Backyard Chickens?

[MischasMomma]

@WiglWerm @GennyB I don't think they are molting. No lost feathers or anything. I am loving the sand, it looks so much nicer and I was planning on a kitty litter scoop... I thought that might work well! The no laying lasted about a week. Then the kids gave them watermelon, cantaloupe and bananas, and the next day there were eggs again! We had been a 3 per day, and now just today we got 2!

And boy that rooster. Elmer is going to find himself in my crock pot. The other night I was walking Mischa around 130am and he was crowing.

 

[GennyB]

These are Barred Rocks, aren't they?

I'm not real good with all the different breeds. There are so many. But that's what they look like to me. That or a Speckled Sussex.

 

[GennyB]

@WiglWerm @GennyB I don't think they are molting. No lost feathers or anything. I am loving the sand, it looks so much nicer and I was planning on a kitty litter scoop... I thought that might work well! The no laying lasted about a week. Then the kids gave them watermelon, cantaloupe and bananas, and the next day there were eggs again! We had been a 3 per day, and now just today we got 2!

And boy that rooster. Elmer is going to find himself in my crock pot. The other night I was walking Mischa around 130am and he was crowing.

They may not molt this year. They are still young. I suspect it is the shorter days that is slowing egg production. Just wait till next year. You'll go out to the coop and think a fox got in there. Feathers everywhere!

BTW, roosters are ass holes!

 

[JanS]

BTW, roosters are ass holes!

LOL, those are the exact words a friend used when I was down on my knees face to face with his rooster taking pics. He said he'd attack me and sure enough he tried.

 

[WiglWerm]

These are Barred Rocks, aren't they?

No they are Silver Laced Wyandottes ( one of my favorites)

 

[MischasMomma]

LOL, those are the exact words a friend used when I was down on my knees face to face with his rooster taking pics. He said he'd attack me and sure enough he tried.

Lol @GennyB he really isn't otherwise, but I'm sure as he matures he'll get worse. He stays in the coop when I open it up, the girls are the only ones who come out. He sure puts up a fuss, we catch him every once in awhile and hold him, (all of them actually) just to get them used to being handled in case we would ever need to for any reason. He's a real pain to catch but once you do, he'll let you hold him no problem. Soon as you let go though, all hell breaks loose and it's straight back to the coop. At least I don't need to worry about him wandering off!

On another note... do skunks bother with chickens? John said he saw one last night, scoob almost attacked it and he came in for the BB gun but then thought about it again lol... but anyway he said it took off to the wood pile at the shed which is just around the corner to the coop...

 

[WiglWerm]

@MischasMomma If skunks gain access to your coop, they will normally feed on the eggs and may hurt or kill your chickens. To protect your flock from skunks ensure they are kept in secure coops and runs with proper fencing.

 

[GennyB]

Skunks are a huge threat! Look your coop over carefully and make sure they can't get in. Those little striped rats can get in the tiniest hole. If you find a crack or tiny hole and think they can't get in, think again. My grandpa used to call skunks the octopus of the rodent world.

 

[MischasMomma]

Thank you guys!! I know all about octopus.... we almost got one for our saltwater tank! I'll definitely be giving the coop a good look over this afternoon when I clean it. We did fence in the bottom with hardware cloth to prevent any digging predators so that makes me feel a little better if there's anything that needs attention, we won't need to pull up the whole coop to get to the bottom.

 

[GennyB]

We did have an octopus for a very short time. There was a bar with a tank that bought him. They soon discovered what a PITA they can be. They would come in the morning and find him in the strangest places. One day he did something, can't remember exactly what, but it caused the tank to over flow. The tank was located on a wall next to the kitchen. The health dept. happened show up that day and made them throw out tons of food and they lost several expensive fish. That's when they called us. Rob brought him home for some unknown reason. They are freaky little creatures to me and no way he was staying at my house. As far as I know, he is living the good life at the aquarium in Chattanooga, TN.

