Made Easter eggers

[brewmaster15]

We have been keeping Chickens for a while now...years and years actually. The last 6 or so years we started keeping roosters too as many of our neighbors also had them and we live on the rural side of town. We did a few experimental breedings wherewe had broody hens hatch eggs...which was okay.. but kind of random with the outcomes. This past year we decided to try and make easter eggers .. hens that lay blueish/greenish eggs. Our Rooster is a Blue Ameraucana , Named OZZY and is a really gentle bird...hes good looking to. Supposedly if you cross this to breeds that lay white eggs , you can get easter eggers. WE happened to have a few white leghorn hens which lay white eggs. I bought a $100 incubator on line and started collecting eggs. .. we hatched out two small batches this summer. that have now grown up... and yes we get light blue to light green eggs. We re -homed several roosters from the batch but opted to keep one, a truly beautiful roo named RED. The neat thing about this batch of easter eggers is one , they are large birds, and two they have beards!

Ozzy.. Our carrier of the Blue gene.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635204795_b40782b133_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/5436C4591X)IMGP0115 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/5436C4591X) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

Red and his flock.. we only have 4 of these hens... but plans to hatch out their eggs this summer and we also will cross Ozzy to some hens that we bought from ideal poultry this past fall.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634256567_6349009179_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/7SHq10N451)IMGP0126 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/7SHq10N451) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

IMGP0129 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/3HQ3280XDG) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

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[jwcarlson]

Pretty chickens! We have had a few with muffs over the years, I think they look hilarious.

This is currently the weirdest looking one we have...

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Watching a hen hatch and raise her babies is probably the best part of the chicken hobby, I think. She sat these until they were like 8+ weeks old. :D

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[brewmaster15]

Pretty chickens! We have had a few with muffs over the years, I think they look hilarious.

This is currently the weirdest looking one we have...

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Watching a hen hatch and raise her babies is probably the best part of the chicken hobby, I think. She sat these until they were like 8+ weeks old. :D

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Those are hillarious! I do love how the little ones poke out from the mothers feathers. The incubators are great for easy hatching but I love when we have a broody hen to do the work. We have a small coop set up that works great for a hen and chicks

al

[brewmaster15]

We also have a bunch of hens that are just starting to lay. In another week we will put Ozzy in with them and hopefully hatch some eggs this spring. These are my new girls from Ideal poultry.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634930256_46b0c7632e_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/448XHETWgu)IMGP0319 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/448XHETWgu) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

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[brewmaster15]

I have one last set of pics here. I have a confession to make.. I do not name my Hens...most of the time we get a flock of all one kind and I could not name if I wanted to ... but we always name our roosters..usually after singers.:( Generally we find the roosters have more of a personality, maybe because they are always interacting with as the flocks intermediary and they notice the fastest. All that has changed. For the first time we have a hen that has literally imprinted on us. She is a blackstar hen and from day one she has been like pet. She responds to you, comes over when you call..not just for food..Has to see what you are doing, and be under your feet. She likes being picked up, practically flies into you. Just an all around spaz and nut case. ..so yes we named her..SPAZ

Spaz is a photo hound.. she probably has an instagram page and is a chicken idol.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634947386_14c1c5ed72_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/450TJer6nS)IMGP0228 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/450TJer6nS) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634929026_029a7ada64_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/t93f90w49F)IMGP0369 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/t93f90w49F) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634929801_8fcbf3ae1a_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/aw7m2PRKVs)IMGP0345 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/aw7m2PRKVs) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635365065_4c91d40ebd_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/MnfR68iL64)IMGP0339 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/MnfR68iL64) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr


We have a policy with our birds.. you produce or else. I don't want anyone thinking I am crazy chicken person. I am not. We process and eat our birds here as well as raise them for their eggs. I have no qualms with that...but I will say this, I will most likely break my policy with Spaz, unless she turns into a nasty old hen.. Spaz will probably get the golden handshake and live on here past her eggs years.

Weird, I know but this is not your ordinary hen! lol.

alp

[jeep]

I've been thinking about getting some chickens for some time now. I have a pretty large lot but I'm also inside city limits and I'm limited to 3 chickens, although I've been looking into quiet chickens so I may be able to push that number up a bit. I know there are others in my area who have them but I rarely hear anything from them. Another house up the street has them because every time it storms hard about 6 black ones get out and roam the street. I just need to make sure the foxes don't break in, lol...

