Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

KAAT_LADY

tru wrote: »

Meet my girls Left to right - Mogs, Pink, Penny and Harry. Unfortunately, Pink died last week :sad:
They're almost 6 weeks old.
haven't let them roam the garden yet. I have a pond, will they be OK with it or should I fence it off? Not sure if they'll try to dive in...........:D

:rolleyes:

Talking of ponds ,,I have fished 3 of mine out of the pond and think they may learn after a while.. i now have it netted off as we have a heron coming down,, but the chickens still get under it looking for tasty morsels

btw they dont dive in but just fall in as they just dont look where thet are going

Frugaldom

KAAT_LADY wrote: »

Talking of ponds... btw they dont dive in but just fall in as they just dont look where thet are going

Mr White the Pekin cockeral 'fell' in our mini-pond (it's just a large tub for the ducklings bathing) when the ducklings pushed him. :rotfl: :rotfl::rotfl:

Great news on 8 eggs, how many hens have you? I've only one hen still with chicks and the other 5 are all laying now :T We have more than enough eggs for 3 of us plus baking & the surplus gets sold for £1 per half dozen to help cover costs of feeding all the chicks we now have! :eek: (5 lots at various stages & ages!)

I don't know anyone with a cream legbar cockeral but I would willingly part with a lavender araucana cockeral to a good home if it's just to maintain the blue eggs in the next generation. (As soon as I can tell the difference in the youngsters)

KAAT_LADY

nykmedia wrote: »

Mr White the Pekin cockeral 'fell' in our mini-pond (it's just a large tub for the ducklings bathing) when the ducklings pushed him. :rotfl: :rotfl::rotfl:

Great news on 8 eggs, how many hens have you? I've only one hen still with chicks and the other 5 are all laying now :T We have more than enough eggs for 3 of us plus baking & the surplus gets sold for £1 per half dozen to help cover costs of feeding all the chicks we now have! :eek: (5 lots at various stages & ages!)

I don't know anyone with a cream legbar cockeral but I would willingly part with a lavender araucana cockeral to a good home if it's just to maintain the blue eggs in the next generation. (As soon as I can tell the difference in the youngsters)

that was only from one hen ..an ex batt warren ,,i was amazed ,,i hadnt checked for a few days:beer:
I have a trio of buff orpingtons , who are still growing ,,no laying yet ,,,one ex batt warren and 2 lohmans who havent yet started laying yet

I WAS AMAZED at the amount of eggs from one little hen:rotfl:and she is such a character as well

will have to start selling the egs too for costs. :j

Frugaldom

It's great when it's up to an egg a day, we're at one per day per hen at the moment, too, but not sure how long it'll last because ours are also second year hens. Making the most of it while the going's good, though, even if I eventually need to start freezing them for baking in the winter. (The eggs, not the hens)

KAAT_LADY

nykmedia ....freezing eggs ?????

Frugaldom

Yes, you can freeze eggs as long as they are out their shells. I've even heard of people making up thier own egg muffins and freezing complete so they have speedy breakfasts. Eggs are brilliant!

I'm in the middle of compiling a list of things to do with eggs at the moment, I've called it, "100 things to do with eggs" and it won't include chucking them at politicians. If it ever does include that, then it'll be, "101 Things to do with Eggs". :rotfl:

Katharine

Thanks Nykmedia I'll let her know, but I think she likes keeping purebreeds. I don't know if I'll end up with some ancestors of her furture Legbars as I hope to have ducks for blue eggs. Have to see how much space I end up with! Eagerly awaiting the 100 things to do with eggs!

I had overlooked a laying spot and just thought she wasn't laying yet after winter, until I saw Felicity leaving it and found a pile of 13 eggs! Luckily it was a hole in the wall, and the weather had been good so they were all still OK.

Edit: Kiera and eggs are still doing well!

Frugaldom

The list is coming along nicely and I'm going to work my way through it day by day to ensure we try every suggestion. I'm typing the list into my blog page with some help from a couple of others and we're now 72% of the way to completing it. I'll copy it to here as soon as we hit the 100. (I'm only on day one of trying everything on the list, though.)

Katharine, did you say you have a cockeral? If so, be careful the eggs aren't fertile - 13 days of warming up under a hen sitting laying every day could create a nasty little surprise for you when you crack the eggs open. Or else maybe 2 of your hens are laying in the same spot every day? Fingers crossed for you that you continue to get eggs every day - list should be completed soon.

Forgot to ask - is it the Indian Runner ducks that lay the blue eggs? Mine are plain old ordinary white egg layers when they get to be that age.

Here's an update on my 3

27/04/09 - one day old


26/05/09 - one month old


One is quacking so far, hoping for another to start doing the same as it'll be terrible trying to decide which one goes if the other 2 are both drakes.

Katharine

So I'm informed, well see when i get some.

It was only her laying at the time all the younguns were broody, it was ages ago they have long disappeared down my gullet! Only having 4 hens (plus the joys of unemployed chicken watching) I am very sad in that I can tell which chook laid which egg just by looking at it.

KAAT_LADY

talking of unemployed chicken watching..... i have just been sitting up at the pond with our cockerel sitting on my knee ,, we were watching the koi swim around ,,its so relaxing just sitting there talking to:o a chicken:o

do you think I am going slowly mad