I hope he was just out and about. I will look closer for him tomorrow. I am scared that the guy who lives next to the farm may have taken him because he raises fighting chickens. I am going to look tomorrow and if he is there they will have a fight of a different kind on their hands.
Oh he is a beauty! I sure hope you find him Cajun!!!
(And I love the name too)
Tam
Eric,
I'd bet you have an Aurcana in your batch, they lay greenish bluish eggs--TSC usually has all different kinds of chicks when they sell them... friends of ours bought theirs from TSC, and I don't think they have 2 alike.
Our weird weather this year, I haven't noticed any difference in the amount of eggs my girls are laying....
Mermaid, I am going to try peppermint oil next spring in the vole holes. Prefer not to use poison, which I have been using. They burrow all through the front border I worked so hard to put in! Eating stuff underground, while the bunnies eat the greenery off the top! What a challenge! I love my spring blooms!
Eric, as far as safety, I am sure your green egg is fine. As to which lady laid it, you will find out. Want to order some chicks in spring, and thinking about including three ducks. I love ducks. Wish me luck. Good luck to all of you.
BAM
I am glad to report Abe is fine. He was trying to get cozy with one of the "girls" today. He had not convinced her by the time we left. LOL
Finally ! I got an egg yesterday, then another one today. I think they are from one hen.
Maybe the other girls will notice, and catch on.
The weatherman made mention that we are now having a few minutes of daylight added each day..........so the days are starting to getting longer. But it's still been cloudy and dreary. Maybe this hen is the first one to notice and the others will soon. Sure was nice to see an egg again. I was about to give up on ever getting any again. Now I have renewed hope. :)
Woo Hoo to the hens! Now did you tell her what a good hen she is? Positive reinforcement?
LOL We seem to be getting closer to normal production now. We leave a 60 Watt bulb on
during the day so that might help. We're getting about 3--6 eggs a day for the 12 hens (I think
we have that many. I've lost count!)
Tam
I'm sure we get a good number of eggs. The trick is finding them LOL We have one hen who is trying to set so she is giving me the lip when I pick up the eggs. She will give me the beak if I am not fast enough!!!
You know, I should have thought of this a LOT earlier, but it seems like when I keep a couple wooden eggs (get them at Michael's craft store) in the nest boxes, laying is more consistent. Maybe it's all in my head, but...
I've heard they're suckers for decoys. You'd think it would make them avoid the nesting box, but apparently they're followers, not leaders.
They have sold those for years. They are called China Eggs because the first ones were made out of china. But people use lots of things for substitutes. My DH grandmother used a white china door knob. I use golf balls. They sell white plastic eggs at the one of the feed stores we frequent. Chickens are not very smart birds, it seems. *g*
We have a hen setting now. She is a Bantam.
Hehe, looks in the picture, like she has some pretty fancy bed linens for the occasion.
Maybe that's my problem, my girls heard that yours had fancy linens.......... and they only got straw, so they went on strike. LOL
Peggie
Those empty feed sacks are driving me crazy! I would have them all thrown away but James, our friend who leases the farm where two of our horses and Abe are, has the idea of keeping the nice ones on the off chance we might someday go to the feed mill and have them refilled. Says it will save us .50 on 50# of feed. I'm about ready to give him the .50 to be rid of the sacks. LOL I have been going through the mountains of empty sacks for the last 2 days to get the good ones out. It keeps me out of trouble. *g*
When my hens are in a funk and don't lay as many eggs, I buy them a sack of Calf Manna. It's a high quality protein supplement for all livestock-cat or dog food also works. I think sometimes the hens are not getting enough 'meat' in their diets, especially in the winter. I add a cup of Manna for each 6 hens to their corn/pellets. And I make sure they have access to a source of calcium-oyster shells or dolomite.
The burrowers could be rats. I hate to put out poison, even for the rats, but I buy the bricks, green or red, at a farm supply store and drop them down the burrows. The chickens have never tried to eat one, even when one was pushed out into their house. It make take 3 or 4 days, but those bricks will kill the rats. Many times, they'll die close to the water. Once, when I had more chicks, I had 20 + dead-all sizes. It was gross. But, now I treat every few months, or if I see new activity and each time I buy a bucket of the bricks, I buy a different brand to avoid tolerance in the rats. Young skunks and opossums also love eggs and chickens if they have a chance.
Do you have a problem with cats eating the dead rats and getting poisoned from the residue?
Well thank you guys for all your help. Now I'm pretty sure their not disease infected. See their are two of them laying green eggs, but one seems to be going on and off. Like every few days it lays one egg. These chickens are the daughters of the one I but at TSC. It lays brown eggs. So yesterday is when I finally saw one of the daughters laying an egg. I was pretty happy to know who was the one resposible for it.
I got a sack of beef feed instead of laying pellets. Do you think I could feed them to the
chickens?
Tam
Zeppy, I have one orange plastic easter egg that I put wherever I want the girls to lay. Right now I have two hens that are young and silly and they fly out on the pen every day and can't figure out how to get back in. So they don't know where to lay their eggs! I have a little slipshod nestbox that I made, and I have the fake egg in there. Every day they lay next to the fake egg!
When I have a broody chicken, she will lay on the fake egg to keep in warm. I move it around to a nest box, if I see that all the girls have chosen to lay somewhere silly, like in the middle of the coop and it always works like a charm. How weird!
I also find that my egg production is quite variable. I have three standard laying hens who are under a year old, and they have laid eggs pretty consistantly every day or every other day throughout the winter. everyone else ( all ten of them) are a question mark. I get about 12-5 eggs a week. My firzzle hasn't laid an egg for months. LOL! She's on a full scholarship :) Oh well! For me, the eggs are a bonus. I know I'll get more in the spring. I already am getting more, as the days lengthen. I'm not very worked up about it. I'd love them even if they never laid one egg ( but don't give them any ideas!)
I love that! On a full scholarship 'eh!! LOL
Here is a pic of my egg encouragers. "Just Do It !!"
Just Do It !!!!!! LOL, that cracks me up ! I had to show that Nike golf ball to my DH. He laughed as big as I did !
That's Funny ! Good job CajuninKy !