[brewmaster15]

I've been thinking about getting some chickens for some time now. I have a pretty large lot but I'm also inside city limits and I'm limited to 3 chickens, although I've been looking into quiet chickens so I may be able to push that number up a bit. I know there are others in my area who have them but I rarely hear anything from them. Another house up the street has them because every time it storms hard about 6 black ones get out and roam the street. I just need to make sure the foxes don't break in, lol...

Brian, Chicken owners use a different math than non chicken owners.:).. Most of the time number of hens isnt an issue thats enforced... its number of or mere presence of a rooster thats an issue.

al

[jwcarlson]

We're limited to six hens. I have 10, had 11 until about a month ago when a possum got one.
All chickens (in my experience) will do an egg laying "song" and they do like to encourage each other when they get going. But the vast majority of the time it's soft clucking and scratching from hens. Our buff orpingtons are probably the quietest ones we have and also the sweetest personalities. The only other ones that we more quiet were blue egg layers called Lavendar Ameraucana. They were absolute dolls and I'd venture to say nearly silent. Though because of the configuration (keeping them at another location), I never really got to hear them during egg laying activities. We lost that place to keep chickens and I didn't have a place for them at home, so the ended up with my brother. His chickens are nasty mean and they killed one of them and the surviving one only has like half of it's head. It's never laid another egg, but it is alive.

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They're the lightest gray ones in that picture. Four total. The one at the trough was a cockerel. It is also my experience that chicken you incubate and "hand raise" are nicer and more calm. The hens that I have kept and let a hen raise are much louder and more rowdy. I have one easter egger. It's a great layer, but it's the only chicken I have ever had to go retrieve from 20' up in a neighbor's tree. They do all seem to calm down a bit with age, so she's at least a couple years old now and is more tolerant of me and respects the fences pretty well. I think everyone should have a few hens in their yard. They eat most food scraps and the drop out the best eggs you'll ever have.

Al is right about chicken math. Once you have one you might as well have 10. And if you have 10, then 25 isn't that big of a jump.

[jeep]

The city code states if you have less than 5 acres then you can have a maximum of 3 "chickens". But, it wouldn't be the first time I broke city code, lol...

[jwcarlson]

Yeah ours says six hens and you have to permit it, blah blah blah... Just make your own rules.

[brewmaster15]

Well one could argue that the code says "Hens". Technically they are called "pullets" until 1 year old... so I just read it as I can have x number of hens that are a year old or older.. but any number of pullets is fine!:)

I mean they dont lay forever so you usually have pullets growing up to replace old hens.

[Second Hand Pat]

There are some nice looking hens in this thread and I totally get eating the hens once the egg laying days are over. We had hens when Diana was small (my daughter). We also had horses, geese, bunnies, snakes etc, etc. There was a fancy development three lots over from my place and one of the guys building a house there told my neighbor that he hoped there wasn't any roosters around. I was so tempted to get a rooster lol. No rules here as I live in a rural settlement. Smallest lot is two acres here in the rural settlement.
Pat

[brewmaster15]

My young pullets are in now in production mode...

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Al

[jwcarlson]

Finally got our first egg of the year on Saturday. I noticed a little different "singing" than normal so I went out to check. Nothing Sunday though... and our hens are getting pretty old, so I expect they're going to start petering out. Some have got to be five years old.

[LizStreithorst]

These stories and pictures make my heart swell and then bleed. I lost all my hens except one to a fox. The one I still have saw her best buddy who was my favorite hen taken and came running in the house. I couldn't make her go outside for 2 weeks. Now, she's out during the day and spends most of her time with the cat outside the fishroom. At nightfall she comes to the front door and walks back and forth until I notice her and let her in. When I do, she heads straight for her cage and hops in.

I can never have chickens again because I want my animals to run free range. And I no longer have the strength to fence in a large enough area to fence them in nor can I afford the electric netting which wouldn't require strength.

I miss my chickens.

[brewmaster15]

Finally got our first egg of the year on Saturday. I noticed a little different "singing" than normal so I went out to check. Nothing Sunday though... and our hens are getting pretty old, so I expect they're going to start petering out. Some have got to be five years old.

