Eggs

[Amish Heart]

I don't mind the Rhode Island hens, the roosters, not so much. I've not heard of Cinnamon Queen, either...photo when they get larger! I loaded up the incubator yesterday, so 20 days from today. We raise Jersey Giants, Easter Eggers, Americauna, Buff Orps, and a russian something. I like the larger breeds so we can eat the extra roosters. French Guineas going to be released tomorrow from the milkhouse cage, there's 24 of them. Hope they do alright, but it'll be inevitable that we'll lose a few.

 

[Smalltimefarmer]

I've never heard of that bread. If you don't mind popping back in as they grow & let us know. Not just eggs but also temperament. I hope never to have Rhode Island Reds again. Those things are psycho! On the other hand, I got some silver laced wyandottes one year and they were awesome.

I always have a few RIRS in my flock. I've never had a problem with them. I have 2 Wyandotte a silver and a gold laced. Good layers and temperament. I have a black hen that was hatched on site so I don't know who the mama is, but she is mean. Won't let the others into the roost at night.

 

[Smalltimefarmer]

Chicken story....... when I am going to be gone a few hours, I open the coop, but leave the flock in the run. Twice I have come home and my Speckled Sussex (2) are out in the yard. No other breed, just them. No idea how they are escaping either.

 

[Smalltimefarmer]

I scared them when I opened the door. One has already tried out the "sleeping sti

ck".

 

[Smalltimefarmer]

I've never heard of that bread. If you don't mind popping back in as they grow & let us know. Not just eggs but also temperament. I hope never to have Rhode Island Reds again. Those things are psycho! On the other hand, I got some silver laced wyandottes one year and they were awesome.

You probably don't want them. Just read they are a cross of RIR male and white RIR female.

 

[Smalltimefarmer]

You probably don't want them. Just read they are a cross of RIR male and white RIR female.

Another site says the female is a silver laced wyandotte.

 

[Amish Heart]

The chicks are adorable! 20 more days and we'll see what we get. Granddaughter will sit over them and sing Happy Birthday to each and every one as they hatch. She is partial to the yellow ones.

 

[Peanut]

I like having ISA Browns. They are also a RIR & RI white cross. TSC has them every spring marked as pre-sexed layers. Anyway, they are a little smaller than RR's. Less feed but will out lay any of a dozen breeds I've had over the years. I also like the convenience, don't have to order and deal with the P. Office. I can stop by TSC and get a dozen chicks anytime in the spring.

I like have a couple RR's around too. They are great at letting me know when something is wrong. I also try to keep an RR rooster around, same reasons. I've only had one that tried to cause problems, drop kicked him across the pen, never had another issue.

Here is a pic of the last ISA Browns I bought. They are very docile, quiet, really like people.

 

[Acdoctor]

Taylor , my daughter has 10 white leghorns and 8 Issa browns and she is still getting 10-14 egg’s daily. I put a small solar panel on her coop with a 12 volt battery and a single 5000 k
led bulb from harbor freight just enough light to see in the coop if needed, it works fine and have had no issues with it. They are still laying more than we use so I have been freeze drying powdering them and vacuuming them in mason jars. I guess you can have too many in your preps.

 

[txcatlady]

I have 12 dozen in my fridge right now. Lady getting 6 dozen this weekend. Husband wants deviled eggs so I will feed birds some too. Lost one bird today. She had a growth over her eye that limited her. I think one hen jumped her and she couldn’t get away.

 

[Peanut]

I have 12 dozen in my fridge right now.

I simply couldn't sell that many dozen out where I live. I tried for a couple years with 40 hens. I guess I live so far out in the country that anyone out here who wants fresh eggs already has a few chickens. I had a big sign by the road, in 2 years only one person stopped because they saw the sign.

I had to take several dozen to town once a week and hope my customers wanted all the eggs I had. Not always the case, more than a few times I drove home tossing an egg out the window every half mile.

 

[txcatlady]

I simply couldn't sell that many dozen out where I live. I tried for a couple years with 40 hens. I guess I live so far out in the country that anyone out here who wants fresh eggs already has a few chickens. I had a big sign by the road, in 2 years only one person stopped because they saw the sign.

I had to take several dozen to town once a week and hope my customers wanted all the eggs I had. Not always the case, more than a few times I drove home tossing an egg out the window every half mile.

That’s why sometimes I boi a few dozen and feed them back. One lady gets 3 dozen every few weeks and another gets 6. She bought 11 before Christmas. I sometimes make a bunch of pounds cakes and freeze. That uses 6 eggs per cake. I have a quart jar full of dehydrated eggs from 5 years ago. Probably should get rid of them

 

[Amish Heart]

I just use our extra for trade. And the nine eggs I break and separate every morning for husband's egg white omelet, well the dogs get the yolks in the dry food, so it's not wasted. Eggs sell quickly around here, but only for about $2.50 a dz I noticed. In the spring and summer our little farmer's mkt happens on Friday afternoons, and alot of tourists come around to buy veg, eggs, butter, bread, milk, and baked goods. There's no charge to sell, and only about 6 tables of people selling. Have thought about it.

 

[Smalltimefarmer]

Felt guilty about having the chicks in the garage, even with the warmer so I wrapped the cage and added a warm heating pad for them. The temp is going to drop today so if the seems chilled, I'll move them to the laundry room.

Geez I have the dusty mess they cause in there.

