Chicken Math is real. 0 to 10 in 72 hrs.

[Debbie292d]

I love it! I was a bit afraid to mount them inside (my coop is small and I was afraid they might peck at it), but I might reconsider.

It's in there also as an additional thermometer. We have it up in the corner where hubby put a receptacle for it. The indoor ones need power, at least that one does but it's several years old so perhaps they have newer ones. The outdoor ones run off batteries and wifi.

 

[NatJ]

Hmm, that might be it. She definitely has some black flecks. That's actually why we chose her. We thought the little flecks were cute.


Here are some from today:
View attachment 3941550

View attachment 3941551
View attachment 3941552
The brown is from a recent dirt bath, but the dark gray/black streaks have been there since she went got her at a few weeks of age.

She looks about right for an Austra White, and various hatcheries list Austra Whites as laying eggs in white or cream/light brown color.

The black flecks are not really right for a White Leghorn, and the egg color is not right either, so probably not a White Leghorn.

With the big comb, white earlobes, and black flecks, she is definitely wrong for White Rock and Rhode Island White. I would expect an Amberlink to show some brownish areas all the time, not just from dustbathing. Obviously we can rule out Polish (crested) and Sultan (crested with feathered feet) and Silkie (feather texture, crest, feathered feet, skin color) and Cochin (feathered feet and body shape) and Cornish Cross (body shape) and all kinds of bantams (size).

Someone recently updated another thread with similar-looking birds that laid blue or green eggs, so obviously theirs were Easter Eggers, but your Angela isn't doing that either.

Those are all the white chickens I can think of right now, with reasons to rule out most of them, so I think she's probably an Austra White unless there is another kind that I'm forgetting.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Thanks for the tip, I will check those out. I have some wireless Eufy ones that I bought on Prime Day. I had them setup when the flock was in the garage, but just haven't gotten around to mounting them. Haven't decided where I want to point em: monitor outside for predators, monitor nest boxes, monitor inside so I can watch them play, etc.

Hmm, that might be it. She definitely has some black flecks. That's actually why we chose her. We thought the little flecks were cute.


Here are some from today:
View attachment 3941550

View attachment 3941551
View attachment 3941552
The brown is from a recent dirt bath, but the dark gray/black streaks have been there since she went got her at a few weeks of age.

She looks like an austra to me. I have 1 camera in the coop so I can monitor laying, 1 in the run, and one on the back of my coop. Who needs tv when you have chickens

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

(Thu Sep 12th - Night 147)
For the third night in a row, the flock didn't go back into their coop! All of this after 6 days of everyone tucking themselves in with vaguely similar weather. The universe was telling me that I jinxed myself after mentioning it out loud.

On Tuesday it was all of them. On Wednesday it was exactly half of them. Last night, I peeked put the window and saw what looked to be the entire flock again... what gives?

Before going out there to tuck them in, I started prepared myself for the worst. After tucking the humans to bed, I scoured BYC for answers. After stumbling through tales of lice and mites, I got all dressed to head out into the evening darkness with two flashlights determined to get to the bottom of this.

I make it out there and do a quick count... up to 9.

I pop open the automatic door and there's a single girl in there! We think she's the one who just started laying, but she also paid her rent at least 5-6 hours prior. So I don't think she would be chasing everyone out or everyone would leave to give her privacy.

What in the world is going on? I do a quick inspection of the coop and there are no signs of mites on the roosting bars. The coop itself is plastic, and a quick scan of the coffee grounds and pellet mixture doesn't seem to indicate any moving objects. I spot check 3-4 birds and there's no indication of nits or feather loss, so I don't think it's any kind of infestation.

While there's some occasional chasing and pecking amongst the chickens, our roo tends to keep everyone in line, and from what I have seen the girls that are pecking seems to rotate all the time, so there's no indication of any chicken being overly mean or not letting the others into the coop.

It did occur to me that our choice of coop spot was done to strategically allow viewing into the poultry pen from the kitchen window, so maybe there is some amount of indoor light that reaches the pen and causes them to want to stay on their outdoor roosting bars? I was hoping to avoid having to setup some type of night light for them as it will end up being a little tricky to have something come on at dusk, yet still turn off in a timely fashion, but maybe that will be what encourages the girls to go back in at night.
I did notice that they were reluctant to return/stay in the coop until I placed my headlamp to illuminate the interior of the coop. I had done it in the past, but had stopped since they had tucked themselves in for almost a week.

These chickens are definitely keeping me on my toes!

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

(Thu Sep 12 - Day 147)
One other fun anecdote from yesterday that I forgot.

Karen got out the other day while my dogs were out, and she's one of the girls that have always been super skittish and hard to catch.

I was a bit afraid that the dogs would attack, but I guess they've seen enough of the chickens from the outside of the pen that they've mostly lost interest. My 14 yr old is under 20# and probably more scared of the chickens than they are of him. My 12 yr old girl just kinda sat back and watched me chase Karen around the coop in circles. After about 5 minutes, I think she took pity on my futility and decided to help. She came up and chomped at Karen, but I'm pretty sure she was just trying to help herd her back into the pen for me. While she isn't winning an obedience competition anytime soon, she stopped as soon as I told her no and backed up to watch me continue. After about 10 minutes of Karen going back and forth along the 3 sides of my poultry pen that don't have a door, she finally turned a corner and walked back in on her own.
Hope the neighbors didn't take video of me trying to chase her with a broom.

(Fri Sep 13th - Day 148)
Texas forever.
My 12 yr old cancer survivor just sunbathing as I added some pellets to the coop, shavings to the nesting boxes, and food to their feeder. She was on-call and ready for action in case I need assistance capturing fugitives.

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

Oops, forgot the pictures of Karen. Updated!

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Thank's for the update, Karen Is Beautiful!