Jacob, Do you have a light on in the coop?

al

[brewmaster15]

These stories and pictures make my heart swell and then bleed. I lost all my hens except one to a fox. The one I still have saw her best buddy who was my favorite hen taken and came running in the house. I couldn't make her go outside for 2 weeks. Now, she's out during the day and spends most of her time with the cat outside the fishroom. At nightfall she comes to the front door and walks back and forth until I notice her and let her in. When I do, she heads straight for her cage and hops in.

I can never have chickens again because I want my animals to run free range. And I no longer have the strength to fence in a large enough area to fence them in nor can I afford the electric netting which wouldn't require strength.

I miss my chickens.

Liz sorry to hear that! I could never free range here.. too many neighbors with dogs and we have too many predators..

game cam at the back of the coops...

coyote
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51093854259_c0fc8c59e5_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2kQZmMH)IM_00099 (https://flic.kr/p/2kQZmMH) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

opossum
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raccoon.. this one has raised kids under the shed thats one of my coops... she got one hen a few months ago.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51212266434_58d1c08da7_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m2sfAW)Momma Raccoon (https://flic.kr/p/2m2sfAW) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51212266649_606f2458b6_h.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m2sfED)Momma Raccoon (https://flic.kr/p/2m2sfED) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

We also have bobcat, fisher cats and foxes.. Everyone in my area has fenced in runs..

My neighbor tried free range, the predators were very happy, but they lost a lot of poultry..

al

[jwcarlson]

Jacob, Do you have a light on in the coop?

al

Nope! I let them have a rest in the winter (so lack of eggs is expected). They will ramp up a bit pretty soon now that the days are getting longer. I'm OK with the recharge period of them. A hen can only lay so many eggs anyway. :) And if the old ones are just eating feed and hanging around... *eh* the backyard isn't a business, and I don't need chicken soup that bad. :D

I've killed three possums in their run, the first two never got anything. But one this fall got one of our silkies. But I got him. They've only ever been an issue in the fall/early winter. They wake me up raising a stink sometime between 12:30 and 2 AM.

[brewmaster15]

We run the lights in the winter here..Dual purpose as they are heat lights this time of year. I know it shortens the production /life of them but with feed as expensive as it is, going the winter months here without eggs would hurt the wallet and my egg ham and cheeses:) .We do see a drop off in eggs in the fall before we run the lights and when they are moulting. Our hens are usually peaked out at 2-3 years... we rarely have them longer than that.

I havent lost a hen yet to a possum but have had them in the run.

Al

[brewmaster15]

Decided to hatch out another batch of eggs. This round will be F2 easter eggers from our previous batch of chicks. These give us light blue and light green eggs. They are pretty stocky chickens. All of the them have beards including the rooster (Red). Be interesting to see what we get here. The other half of the eggs we are using are from our new ideal poultry hens of various breeds .. these are the white eggs and brown eggs.The rooster for these is Ozzy.. our blue Ameraucana ... he is the father o "Red" and his flock. In theory Ozzy should give us more easter eggers.

Eggs were collected over the last 3 days and stored at room temp point down. INCUBATOR was setup yesterday and now we wait 3 weeks. It will be interesting to see the hatch rates here. Red only has 4 girls in his flock so I am guessing most of the blue green eggs will be fertile.. "Ozzy" has many hens in his flock as they are the main coop.. he is still a fairly young roo at about 3 years old but does his "job" well.
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[Greg-Florida]

Yeah ours says six hens and you have to permit it, blah blah blah... Just make your own rules.

That's the spirit Jacob! Love it!!
Rules are for mortals! lol

[Greg-Florida]

We have been keeping Chickens for a while now...years and years actually. The last 6 or so years we started keeping roosters too as many of our neighbors also had them and we live on the rural side of town. We did a few experimental breedings wherewe had broody hens hatch eggs...which was okay.. but kind of random with the outcomes. This past year we decided to try and make easter eggers .. hens that lay blueish/greenish eggs. Our Rooster is a Blue Ameraucana , Named OZZY and is a really gentle bird...hes good looking to. Supposedly if you cross this to breeds that lay white eggs , you can get easter eggers. WE happened to have a few white leghorn hens which lay white eggs. I bought a $100 incubator on line and started collecting eggs. .. we hatched out two small batches this summer. that have now grown up... and yes we get light blue to light green eggs. We re -homed several roosters from the batch but opted to keep one, a truly beautiful roo named RED. The neat thing about this batch of easter eggers is one , they are large birds, and two they have beards!

