What did you do with your flock today?

[LTAY1946]

Today has been a rough start so far. I have so many young roosters just overflowing with hormones you would thing they had them delivered by Amazon. The best site of the day has been the two pullet eggs I got. One from the Dark Cornish and one from the White Giants. I got them separated just in time. By the time I can put eggs into the incubators they should hatch true and if they don't that is ok. It would be a good cross.

 

[fuzzi]

Even with all the heat I finally got a good laugh today when a young stud came out of nowhere and tried to practice mating on a red hen that just happened to be his on mother. She shook him off and ran over were his father was standing who in turn sent him running in the opposite direction that happened to have a set of 5 gallon buckets in his way and he managed to fall into one of them and was in a real pickle of a problem getting out of it. He finally got out without help but his confidence in mating took a real beating.

Laughter is the best medicine...

 

[fuzzi]

Ooh, RED FACES!

The Dominiques are almost 5 months old...

Cantaloupe guts are yummy!

 

[Smokerbill]

I think I must have stressed out my chickens by changing their roosting branch yesterday. I shortened it and changed its position. They were all having a hard time finding a suitable position on it last night. And because of the stress, I think, there were 3 or 4 soft eggs under the roost this morning. And one in a nest box, which has never happened.

I gave them something new to sleep on tonight. Hope they like it. A smooth 2x4, 8 foot long, wide side up.

View attachment 3617615

I don't know if the new roost helped, but I didn't see any soft shell eggs under the roost this morning, and got 5 nice eggs in the boxes. Time will tell, I guess.

 

[ValerieJ]

I think I must have stressed out my chickens by changing their roosting branch yesterday. I shortened it and changed its position. They were all having a hard time finding a suitable position on it last night. And because of the stress, I think, there were 3 or 4 soft eggs under the roost this morning. And one in a nest box, which has never happened.

I gave them something new to sleep on tonight. Hope they like it. A smooth 2x4, 8 foot long, wide side up.

View attachment 3617615

It seems a bit odd to me that you get so many shell-less eggs. I know you give them oyster shell, but do you know they are eating it? Maybe mix a little oyster shell in with their treats or their food? Maybe give them some egg shell? Hopefully someone with more experience with soft eggs has better advice.

 

[Smokerbill]

It seems a bit odd to me that you get so many shell-less eggs. I know you give them oyster shell, but do you know they are eating it? Maybe mix a little oyster shell in with their treats or their food? Maybe give them some egg shell? Hopefully someone with more experience with soft eggs has better advice.

They have free choice oyster shell, but they don't seem to be eating much, if any of it. They are eating what I think is a quality layer feed, Nutrena Naturewise Layer Pellets. I've given them crushed hard boiled eggs, and they eat most of the shells with that.

To get them to eat the oyster shells I've found that if I mix oyster and scratch together, they'll eat most of the mix. If I just throw down the oyster shells they're not interested.

I kind of think it may just be their genetics, combined with being new layers, and being sensitive to stressors. I think they were bred to be high-output layers, and their immature bodies can't handle the number of eggs coming out.

They're all healthy and active, in my opinion. I don't see them scratching themselves or picking as if they are infested with mites, but haven't checked up close yet, and I should. I just got a 10 pound bag of 99.5% sulfur powder I'll treat them with if they're infested.

The amount of "treats" they get is minimal, and they only get maybe an hour or two a day to forage, so I don't think their nutrition is being diluted from not eating enough layer pellets.

I guess I'll just make sure to give them the scratch/oyster shell mix every day for extra calcium, and just wait it out. I'm hoping they'll do better as they mature.

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Thank goodness for some small favors….there is a decent cooling wind blowing or this would be bad for the animals. At least this breeze is giving some of them some much needed relief!

 

[kurby22]

What a cutie!
Sounds perfect! I'm all for getting some fluffy cheeks and beards in my lot. I've always had a soft spot for d'Uccles, any experience with those?

Yes! I love them I have three d'Uccle hens and had two others last year. They are very similar to d'Anvers and Watermaals. Personality wise I find them to be very sweet, very sassy broodies, and very easy flockmates. I find that when hand raised they are super friendly but when you buy them as pullets from breeders they are a bit more skittish. I heard a breeder describe d'Uccles as sweet and compliant versus d'Anvers that are busy and bossy haha. I have not found my d'Anvers to be super bossy, but they are a lot busier, whereas the d'Uccles are more content to chill and hang out. The very best part is the long leg/foot feathers and watching them run like they have scuba flippers on their feet It is way more noticable than on the cochin because there's a lot less fluff before the feet! Hehe.

 

[Shetland lover]

Today, Penelope continued her egg laying misadventures. She'd seemed a bit off-colour all day, seemed quite sleepy and hadn't eaten much by 6.30 pm. Not like Penelope at all! She is usually buzzing around everywhere, sticking her beak in everyone's business and stuffing her face. I actually think she has chicken FOMO.
Anyway, when I picked her up to check her over, she had a bit of mucus and poop dripping from her vent. So I gave her a good soak in àn Epsom salt bath and fed her yoghurt with calcium powder mixed in, followed by an internal. I could feel a rather large egg so I put a good amount of lube in.
Ten minutes after a blow dry (which she loves), she dropped a huge egg for a little bantam cochin. It was about the size of a large standard size hen's egg! It must have been like giving birth to a 20lb baby. No wonder she felt rough!
Unfortunately, she was in my arms when she laid it and it shattered on the kitchen tiles. It might have been a double as there was a lot of yolk.

Interesting, Stanley anxiously followed us to the bathroom, making his worried noises. When I put Penelope in the bath, he jumped in alongside her and stayed with her the entire time. He's clearly learning from Dad and taking this rooster business seriously!

In the morning, I'm looking for a vet who can do a contraceptive implant.

 

[akroberts1085]

This is what happens when you don't pay attention to your garden. Squash fries are definitely what's for dinner tonight for me.