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

(Sat Sep 14th - Night 149)
All 10 chickens didn't go to bed! Couldn't get out there until after 11PM, but I found what I think is layer #4's first egg. It was definitely laid in the last 13 hrs or so. It also has a little bit of a purply sheen to it from the bloom.
Today's haul:

I suppose I can forgive their disobedience for another night, but please go to bed on your own tomorrow!

Thank's for the update, Karen Is Beautiful!

Thanks!

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

(Wed Sep 16th - Night 151)
Last night , my flock refused to go to bed again. Determined to try and figure out what's happening, I went out around 9 to take a peek and realized that this might be due to a change in ambient light. Neighbors had their living room lights on, but I don't think that's the culprit as it would have to shine on an angle over a 6' fence into the pen and around my galvanized steel siding). Street light is on, but it's shaded by some trees.
So I stood inside the pen and realized that a lot of illumination is coming from the moonlight.
Picture is much brighter than it looked in person, but you get the idea. Peeking in the top is that shaded street light, reflection on the inside of my side panels is from moonlight. Neighbors are on side opposite this picture.

I did end up getting a bunch of shade mesh that I never put up. Might have to come up with a creative way of using it.

(Tue Sep 17th - Day 152)
So, this just happened...

Previous high was 4, so we've got at least 2 new layers! Given my recent post history.

• The little white one on the far right is our first white egg. It weighed 1.0oz and was definitely laid by Karen or Carrie (my grayish mystery chickens). I caught one of them leaving the coop and doing the egg song, right as I went out to check this morning. In my excitement, I didn't double check her comb as she ran by, which is the only way I can tell the two apart when they aren't standing completely still.
• The second from the right that is brownish with more of a hazy coating is almost definitely Jigglebutt. She's my other golden sex link, and the egg looks very similar to Hei Hei's first egg. She was in the same nesting box that Hei Hei uses and stayed there for quite some time (I waited almost 15 min for her around 10:30AM, but had to go back in the house).
• We think the two brown ones in the middle came from our Black Sex Links (Dot and Spot), but I'm not entirely sure. When Jigglebutt was laying this morning, Sweet Pea or Brownie (our RIRs) were wandering around inside the coop where the nesting boxes are located.
• Second from left is most likely Hei Hei, one of our golden sex links, and possibly my favorite hen.
• One on the far left is Angela, our Austra White.

I was thinking the little white one might be a fairy egg, but after illuminating all 6 with my flashlight, they all look vaguely similar to me. I might need to read a guide on candling eggs or something. The flashlight is an 18V LED one, so it's pretty bright.

So based on what @NatJ said last time, I think that means my new gray/silver layer is prob a Silver Duckwing Old English Game Bantam, Silver Leghorn, or Silver Phoenix, but we can probably eliminate Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers since the egg is white? Unfortunately been too busy to try weighing the chickens.

(Tue Sep 17th - Night 152)
10 chickens outside coop with door closed. Tonight's Harvest Moon might have something to do with their behavior. Spent 10 min herding them back into the coop again. Maybe I need to try and do a poop cleaning? Doesn't seem that bad to me as there are lots of fresh pellets and it's very dry in there.

For reference, what we discussed last time:

Can you weigh one of them?
In general, bantams are about 2 pounds and under, most other chickens are about 4 pounds and up.

Based on the coloring, they could be Silver Duckwing Old English Game Bantam (one of the most commonly-available bantam varieties). If they are under about 2 pounds, I think this is the right answer.

If they are bigger than that, I can't find any common pure breeds that would fit their appearance, but I do find a few rare ones:

Silver Leghorns
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/silver_leghorns.html
(Would lay white eggs, visible traits all appear to be correct)

Silver Phoenix
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/phoenix.html
(leg color is wrong, but otherwise they look about the same. More likely for the one with a long tail and an upright comb, less likely for the one with a shorter tail and flopped comb. Would lay white or off-white eggs, but maybe not very many of them.)

I'm ruling out Silver Dorkings, because of the leg length and body shape, plus Dorkings would have an extra toe on each foot:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/silver_gray_dorkings.html

If they lay blue or green eggs, then some kind of Easter Egger (mixed ancestry, but almost certainly has some Cream Legbar in there somewhere, to give that appearance.)

If they lay dark green eggs ("olive"), then Olive Eggers (mixed ancestry, again including some Cream Legbar.)

If they lay brown eggs, then they're some kind of hatchery hybrid I haven't seen before, or some pure/rare breed that I've forgotten about.

 

[NatJ]

I was thinking the little white one might be a fairy egg, but after illuminating all 6 with my flashlight, they all look vaguely similar to me. I might need to read a guide on candling eggs or something. The flashlight is an 18V LED one, so it's pretty bright.

I think fairy eggs are typically VERY small compared to other eggs: so small there is no question about whether they are or not. Like marble-sized when the hens usually lay normal sized eggs. This looks to me like a small egg from a small chicken, rather than smaller yet.

When you crack the egg,you will know for sure what is inside. If you remember what you saw when candling, you can comparing that with what you see when you crack the egg. I'm guessing that egg will have a normal yolk and white, just a little small because the whole egg is small, but the only way to be sure is to open it and look.

So based on what @NatJ said last time, I think that means my new gray/silver layer is prob a Silver Duckwing Old English Game Bantam, Silver Leghorn, or Silver Phoenix, but we can probably eliminate Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers since the egg is white? Unfortunately been too busy to try weighing the chickens.

Probably correct. The difficult thing about Easter Eggers and Olive Eggers is that some of them do lay white or brown eggs, because most hatcheries do not have their flocks 100% pure for the blue egg gene. But if the chicken looks very much like an existing breed, and lays the correct egg color for that breed, then that is probably the correct breed.