 

[WiglWerm]

Coop looks like there is snow on the ground. One of my hens is molting big time. Her lower back in front of her tail is BALD!!! lol

 

[GennyB]

Coop looks like there is snow on the ground. One of my hens is molting big time. Her lower back in front of her tail is BALD!!! lol

Do you feed a molt diet? I started mine a couple of weeks or so ago. I think it really helps them recover quickly.

 

[WiglWerm]

No I just layer feed and some cracked corn in the winter and oyster shells...

 

[JanS]

They soon discovered what a PITA they can be. They would come in the morning and find him in the strangest places.

That's what I've heard about them. They can be in a tightly sealed tank and escape that one to go to another to snack on other fish or inverts.

 

[MischasMomma]

Just got our first blue egg today!! We're back to 2-3 eggs per day since I've been giving them fruit regularly. Genny sure is right, happy hens lay more! They got a treat box and get a seed/corn cake in there weekly and a ball with a bell on it that I'll stuff greens into often as well. Yesterday they got a few apples too that are getting a little too soft for us to eat. I'm finally starting to remember to take them food instead of throwing out leftovers/scraps! They love it! By the way, mine absolutely go crazy for watermelon. Left a paper thin rine behind, I was amazed! I did rename my easter Egger from snow white to maleficent because she's a bitch... and almost considered finding her a new home (almost. Because she really is quite pretty) but I told her today if she keeps the blue eggs up, she's safe. Hopefully she listens. The kids are super psyched over blue eggs!

 

[Gelcoater]

That's what I've heard about them. They can be in a tightly sealed tank and escape that one to go to another to snack on other fish or inverts.

They're also delicious.

 

[GennyB]

Well I'm up in the middle of night again! The night before at 2 or 3 in the morning I heard quite the ruckus in the coop. I found a raccoon trying to get in. This morning, same thing. He must have heard me coming because he was gone before I got out there.
The war is on! I hope this guy understands that I will when.

 

[JanS]

Congrats on your first blue egg Sarah! It's cool when you get the blue, brown and white ones so you have a colorful assortment.

The night before at 2 or 3 in the morning I heard quite the ruckus in the coop. I found a raccoon trying to get in. This morning, same thing. He must have heard me coming because he was gone before I got out there.

Those darn predators are one of the biggest reasons we don't have chickens. I hope you can catch the bugger.

They're also delicious.

Speaking of octopus, I saw it canned at Wal-Mart last weekend. I have to say I've never seen that before.

 

[GennyB]

I found this interesting....

Chickens & Winter Egg Laying and Lighting - BackYard Chickens Community


My hens do slow their egg laying in winter but have never stopped laying.
I start them on a molt diet right as the days start getting shorter and that really helps speed up the whole process. This year was the fastest molt we had so far. I couldn't believe how fast it was. I added more tuna to their diet but I have no idea if that was the reason or not. I have a neighbor that lost her house and moved into a tiny apartment with no storage so she gave me the stuff out of her pantry. That woman was a tuna hoarder.

 

[MyBuddy]

Okay, I will apologize profusely for being so late to this thread with my report LOL A while back I had reported that I never have trouble peeling eggs when I use my electric egg cooker. People were saying that fresh eggs were so hard to peel and that they should be steamed to peel easily. I always wanted to try them in my electric egg cooker. I never thought about it before but the electric egg cooker actually steams them. So the test was to try a fresh egg right out of the hen house LOL

Well, I went to visit my friend down the road who has chickens.
She also has two ducks or geese? Even she doesn't know what they are! They are 19 years old! She got them as eggs! One died at 10 years old so she never thought that the other two would live this long. Are they noisy too! LOL. Great watchdogs!

So I got some fresh eggs. Pretty, huh?!


Cooked in my egg cooker


When it was done, I immediately tried to peal it and it wasn't going great. I was surprised.


So I put them in cold water like I usually do and came back in a few minutes.

Not a problem!




I told my friend about steaming the eggs when this thread was first started and she was totally impressed!! She's been steaming ever since with a steamer that she had packed away! Now, she steams everything! LOL