Ozzy.. Our carrier of the Blue gene.

Red and his flock.. we only have 4 of these hens... but plans to hatch out their eggs this summer and we also will cross Ozzy to some hens that we bought from ideal poultry this past fall.


Love the narrative on SPAZ, the photo hound!
Dude, do you ever sleep??

[brewmaster15]

Dude, do you ever sleep?? :) about 3-4 hours per night and catnap when I can. Been like that most of my life.

[Greg-Florida]

:) about 3-4 hours per night and catnap when I can. Been like that most of my life.

You know, I actually admire that. I could get SO MUCH MORE done in a day than I do!
I think I'll get more productive, you're an inspiration.

[LizStreithorst]

You are so lucky. All my life I've needed 9 hrs. My mother was the same so I guess there's a genetic component. Now that my spine wont hold me up without pain drugs I even need to lie down in the afternoon. My father had a bad back, too. I miss having the ability to work hard all day long, but my pain doctor says that I'd be worse if I'd sat behind a desk for all those years. I built up muscle strength from all that physical work. The muscles help hold me up.

[Greg-Florida]

You are so lucky. All my life I've needed 9 hrs. My mother was the same so I guess there's a genetic component. Now that my spine wont hold me up without pain drugs I even need to lie down in the afternoon. My father had a bad back, too. I miss having the ability to work hard all day long, but my pain doctor says that I'd be worse if I'd sat behind a desk for all those years. I built up muscle strength from all that physical work. The muscles help hold me up.

I hear you... I get 8 hours now but could probably do just fine with 7, and just getting up earlier and working more focused rather than allowing distractions. It's obvious Al is organized.
Liz, you might look into the benefits of an inversion table. I have one and love it for my back issues.

[LizStreithorst]

Thanks Greg. it doesn't work for degrative disc disease. I bought one a few years back and gave it away.

[brewmaster15]

Liz I wish something could be done for your pain.. I see someone daily here with that same condition and see her pain.

As for me.. Im not superman. Burning the candle at both ends isnt smart.... but Its just who I am. I slept normal hours until college. College came and I worked full time at a construction supply company to pay for my business degree at night ... slept 4 hours and drank 10 + cups of coffee a day. .. It was the only way I could do it . I have long since decreased the coffee intake but the.sleep schedule never changed. I am sure one day I will pay the price. Theres always a price tomorrow for what we do today.

Al

[LizStreithorst]

Thanks, Al. It's OK. I enjoy what I'm still able to do. I planted potatoes today, and I still change water every day. I'm still able to care for a horse, a cat, five dogs and a spoiled rotten chicken who comes in the kitchen begging for left overs. She's like having another spoiled dog.

[brewmaster15]

So we candled last night.. looks like a good batch of eggs.. we had two clear duds... and one got fat finger cracked..:(.
But at this point we have a good 19 eggs that look fertile. . Clock is ticking ..we candle again in a few days as there were a couple questionable ones.

[brewmaster15]

Hatching time.. most of the eggs are pipping.. 2 chicks have hatched so far..

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[Second Hand Pat]

They are cute little guys Al :D
Pat

[LizStreithorst]

It's a lot of work for a tiny little chick to peck it's way out of a cramped shell. No wonder they sleep for a while before they get up and start walking around, exploring their little world. I remember having enjoyed that.

[dagray]

Very nice Al.

We are not allowed "farm" animals here by city ordinance

[brewmaster15]

Very nice Al.

We are not allowed "farm" animals here by city ordinance
Just pass them off as parrots if anyone asks.:)

[brewmaster15]

So far we have 6 hatched

[LizStreithorst]

:thumbsup:

[brewmaster15]

So far we have 9 chicks that have hatched and are waiting on the remaining 4 eggs.
Cute little buggers.. these should all be easter or olive eggers.

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Just moved to their heated tank.

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[Second Hand Pat]

Super cute Al and great use of a tank. Are the remaining eggs peeping for you?
Pat

[brewmaster15]

Not yet Pat but it can take an additional day or 2.. last batch we did we had a few late hatchers too. We will give these eggs until tomorrow night... then we will set up another batch to hatch.

[brewmaster15]

9 chicks total.... growing so fast!

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[Greg-Florida]

Another use for old aquariums. Very cute. What will you do with them?

