2-11-2005 Egg Count:
10:00 AM – 1 green
12:50PM – 2 Brown, 1 White
3:15PM – 1 Brown
Later PM – 1 Brown
Total: 6
I fed the hens this very chilly morning (27 degrees, back down to Winter’s level again 😉 ). I opened the nest box door on the A-Frame pen, and was very shocked to see a light egg there, on closer inspection it wasn’t only light, but green and warm. 🙂
Hawklady laid one egg … whenever that was. [I am having ISP problems so I can’t easily look anything up online. 🙁 ]
A hen in that pen also laid twice, brown eggs, of course. Then no more. No more eggs were laid in that pen, until my discovery of those many eggs yesterday!
The really funny thing is, in the last couple of weeks Hawklady has started molting again. She’s lost a whole bunch of feathers on her neck and partway down her back. She looks scruffy and that was odd, considering she molted over the earlier winter season, seemed fine and looking good … laid an egg, looked good, but then not laying at all, then this mini-big molted thing and looking bad still, no regrowth and yet she lays a lovely green egg today.
I’ll take it. I just hope there will be more soon and often. I miss having green eggs and bacon for breakfast. 🙂
Yesterday when I got the white eggs from the SuperYard I took a good look at the Leghorns, and one stuck out like a sore thumb. All proud with very red wattles and comb. 🙂 So that’s the one that laid the two white eggs, guaranteed. Her “roommates” were all pecky dull looking still.
Who amongst those white girls was laying all those eggs a few weeks ago? I don’t know if this proud lady is one of those, but back then no one was that good looking, as she is now.
Sad thing is it’s this year that the Leghorns will have to be put down, to use a pet term. They aren’t pets. They are pesky hens that lay eggs well, in their prime. They are older now and not worth it in the home flock to keep them going. They’ve had a good life, grass, bugs, grain, and doing their thing. It’s not something I’m looking forward to, but it’s needful in farmlife to do such things. So culling will occur eventually, after Springtime, not before that.
We started our hen ventures with those very hens. 10 White Leghorns in February 2003. That actual date anniversary is later this month, but nearly we have had them for 2 full years. They hatched in October 2002. They are old biddies, by industry standards they are antiques. I have a deal with them, as long as they lay enough eggs, they will live. I’m giving them to Spring to start the clock.
The Wyandottes, they are younger, but older than not. I’m letting them continue on in hopes that we can get another piece of property and they’ll go on it with a rooster 😉 :veryshocked:
Same goes for the Australorps.
Of the Wyandottes, one died just in the past couple of months, none before that. So we have 2 real ones, and one tag-along who is Hawklady. They are the “Wyandottes” that I speak of as a group.
The Australorps are the newest hens, one died in August, so out of the original 5 we have 4 left.
As long as they don’t die, they’ll all have a hopeful future with a rooster.
All we need is some land to build a tiny chicken venture on. Not a house for us, necessarily.
I just got back in from checking the hens for eggs. I had heard big squawking for a minute some time ago, and made a mental note to go check for eggs, but didn’t right then. So I heard it again just a bit ago and went right out. In the A-Frame there was a nice size brown egg sitting alone, one of the mid-dark, not a darker-dark, and near it sat Pointsettia, obviously sitting on an egg, but not looking friendly towards being moved aside. Since this is a newer type of nest box and collection door, I didn’t want to get a nasty peck and kindly left her be. I then went to the Leghorns and there was white egg in there. Then the squawking began in the A-Frame again, and upon arriving back to look in the pen Pointsettia was parading around and was the originator of all the noise. Something had disturbed her, and so she got loud.
That’s the noisiest they get usually, laying an egg is an emotional thing! Peace usually reigns supreme in those that just layed though, once initial emotions are dealt with. Pre-laying through Post-laying is when they are tempted to howl. Pre-laying is the time that is just prior to egg laying, not a very long time at all. So picture a pen of hens, one lays first, she’s the very docile one later, and the rest of then take their turns laying eggs and getting more docile. The ones that are laying are the ones that get upset. When you have molting hens too, they are prone to a bit of a tizzy fit at times, but they aren’t very noisy at it. It’s the laying hens in production that make noise, and most assuredly you can take it as an “I layed an egg” alert. You can’t rest assured on receiving those alerts, they are not sureties. You might get eggs and no alerts. You may get an alert but no egg. But that’s usually indicative that you will get one eventually, if they aren’t in production, the time is getting closer.
Now this isn’t scientific data, it’s only my perceptions of the world in my backyard. 🙂
All that above is about the Australorps/Wyandottes. Throw that info out the window if you are considering Leghorns. They are generally more chitty chatty spatty, and just act different. They usually aren’t very loud, they are just more bitty bickery. The bigger hens have a bigger voice, and use it very seldomly outside of “alert mode”.
So if the alert goes off, and keeps going, I have no choice but to give them some grain. That quiets them down instantly! 🙂
The eggs I just got were all very warm, so layed not long before I got out there. The egg under Pointsettia, which I got after her squawk alert, what that lighter brown type. Most likely it was hers. So she’s been laying. Good girl! I’m glad to be on top of them again, knowing of daily egg layings.