 

[Amish Heart]

The worst I did was order 25 french guineas in November. They stayed upstairs for a very long time. Things were so covered in dust by the time I moved them, that I had to move out the furniture in the family room that they were in, clean under it, on it, dust every book, wash the curtains....took all day. I don't mind little ones in for maybe 3 weeks, then I like to move them elsewhere. So my next hatchings will be moved out to the milkhouse 6 weeks from now, and that's not too bad.

 

[montanabill]

Good chicken talk here. Almost ready to start some here but the temps are cold enough it will be easier in a few more weeks.
If you socialize your small flock at a early age they seem to be better calmer chickens. I always give them something to do right away till they can get out and start scratching and eating bugs. A few toys from the thrift store makes their day. Also if they are not frightened starting right after hatching they are also calmer. i raised multiple batches growing up of fryers and layers and it was noticeable if you were calm and quiet around them.
the RIR's we have raised in the woods and cold here seem to fair quite well.
We had a few ariconas and one we named houdini since she managed to slip out and eventually raised her chicks after hatching them under a sage bush here in montana, the month of march in the snow.

 

[txcatlady]

I want to get chicks that are meat birds and some that will be good broody hens. I hate processing chickens but need to get get back in saddle. My Americana mix and a Banty were the best broody hen I had. Any suggestions on breeds?

 

[LadyLocust]

I want to get chicks that are meat birds and some that will be good broody hens. I hate processing chickens but need to get get back in saddle. My Americana mix and a Bantu were the best Brody’s I had. Any suggestions on breeds?

@Amish Heart can probably make a suggestion. She's our resident "fowl person." Now that doesn't sound very nice, does it? How 'bout a nice-fowl person

 

[Peanut]

Not sure if I've posted these before... I use two tanks to raise chicks. I have a 100g galvanized tank I put in my herb room in the house when they are tiny.. I keep them there about 3 wks, depending on the weather. I put shavings in the tank and set their water and feeder on bricks.

Next they get moved onto my porch... into a 200g fiberglass laundry cart from a state mental hosp. It's on casters and easy to move. It's great for chicks out side. In past years I'd cover the cart with hardware cloth only. But I only got chicks in late Apr early May... to avoid a cool spring.

In 2020 I got chicks early so it was still cold at night. I made a 2 piece top, plywood and hardware cloth framed. It had good ventilation and lots of heat. I ran two heat lamps or a lamp w/an industrial 8" fan.

 

[Amish Heart]

You can order meat chickens, Tx cat Lady, but make sure you butcher them at about 10 weeks or so. Cornish or Ranger. We just hatch large breed chickens, raise those, and then eat the roosters.

 

[Weedygarden]

I had an interesting conversation with a man a couple weeks ago. He told me he was an agriculture major, and he was carrying a gardening book. He talked about raising animals and would like to have some chickens, especially since his roommate buys "bleached eggs." Bleached eggs? "Yes, white eggs that are the bleached ones." I didn't laugh, but I could have. I told him that eggs come in a variety of colors, including white and the white ones are not bleached.

 

[Amish Heart]

That's pretty funny. Many people think that brown eggs are "healthier". And some do not know what to think of our green shelled eggs. The health of the egg is because of the health of the chicken.
The grandkids like to repeat what I told them when I said that eggs come in all different colors. The insides are the same. Just like people.

 

[Double R]

I had an interesting conversation with a man a couple weeks ago. He told me he was an agriculture major, and he was carrying a gardening book. He talked about raising animals and would like to have some chickens, especially since his roommate buys "bleached eggs." Bleached eggs? "Yes, white eggs that are the bleached ones." I didn't laugh, but I could have. I told him that eggs come in a variety of colors, including white and the white ones are not bleached.

That’s like the people who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Haven’t heard the bleached egg one before. How do people come up with this stuff?

 

[Weedygarden]

That’s like the people who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Haven’t heard the bleached egg one before. How do people come up with this stuff?

This guy is pretty full of himself. Some people think because they've taken a class or two in some field that they are now experts.

 

[Double R]

This guy is pretty full of himself. Some people think because they've taken a class or two in some field that they are now experts.

That is so true!!! See it all the time

 

[Peanut]

And don't put meat chicks together with RR chicks! LOL. I learned that lesson the hard way. The much smaller RR chicks killed the meat chicks. They were nothing but slow moving targets!

Killed all but one and a tornado got him!!!! Apr 27, 2011. I had them in my chicken tractor. The wind pushed the tractor about 30ft, killed my last meat chick and a hen.

I haven't tried meat chicks since.

 

[SheepDog]

So, you understand the the ancestors of chicken were dinosaurs, right?

 

[txcatlady]

You can order meat chickens, Tx cat Lady, but make sure you butcher them at about 10 weeks or so. Cornish or Ranger. We just hatch large breed chickens, raise those, and then eat the roosters.

Thanks. I bought 2 Cornish before and they were stupid and easy to butcher

 

[Double R]

We badly need a new rooster but we can’t get chicks shipped around here. They get stuck in sacramento and die so the hatcheries have refused to ship here

 

[Amish Heart]

A stupid cornish story: I had a couple dozen of them in the yard in a big covered chain link dog run. A few weeks shy of butchering. I had an old dog house in the run up against the chain link. One morning I went out to feed them and half were missing. I couldn't figure it out, and then looked behind the doghouse. There was only two inches or so of give between the doghouse wall and the fence. One cornish dropped down in there, then another on top, then another. They played cornish tetris to death. Really dumb.