New chicks

Two of my black sex link hens went broody & the first ones hatched out a couple of days ago, 5 new chicks. (One more hatched after the pictures were taken) The other hen is sitting on 12 Aracauna eggs from a friend at church. I really hope I get a good hatch from them, they are due to hatch next Thursday. I have 10 white Amaracauna's that I bought in the Spring, but they don't have the muffs like the Aracauna. I posted more pics on my blog, but here are a couple. Don't you love the green legs on the Ameracauna's? They will lay blue eggs.






And here's one of my Turkens, one when I first got him & now, eating one of my tomatoes that had rotted in the center. There's only 1 tomato in this picture, it was huge.

There's not going to be a shortage of eggs to eat at your house! Why don't Turkens have feathers on their neck? Why doesn't your husband have your chicken tractor done yet? Why don't you plant more P & C corn? (Since mine isn't gonna produce this year, you should eat some more for me!)

OMG OMG OMG JEALOUS!! I want poultry!!!

Does your zoning allow hens? We are finding that they are easier to keep than dogs!

boffer wrote:Does your zoning allow hens? We are finding that they are easier to keep than dogs!

i thought farm animals couldnt be kept in my "zone" but idk any more since looking it up, not that DH would go for it anyway.

Boff, I live out in the country, so no zoning problems. My husband (notice I didn't say DH this time?) hasn't even started my chicken tractor. You would think he would get tired of my nagging him. I even made a batch of homemade apple butter as a bribe, but that didn't work. I keep showing him different plans & pictures I've found. I bought 200 lbs of layer pellets this week since their yard doesn't have any grass now & it isn't safe to let them free range. (Only $40, but I thought it sounded impressive when I told him 200 lbs). I guess after 43 years I'll have to keep him.

The proper name for the Turken is Transylvania Naked Neck Chicken. It isn't a cross between a turkey & chicken. Here's something from McMurray Hatchery: Half chicken and half turkey? No, the Turken
is all chicken but unique because of its turkey-like bare neck, less
than normal feathering around the breast, under the wings, and around
the vent. In spite of the feather shortage, Turkens stand cold weather
very well, are good layers of brown eggs, and grow to 6 pounds or more,
making a fine eating bird. The hens are also good setters. The origin
of this breed is uncertain but more recent development in Eastern
Europe gave them the name Transylvanian Naked Necks. They are now
standardized for show in White, Black, Buff, and Red.

And I don't know how I ended up with so many chickens. I only had 2 black sex links & a rooster, then I bought 20 day old chicks, my son came home with 5 hens, then I had 2 hens go broody. It all adds up. But there's just something comforting about chickens.

boffer wrote: Why don't you plant more P & C corn? (Since mine isn't gonna produce this year, you should eat some more for me!)

I'm really sorry you aren't going to have corn this year. I have another 4 x 4 that will be ready to eat in a few days, then another 4 x 4 that is only waist high.

Yea I started with 15 chicks now have 36 hens, 30 bantry hens, and 85 guinea chicks, 5 little yellow chicks followed a hen out from under the porch the other day we didnt even know the hen was sitting under there!

Anyone need guineas?? they eat bugs and snakes and weed seeds

I'd love to have a few guineas, but I live too far away! 85? Wow. DH would have a cow - he hates guineas for some odd reason.

Gosh, you folks are so brave with all those chickens! I know zilch about raising chickens, so have been hesitant to get into the avian side of things.

How much expertise is needed to raise laying chickens? I don't think I could ever eat a creature I'd fed . . .

I only raise them for eggs. There are several good poultry sites online with forums:
Backyardchickens.com, thepoultrysite.com & many others. Just google. Your library would have books or call your county extension agent. They really are fun.

When we move, my husband laughs because I say I want to have some chickens for fresh eggs. Now I can show him this and tell him I'm not the only crazy one.

Be sure to check out Boff's chicken tractor. I'm about to give up on ever getting one.


https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/outside-the-box-f40/the-chickens-have-come-home-to-roost-t2002.htm

junequilt wrote:How much expertise is needed to raise laying chickens? I don't think I could ever eat a creature I'd fed . . .

At this point, me either. But I'm learning a lot, and I wish I had started this years ago.

We gave up on chickens because I wanted free-range birds, and varmints and neighbor's dogs kept killing them if I let them run. One day I saw a full-grown red-tailed hawk swoop to the ground ten feet in front of my living room window and wrap its talons around my best laying hen. She was squeezed to death before I could get to them. I wanted to grab the shotgun and get that hawk, then I realized it wasn't the hawk's fault for taking an opportunity, it was mine for not protecting the hen. We have so many hawks here that I know I'll never be able to raise chickens without overhead fencing.

