it has to hurt. she's only a pullet
My First Egg!
OUCH! looks like my buckeye eggs. got any double yokers yet? did you find the temptation thread?
nope, what and where is the temptation thread?
go all the way to the first post from me from today, near the bottom...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/867422/
i am outta here!
[ducking]
tf
OMG she is running away. For Shame
lol
truest good to see u back as for me i am doing pretty good
hoe are your chickens and quail and your right you need a hat befre you can forfill your niche
josh
This message was edited Jul 16, 2008 5:00 PM
truest you need a t-shirt...
and a pants with a flag on your hat
Now I'm excited tf!!! These gals are only 11 weeks old!!! If they start laying now won't that make some kind of record?
MollyD
um, gee, your roos are "active" at 11 weeks? to see if the hens are really ready, you can try laying your hand gently across their backs and see if they "assume the position".... this is according to catscan,,,, then you should have eggs soon. it worked with her girls and with cheddar...
i suppose you could have a record.... btw i have a chick with a moustache, how is your guy doing?
This is what happens when they start to assume the position!
The top two rows are from the Delaware's hidden nest (the little rat has apparently found another place to lay and I can't find it!), the two small dark ones on the left are from the Marans', then the first Welsummer's--not quite as dark as the Marans' but much larger! The white is a large store bought egg for comparison, then two pullet eggs from the BO--she has laid some larger ones with double yolks. So far nothing that I know of from the RIR--but she has learned how to get out of the pen, so she and Delphine could be teaming up together somewhere.
i am sure those two are! your RIR should be doing something... Cheddar has for two weeks now, every third day...
isn't it cool how each egg is so individuual? a sure sign of genetic diversity!
Okay, I have a newbie question...
are the Americanas a docile quieter bird? and what size eggs?
still trying to decide which hens to get ...I'll probably end up with one of each! lol!
wat ones are u intrested in??
Right now, I am looking at the Americanas and the Australorps.... and maybe the Rhode Island Reds....
Hi oneanjl--It looks like only us WestCoasters and DownUnders are up at this time of day.
From what I understand the true Ameraucana is a friendly, gentle bird with an impressively long laying season. But a lot of hatcheries sell what they call Ameraucanas/Easter Eggers which are basically mongrel birds that happen to have the blue egg gene and so lay blue/green or tinted (called "pink") eggs. You might get very nice birds, but there would be no way to tell. The true Ameraucana is said to lay medium-sized eggs.
Have you seen this chart? It is really helpful:
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
yep it is only the afternoon here so im fine for a bit and i would get all of them then u could cross breed them
lol, oh I'm sure my neighbors would love that! lol!
Catscan, thank you for that link! that does help ALOT! do you know of a good local source for chicks? maybe someplace I can go and buy them? I'm just not sure about the mailing part....
who cares about wat neighbours think these days
lol, well this one thinks my teacup poodle barks loud! keeps calling animal control on us... and if I'm going to try to get 4 hens instead of just two... I need to keep them quieter :o) we literally had to build the coop in the hush...so he wouldnt find out! bad neighbors! ugh!
chickens arent that loud
Just about the only places locally are the feed stores. Call and ask if they have chicks in--what breeds (they almost always have a ton of Cornish Rex Broilers--you don't want them!) and if you can order through them. If yes, you can put in an order for just the number, breeds and sexes you want. They will bunch them in with other people's orders instead of your having to get more than you want (a lot of hatcheries that claim they will send just what you want--then fill the box with roos to make up the difference and keep the other chicks warm--then you have the heartbreak of trying to find homes for roos that no one wants--except to eat.) The main limitation is you have to chose from the selection of the hatchery the feed store uses--which is usually the big ones like Privett or Murray McMurray.
If you find a horsey area there will be feed stores--Or you can come out to the great Agricultural Wasteland of the Central Valley:0). Our local feed store chain, Robinson's, has had Ameraucana (maybe Easter Eggers), Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Silver-Laced Wyandotte (they are suppose to be nice), Buff Orpinftons (very sweet and friendly), White Leghorn (too noisy and flighty for the city) and other breeds, as well as turkey poults and ducklings. I ordered from them the first time--although I ordered all pullets I ended up with 2 Buff Orpington roos and 2 Australorp roos. But it was the end of the season and the hatchery (Privett's) was having a hard time with their hatch.
If you want to get chicks this year, I would try to find them now--things will slow down hatch wise in the Fall.
Okay--I'm through. Boy can I go on and on and on..........
it is all for the greater good
Thank you Josh--you're a good friend;0)
yay i have friends lol
You are a nut!
i am not a nut i am some tipe of cashew
Idiot! (I mean that in the nicest possible way).
LOL thanks for breaking it lightly
TF my roos are so active I think they're part goat! They won't get off those poor hens.