[brewmaster15]

This group we will keep and raise to adult for our flock...I have another batch of eggs in the incubator now that we will sell. Feed prices are very high right now and chicks are in high demand.. so I thought I would start selling these monthly to off set costs... My last batch of chicks I bought ..I bought I ordered twice what I needed.. raised them a few weeks and sold half.. it paid for the cost of all the chicks and their food for 6 months...

We will see if the demand stays but it really is no investment costs in hatching chicks.. the incubator was a $160 and has already more than paid for itself. and chicks hatch in 3 weeks.. my rooster and hens do their jobs well.

Al

[Greg-Florida]

Wow, that's kind of cool. I wonder why the demand is high? Store egg prices? You are resourceful :-)

[brewmaster15]

Yes.. store egg prices are very highand the losses of recent poultry farms to disease are a factor I think.. its also related to covid. During covid alot of people got into poultry farming on a homestead scale because eggs were scarce and because self sufficiency was on their mind... some of that self sufficiency drive has stayed with us post covid.

[brewmaster15]

Growing fast.. still in the "cute" stage but approaching the "ugly"stage that chicks go through. Fuzzballs for sure but also growing feathers now...

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[brewmaster15]

We are officially out of the cute fluffy phase and into the ugly but endearing phase...

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These guys are moving out to the heated coop this week..new batch of fluffballs us hatching soon
Al

[jwcarlson]

Nice, Al. There's not much that goes from cute to awkward quite as fast as a chick!

[brewmaster15]

Nice, Al. There's not much that goes from cute to awkward quite as fast as a chick!

Yep.. happens so quick!

So moved the mini t-rexes out to their new home...

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They will be inside still for weeks under a heatlamp but then they will have a predator proof run.
They are a bit over whelmed at this point..literally in the coop 5 mins.
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[Greg-Florida]

Growing fast! Do you feed them special feed with extra nutrients for chicks?

[brewmaster15]

Hi Greg,
They are fed a special diet designed for chicks.. "chick starter" that has a high protein and nutritional profile that promotes growth and development. They will be on this diet until the reach egg laying age 18-22 weeks. At this point they are switched to a diet that has more calcium for egg shell production. Because of how important poultry farming is, theres been so much research into this stuff that its all very well understood. Really anyone can successfully raise chicks now...provided the town zoning allows for it.

We have had chickens years and years now.. There is something very rewarding about keeping them that goes beyond eggs.:)

[brewmaster15]

The chicks survived last night in the coop.. we got down in the low forties... at their current age they need to be protected from cold as they can't fully thermo-regulate
Yet. They current need to be kept at about 80-85F. Theres a 250 watt infrared bulb that warms a large part of the coop, and there are cooler areas so they can move as need if too hot.

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Article at backyard chickens
https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/feed-health/how-long-do-chicks-need-a-heat-lamp/


In other news.. the new batch of eggs is due to hatch sometime in the next 24 hours...I wish I had planned better.. could have had them ready for Easter CHICKS.:)
Actually its better this way..alot of easter chicks and bunnies wind up unwanted once the cuteness wears off and parents realize they actually do have to do some work to keep these critters alive and well.

[jwcarlson]

Chicks getting moved out to a coop for the first time are always semi-dramatic. :D

I've hatched several batches of eggs, and I really enjoy watching the eggs develop. But the last couple batches I have done I have just let one of my broody hens hatch them and it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier and extremely fun to watch. I can't wait until I get to move out of the silly city and do more fun stuff.
Been saying that for well over 10 years though so I'm not holding my breath...

[brewmaster15]

Well chicks are doing fine in the coop
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and our next batch just hatched out Sat-Sunday.. pretty good hatch too.. 16 out of 22 eggs.

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Thought we were done yesterday but had one hatch this morning. It pipped the shell on friday but never came out or moved so we figured it was dead.. nope.. just a little shy.

[Second Hand Pat]

They are getting so big Al and the little ones are so cute. :D Do you have room for all these youngsters? What will you do with the roosters?
Pat

[brewmaster15]

The initial plan was to just sell the little ones, but probably what will happen is we will sell some of our egg layers right now move things around . We have three coops... 2 small and 1 large. The little ones will most likely get the large coop after we sell some of the egglayers. These egg layers are young at only 8 months old so should sell fast here..