Our last two hens made a nest under raspberry canes that used to grow near my door. Each morning I would hear one cackle as soon as it laid its egg, then it got off the nest and the other one would sit and lay her egg there. As soon as I heard the second cackle I would get the eggs and cook them for our breakfast. My husband suggested if I wanted fresher eggs I could get the skillet hot and put it under the chickens to catch the eggs as they dropped.

Sadly those two biddies also fell to some unknown predator in the night. It was so sad to find a pile of feathers one morning, and then another one two days later. I've seen my birds killed by skunks, possums, raccoons, foxes, dogs, and hawks that dug under, ran through or climbed over every fence we've built, or else grabbed the birds in the open. My husband promised me he would build me a sturdier chicken house and fence with plenty of room for them to run, but I'm still waiting.

In the meantime I love seeing pictures of everyone's flocks. I miss my birds.

My chicks are about 3 months old. I've never seen eggs like those!

Oh your girls are young yet, I bet they get some tuffs, tufts what are they called. :-D as they get older.
We never saw an egg this big before, the biggest egg I saw was a double yolker on a regular basis from some cornish cross hens we didnt butcher. I always felt bad for those hens. But the irregular eggs stopped coming, its when they are new layers when that happens. Now we get normal eggs. But makes for some exciting times when we get eggs like that.
Ha-v-v

Ha-v-v, I've always used the term biddy to mean a laying hen - men around here use the term as slang for women who sit and gossip. I was surprised to see you use the term when referring to chicks. I looked the word up online, and I was surprised to see that it has both definitions, an adult female bird or laying hen, and also a young bird.

I guess you CAN teach an old dog (or this old biddy) new tricks.

Beautiful chicks.

Boff's chicken tractor is amazing.

I've never seen an egg within an egg before. That's the size of a turkey egg, isn't it?

As a first time hen owner, I'm having fun observing the behaviors that are the source of so many expressions: hen pecked, chicken s***, rare as hens' teeth, come home to roost, etc!

aspiegardner wrote:Boff's chicken tractor is amazing.

Thanks. I'm much better at making stuff than I am growing stuff

chocolatepop wrote:OMG OMG OMG JEALOUS!! I want poultry!!!

Chocolatepop, I love you. This is exactly how I feel!!!

My "city" doesn't allow farm animals. Luckily we won't be here forever.

Ander

I looked the word up online, and I was surprised to see that it has
both definitions, an adult female bird or laying hen, and also a young
bird.

I just took on what the locals call the chicks, I would stop at the local hardware store and ask if I wanted biddies lolololol I love living in the south !!!
Just learned it from them.
Ha-v-v

As a first time hen owner, I'm having fun observing the behaviors that
are the source of so many expressions: hen pecked, chicken s***, rare
as hens' teeth, come home to roost, etc!

I love our hens to watch, and yes hens teeth !! The egg tooth on the biddies when they hatch out was the first thing I showed the boys when we had our biddies hatch.
One rooster to a pen too, we got rid of 7 and that was mostly due to our youngest child, they took him as a threat and went after him in the pen, after that the child would not enter the chicken house. I had to remedy that for him. Plus that many roosters the poor hens are not happy and wont lay as much. (this we think helped them stop laying for a little while) We still want to hatch out our own biddies again, but I will wait until he is ready to raise a rooster of his own to get used to it.
Now for the chicken poo, Im grateful for it and my veggies and other plants will love me for it. But those eggs are worth it in the end, I give the hens all the greens I cut off from the plants in the garden. I will plant greens for them this fall, I missed out on it this year. Kale, mustard and things like that. Chickens are omnivorous, they will eat anything. But if you want darker yolks give them greens. Oh and they love the tobacco horn worms we get from my garden !!!! They help out in so many ways what is not to love ?
Ha-v-v

DIXIE-I love your chickens! The white ones are really beautiful.
The more the better, I wish I could have many more varieties.
I have 3 pet chickens that are very entertaining in the yard.
The brown hen "COOKIE" is a Golden Comet & lays a brown egg.
She stays by herself now in the playhouse coop, & a 5' x 15' kennel run
(recently her sister died).
The splash grey hen "JELLY" is a (Silky x Naked Neck) x (Amercauna) & lays a mint green egg.
The little tan hen "SHORTCAKE" is a Wheaten Serama & lays a tiny creme colored egg. She is so small, she just about fits in the palm of your hand.
Jelly and Shortcake live in a coop that I built and have a pvc run.
They are released into the yard everyday to "hunt and peck"
(another chicken saying).
Here are some pics, the last one shows how I easily adapted a playhouse.
I put in a roosting board and cut a pop hole that leads to small tunnel which attaches to the run.