MollyD
lol at least u know u get fertile eggs
Thanks for the belly laughs this morn you guys. Too
funny- don't need pants- i got my 'killing pants' from
Granny LoL. I still need a hat.
I love my ameraucanas. (ee's) So far, their eggs are
bigger than the cochin's, and as chicks they were the
most brave and inquisitive. They are better fliers than
other chickens I've seen, and that could be a problem,
but they have great attitudes, and their eggs keep getting
bigger.
I especially love the cochins, so sweet. Too bad McM
got them mixed up- I ordered 1 roo and 8 hens, after I lost
a good number to the AE illness, what I have now is 1 hen and 4 roo's!! Grr!!! I just love watching my one cochin hen build
her nest- she is meticulous and pays attention to details.
Wow, those eggs look so nice Catscan. So pretty, especially the really dark ones. We have never had any breeds that layed eggs that dark.
I was wondering something about eggs....my DH told me years ago that each chicken will lay a different shaped, color, shade of egg. Like if you had a basket of eggs from 5 hens you would usually be able to pick out each hens eggs, just by looks. Is this true?
Christy
christy, yes, that is what i meant by genetic diversity. of course if you had 500 hens it would be a tough call LOL
Josh, a cashew is classified as a nut, so cats ruling stands! we want to be your friend, but on OUR time zone LOL
truest so glad you are enjoying your chicvkens, they grow up so fast!
now, oneanjl, this is a long shot, but i thought catscan mentioned an autcion friday. so if there areauctions around you where they might sell chickens... also look or post a request on craigslist and freecycle... somewhere i have a link to a list by state of hatcheries and breeding farms, there could be a small one near you that sells pullets at the end of the season if they have too many.
if a jersey giant would be your thing, i know Maria will be shipping pullets as soon as the weather cools down...
Molly, i dont' know what to say, you sure raised some vain conceited naughty roosters, are n't they big enough to eat yet? can you throw them out into the goat pen with the geese???
With 500 hens I don't think I would care who layed what egg, just that they WERE laying. lol With our eggs, I have noticed some of the eggs having different things that make them more noticeable, even if I don't know who did it. I was wondering if it did work that way because in Catscans pic of the eggs and looking at the first 2 rows, I'm wondering if maybe Delphine and the RIR are already sharing a nest. Maybe not, but there are different shade, some with 'freckles', and then the really long pointy ones and the ones that are not so pointy, so I have to wonder?
ohhhhh, critter auctions....I love critter auctions. If there is one sure fire way to see a lot of different kinds of critters all at once, it is there. It is a very good way to not only see different breeds in person and learn what they are, but it is also a good way to see what is popular in your area. So much fun!
Christy
I am getting close to the 500 mark just not all hens, 1 could only hope. Could you imagine 500 eggs a day. OMG what was I thinking. And of course they wouldnt lay them all at the same time, it would be several trips to the nests each and every day. Now talk about a chicken slave. Ok I woke up from my dream. whewwwwwwwwww
ok tia.....go freeze your bank card in a block of ice and by 'accident' unplug the phone.....oh yeah....and schedule your trips to town or your chores at your moms for say around early morning to mid afternoon on Tuesdays? LOL If all else fails you could sit on your hands? Well, at least for a couple of weeks anyway. : )
Christy
lol i tried the dont answer the phone thing. Did not work, someone we wont mention her name, knew my weakness. I quote, " Hi this is Rachel from Ideal poultry and so and so (wont mention HER name) said you would be interested in some pullets, for me to call you." End quote. Then I called her back and she said do you need bantams, I told her I think I am goon on bantams right now how about keets, I fell, how much. So 25 keets and 75 pullets later. You know to make it an even 100. I know there will be a call next week, someone couldn't fulfill the order they placed and I will be called can you take such and such for this price. They have my number in more ways than one. I am actually loving this raising the chicks, after the 1st day they are no trouble at all. I can get them fed and watered under 30 minutes. Plus when I go out there, there do a dance for me, run to one end of the brooder then back to the other end, they know I have scraps for them. I talk to them they cock their little heads like yes i know what you mean. It is TO dang hot out here. Where is my food?????? Hurry up there lady feed me.
uh oh....someone has a BAD case of chick fever!! lol It is almost sounding like you are talking yourself into more......are you by any chance? : ) Well, if you can find space for them all and you can handle the cost and the work....why not? What would DH say about even more? Mine might freak...then again, if I got into doing all the chick ordering we might have to have a race to the phone! LOL :0
DH just shakes his head, and looks at the coop and says I guess I need to make it bigger. I have an area fenced off now for a good chicken yard and to upgrade the coop. You think he will give me the barn? THAT would be great. Probably no chance of it. Well I say OK build me one then. I do have my moms barn that I can use.