Can't keep anymore roosters, we have two so any roosters will get re-homed as soon as we can or if need be and they aren't causing issues .. harvested.

al

[brady]

I have one last set of pics here. I have a confession to make.. I do not name my Hens...most of the time we get a flock of all one kind and I could not name if I wanted to ... but we always name our roosters..usually after singers.:( Generally we find the roosters have more of a personality, maybe because they are always interacting with as the flocks intermediary and they notice the fastest. All that has changed. For the first time we have a hen that has literally imprinted on us. She is a blackstar hen and from day one she has been like pet. She responds to you, comes over when you call..not just for food..Has to see what you are doing, and be under your feet. She likes being picked up, practically flies into you. Just an all around spaz and nut case. ..so yes we named her..SPAZ

Spaz is a photo hound.. she probably has an instagram page and is a chicken idol.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634947386_14c1c5ed72_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/450TJer6nS)IMGP0228 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/450TJer6nS) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634947811_9fcb811ae5_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/LY35FyJ0im)IMGP0220 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/LY35FyJ0im) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635431303_d65c070ca5_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/cz0Rps1X5G)IMGP0201 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/cz0Rps1X5G) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634929026_029a7ada64_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/t93f90w49F)IMGP0369 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/t93f90w49F) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634929801_8fcbf3ae1a_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/aw7m2PRKVs)IMGP0345 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/aw7m2PRKVs) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52635365065_4c91d40ebd_h.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/MnfR68iL64)IMGP0339 (https://www.flickr.com/gp/130140749@N05/MnfR68iL64) by Al Sabetta (https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140749@N05/), on Flickr


We have a policy with our birds.. you produce or else. I don't want anyone thinking I am crazy chicken person. I am not. We process and eat our birds here as well as raise them for their eggs. I have no qualms with that...but I will say this, I will most likely break my policy with Spaz, unless she turns into a nasty old hen.. Spaz will probably get the golden handshake and live on here past her eggs years.

Weird, I know but this is not your ordinary hen! lol.

alp

AL
Is That a wyandotte? I'm pretty sure in one off the frames is a silver laced wyandotte.
They are my favorite along with orpingtons, very friendly and good layers.
Pardon the spelling.LOL
Jay

[dagray]

Need to paint that hutch with the KFC logo :)

[brewmaster15]

AL
Is That a wyandotte? I'm pretty sure in one off the frames is a silver laced wyandotte.
They are my favorite along with orpingtons, very friendly and good layers.
Pardon the spelling.LOL
Jay

Hi Jay, she is a breed called "blackstars" but yes.. I do have several of the Silver laced.. beautiful birds with a good disposition.

[brewmaster15]

Need to paint that hutch with the KFC logo :)
Nope.. not while they are laying eggs. We have a collective bargaining agreement.. they lay eggs inexchange for room, board and all the food they can eat. As long as they fdo their part ..no kfc. :)

[LizStreithorst]

She's a beautiful hen, Al. I'm very fond of my single hen. Her name is Chicken Chicken, she comes when she's called. She's allowed free access to the house. She's a good girl, though. She says outside most of the day and comes in to only lay her egg or go to her bed for the night. She hardly ever ****'s in the house. How could I not fall in love with such a good hen?

[jwcarlson]

That does sound like a good chicken, Liz. Ours pooped on EVERYTHING so bad that I put a fence up to give them their own part of the yard since they destroyed everything. :D

[brewmaster15]

I thought I would post an update.. our chicks. Have all grown up now and we have quite a few easter eggers. For a barn yard mixed flock its pretty cool. Some of our latest chicks are just starting to lay so we have quite the assortment of egg sizes and colors now.

These were todays..
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[LizStreithorst]

Great job, Al. How many chickens do you have now? I still only have 1 Beilefelder hen. She came running in the house when she saw her best buddy taken by the fox. They were the last 2. Chicken Chicken, as I named her spends the night inside and the daytime outside.

[brewmaster15]

Using chicken Math we have 12 hens and a Rooster.

Using human Math.. 28 .. far more than I should. Now that all are laying I need to sell a bunch and am giving some to my neighbor.. he lost a few when his own dog got in his coop.:huh:

I'd like to get to the point where my chicken math and human math are equal. Then I will hatch out more eggs in the spring for the next season. My boy Ozzy hopefully has many years left.. he is probably more chill than any of the hens... except with other roosters.

[LizStreithorst]

If I could keep them safe I would love nothing more than another flock of Bielefelders.