The Poultry Project Blog - Now, 2010, Year 3

Now | Year 2 | Year 1

July 4, 2010 - Baby Status Again

I think the very white EE chick is a fella or 'roo' as many of the chicken folks call them. Since the chicks are only 4 weeks old, I'll wait a couple more weeks but I'm watching! Some internet sites I've seen say if the comb turns color and has 3 rows, it's suspect as a cockerel. That's what I have. I'll be disappointed because I think a white would be a pretty Easter Egger to have. So far all the rest have a single row combs that are tiny and yellow.

If it is a rooster, I'll retun him to the feed store where I got the chicks--they will take them back so I don't have to 'do' anything with him.

July 1, 2010 - Baby Status

The seven new Easter Egger chicks are almost a month old already. From tiny fur balls to little birds, they look nothing like they did 4 weeks ago. Unlike the other breeds I keep, Easter Eggers feathers vary greatly from bird to bird. A couple of my first EEs have elaborately penciled and laced feathers. This time I may have one that is pure white--at least she is so far. See progress photos of the babies.

This is the last week the babies need supplemental heat--now only at night. Dropping the temperature 5 degrees a week means this week they shouldn't get cooler than 75 degrees. Our night temps drop below that. Next week they should have enough feathers to keep themselves warm, probably too warm with triple digit heat coming soon.

The babies will move to the barn in a couple more weeks. When they are big enough so they can't fit through the wire fence, they will move to an area we have sectioned off from the layers. We built a lovely dropping pit/roost in there. It serves as a temporary home for broody hens and was a halfway house for juveniles last spring. They will be able to see the big girls and go outside, but be protected a little while longer from the adult pecking order.

June 15, 2010 - A Mercy Killing

One of the Buff Orpingtons took a turn for the worse last week. I separated her from the rest of the flock. She had a very dirty bottom from loose stools. I wormed her and cleaned her up but she didn't get better. She couldn't walk and wouldn't eat. After 4 days I decided we had to end her misery.

I had purchased a restraining cone last fall when another hen took ill. That one must have know what was in store for her because she got better! This one, not so much.

We set up the cone on the wall behind the barn. With a bucket underneath and chicken inserted head down, my brave husband snipped her head with pruning shears. I know this is no big deal to many folks but wasn't fun for any of us. At least she is no longer suffering.

Whatever it was doesn't seem to be contageous--we don't really want to get good at this!

June 3, 2010 - Chicks!

Demand for my eggs--well, the hens's eggs--is growing so I decided to get some more babies that will hopefully begin laying this fall. Seven more Easter Eggers because I love their funny faces and remarkable feather patterns.

They also don't brood.! Many of my standard breed hens go broody and take up valuable nest space the working gals need. EEs don't brood. The only other breed that has never been broody is the Barred Plymouth Rocks. But the Rocks don't have the unusual feathers, so I'll put up with the EEs lack of winter eggs.

See the new babies in the Gallery on this date.

May 5, 2010 - In Memory

Today we had our second casualty. My only Light Brahma hen was lying very peacefully on her side in the coup this morning when I went to gather eggs. Not a mark on her. Even though I haven't named these chickens, it is still a shock to find one dead.

This girl was quite the talker and was always telling me all about whatever chickens think about. See her happy life in the Gallery on this date.

March 20, 2010 - Spring is Here!

Everyone is back to laying--a lot of eggs. A slow day now means 12 and that will be followed by a day of 16 or 17. The most eggs I've had in one day is 19 from 23 hens. Since then we have lost one hen and the first group has molted--they lay fewer eggs after molting. So I'm thinking 17 is pretty good!

I've got so much information now about eggs that I've decided to add a tab to this web site (see it above) to share all this knowledge with the world: Eggs!

February 27, 2010 - Spring is Coming!

Even though we are still getting rain, the trees are blooming and the chickens have gotten back to laying eggs. Now a sure sign of spring will be broody hens.

We are going to make some improvements in the broody hen jail this year. We will make a nice dropping pit and add a gate between the coop and the jail. Photos of this will be added to the Coop tab later in the year.

Egg production has picked up to the point where I have resumed supplying my customers with eggs. The 2 year old girls are laying huge eggs but not as often as their younger sisters. The lazy Easter Eggers are finally finished molting and back to work--molting before 1 year seems lazy to me compared with most of the other breeds I have.

See some pictures of the girls in the Gallery on this date.

January 2, 2010 - More Molting

The Easter Eggers are fun to look at and lay lovely colored eggs, but I must say they are not as dependable layers as many of the other breeds. All but one of the EEs are molting and they aren't even a year old. Needless to say they have stopped laying.

So far the most prolific layers have been the Barred Rocks. They are very friendly, never go broody, lay even during winter, didn't molt till 18 months, their molt period was only 8 weeks and they went right back to work! Whew!

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