Noahs Ark, Chicken Eggs, Rain Barrels

OH my... ok, dare I complain.. I knew it was going to rain, I never complain of rain. I have been worring about winter thinking my goat does not have proper housing, the little dogs who the goat is now attached to really cannot stay out all winter.. the silkies coop is really not a great answer for winter.. So I have been brain storming, which was my first reason last week for grabbing those giant crates.

Yesterday we were warned up to 6-8 inches of rain.. there is a certian spot in my animal yard that does collect water, it is very near a downspot.. answer... rainbarrel.. so I request dh.. tell him what I need.. he shakes nods.. and goes to his shop.. I go on with my day.. school gets out, evening passes by.. morning comes, dog gets bit by something.. doing my quick first aid.. starts to rain.. dh is asleep so I sneak into workshop to steal whatever he has invented... hmmm, I can't find anything.. So even though he has been at work since midnight, I wake him nicely and ask.. wheres my rainbarrel??? your what?? he says.. OMG>>> he never made anything.. he thought I meant someday... I set something up with a 55 gal drum.. but after empting it 3 times I went to the hardware store and bought a spigot and some washers.. I had some rubber roofing scraps for grommets.. and walla, I made my own.. but the poor animals were floating pretty much.. so now I have to build a wall.. I have a porch that is covered and enclosed on 3 sides.. so I had an extra cattle panel.. so I used that and some black screen type material a lot of zip ties... even added a few 2x4 studs and built a wall and a door!

All the while, my poor little teeny black silkie Shelby laid her very first tiny egg.. it took her all day.. she walked the halls.. up the three flights to the maternity ward, scratched, cooed, cackeled, squeeked and made all sorts of noises, would come back down.. scratch the ground, eat a few bugs and go back up and start all over... poor little thing.. finally around 6:30 it came out.. LOL it was smaller that an xsmall egg at the store...

? can I save them, or leave them in her nest and will she maybe go broody on me or do I wait for her to go broody then look for eggs for her? Yes she has a roo in with her.

Oh my goodness Fran, what a DAY! I can't believe you had to do it all yourself. You are a trooper of the first degree! I know all about the worries - I worry that my hens are overcrowded and I need a bantam coop made and another coop for my new chickies, etc etc. You sound like a regular handy-woman. Congratulations on your ingenuity!

Your silkie is just adorable!! What a cute cute cute picture. I love her. You must be so pleased with her laying her first egg. What an eggciting moment! I don't know what to suggest about the brooding thing. Maybe silkiechick will have an idea.

I'm so anxious to know if she goes broody and if it hatches!
Claire

What a beauty, she looks like ours. how old is she? We have 6 Silkie hens and so far none have laid an egg. We have a Sebright hen that started laying and her eggs are about the size of the yolk in a regular egg. I assume that is about what a silkie will lay.

You are probably getting the remants of Hurricane Gustav up there. My in-laws are in Missouri and they are getting rain, rain, rain as well. Down here they were forcasting first that it may loop over Texas and sit on top of us and rain. I'm glad it didn't but sorry that you are getting it.

Sounds like you got things under control though. Not sure on the Silkie going broody, she may not for a while. We had a Blue Cochin that layed eggs for quite a while before she went broody.

Hatched 4-7-08 laid first egg 9-4-08, so 5ish months
and unlike the regular layers, never showed a sign of being ready to lay. We have another blk silkie pullet, same age as her in the same pen, but nothing from her yet.

She is darling! What a beauty! I keep coming back to see her pretty lil face.

yep.. you are all right, she is a cutie.. and so lite weight.. she cuddles too!

BUT... Whats cute-r, her or her first egg... lol

yes, that is a cherry tomato, and not a hugh one either.

Yep tiny egg. Our Silkies are about a month older than yours and no eggs yet. And yes they are lightweight and cuddly. I love to pick them up and snuggle them close with that fluff they have.

Here is our Sebright egg next to a regular hen egg. Wish we would find some tiny ones in the Silkie pen.

aren't they perfect size for pickled eggs?

There's an idea, pickled eggs. Hadn't thought of that.

Please send a Dave's Garden email to the Chicken Fairy if you have silkie eggs available to share. For hatching.
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CF