Anyone getting a new flock of chickens this Spring?

[Hilblyswife]

I would love to get some chicks this year. The hens we have now are 2 years old. No clue how old the roosters are(they were given to us). We have Cinnamon Queen and red-sex link. For the most part, they have been pretty good about giving us eggs. I really want to try a different breed/s this time around. Not real sure what just yet, though.

 

[imaginative]

I would love to get some chicks this year. The hens we have now are 2 years old. No clue how old the roosters are(they were given to us). We have Cinnamon Queen and red-sex link. For the most part, they have been pretty good about giving us eggs. I really want to try a different breed/s this time around. Not real sure what just yet, though.

The birds in my pic are Golden Comets....AKA....Cinnamon Queens. I usually sell them before or near their 2nd year. They are marketable and yet their egg production begins to start tapering. I aaallllmost bought ISA Browns instead of these Golden Comets

 

[Martinhouse]

Or, after I get rid of the non-performing rooster, I could see if anyplace in town has chicks and I could get some and sneak them under her after I know for sure she won't be hatching any of those she's setting.

One way or another I'm determined to get a dutiful rooster and some good setting hens during this season. I don't mind getting rid of the Black Australorp rooster, anyway. I prefer the Buff, especially if I can cross him with Barred Rock hens.

 

[summerthyme]

My third incubator batch is just about done hatching tonight. I pulled the 10 fluffed up and dry chicks out and put them under a heat lamp, quickly removed empty shells and one dead chick (i think the stronger/older chicks stomped on it, but it might just have gotten stuck between a couple unhatched eggs and not been strong enough to struggle free) and closed it back up.

I have 7 more healthy chicks in the incubator and one which seems very weak. I tucked it into a corner to try to give it a chance, but it won't surprise me to find it dead in the morning. I think that the rest of the eggs are duds (I never got around to candling them, and some are so dark green that it can be hard to tell anyway) so tomorrow I'll put the rest of the chicks in the Rubbermaid container snd clean out the incubator.

I'm not sure if I'll hatch anymore until i can get my True Blue hens isolated with the True Blue rooster, although so many of the chicks from the three batches are "blue" in color that i suspect many are purebreds. Apparently, the younger rooster has been beating out the 4 year old Americauna roo a good part of the time!

I'll be butchering out the old roo, as I'm seeing signs of inbreeding depression (lower egg hatchabilty, mostly)... I'd like to get some new Americauna blood in, but don't think I can justify spending any money on layer chicks, especially since I'd have to order 25... Welp hatchery doesnt ship any other breeds with the CornishX, which I will be ordering soon.

My oldest chicks are just about 6 weeks, and I swear all 6 are pullets! At least, i cant see the slightest hint of any cockerel traits in any of them. The next group, with 12, has at least 2 cockerels...naturally, they're the two bantams, iut of an aging bantam hen which I really want to replace with a couple of pullets. Sigh... shes the most reliable mother hen I've ever seen.. backs fown dogs, cats and cows from her chicks! Two summers ago, she raised 52 chicks for me... all standards that i hatched in the incubator and then gave to her to raise! She's down to laying 2-3 eggs a week, and she absolutely refuses to go broody and set "in captivity"... so i turned her snd the bantam rooster loose, hoping they'll manage to producecand raise at least one family this summer. If not, I'll have to see if I can find a replacement hen from one of my Amish neighbors. Lord knows, there are enough of them around... it seems every farmyard has a couple hens running around, and half thebarns have a hen with a dozen chicks everywhere you look. But i really like the looks of the hen I have...shes colored like a miniature Speckled Sussex, and is really pretty. Ah, well....

At least it looks like i should have a dozen or do young replacement pullets who should start laying in late fall. I'll be replacing all the hens except fir the True Blues, who are the only ones under 3 years old. Feed is too expensive to keep them past their 2nd year (or past their second laying year, after one molt) although if i get one which is a good broody hen i will occasionally make an exception... broodiness (within reason!) is a trait that I value, since it's so rare in most lines these days. Having had a couple hens over the years who only laid long enough to get a clutch of eggs, and then started setting, I do understand why breeders did their best to eliminate the trait from the egg laying breeds, but ive got enough prepper... or maybe doomer!... in me to not trust always being able to order chicks as needed, or even reliably incubate them. And under those circumstances, a reliable broody hen could be worth her weight in gold.

Summerthyme

 

[imaginative]

The 16 Golden Comet chicks were evicted from my living room 10 days ago. Tomorrow they will be 4 weeks out-of-the-shell and the reptiles are healthy & thriving

Some coop pics from this afternoon

 

[Hfcomms]

If those pullets escape they are going right to your garden to chow down. The view from the coop has to be very enticing.

 

[Faroe]

If those pullets escape they are going right to your garden to chow down. The view from the coop has to be very enticing.

Agree. Our chickens have free range of the yard, but the garden areas get caged and netted.

Pretty little dinosaurs, Imaginative.

 

[imaginative]

They are living large in their own Taj Mahal with no desire to escape. Yet.

In the Fall after the garden has run it's course, I fence the garden area in and drop the gate that you see in the pic and allow the reptiles to rototill and fertilize until Spring. It is the 2nd Summer that is hard for them when surrounded by garden. I do throw in pounds of Kale, Chard, Spinach and other greens all Summer & Fall.

 

[Martinhouse]

Imaginative, your chicks sure are pretty little things.

My Barred Rock hen is sharing her nest with another hen. But her hatch should have started yesterday or today at the least, and there's nothing. I'll give her until the end of the week to be sure and then I'll get rid of the original rooster so the poor new guy can come down off the roost bars where he escapes being picked on and once he takes over, there should be fertile eggs and hopefully that Barred Rock hen will want to start a new nest.

I still might call around town and see if any places that sell chicks will have new ones by Saturday. Especially Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons.

 

[Martinhouse]

I have ELEVEN new little black chicks!!!!!

Guess that Australorp Rooster was busy after all. Just real sneaky about it.

One of the chicks is either crippled or just newly hatched.

This little flock has two mamas, my eleven year old Barred Rock who started the setting, and a new half bantam hen who is one of the seven she hatched a year ago. I was able to move them to a pet carrier with fresh pine straw in it and fix them a shallow water pan, without being beat up by the mama hens.

I may buy that huge pack of egg cartons I saw at the 10-Box store. Looked like at least 100 cartons for about ten bucks.

I still think I'll get rid of this black rooster and let the new picked-on Buff rooster take over the flock.

Hope lots of the new ones are hens like the six out of seven were last year!

 

[summerthyme]

I have ELEVEN new little black chicks!!!!!

Guess that Australorp Rooster was busy after all. Just real sneaky about it.

One of the chicks is either crippled or just newly hatched.

This little flock has two mamas, my eleven year old Barred Rock who started the setting, and a new half bantam hen who is one of the seven she hatched a year ago. I was able to move them to a pet carrier with fresh pine straw in it and fix them a shallow water pan, without being beat up by the mama hens.

I may buy that huge pack of egg cartons I saw at the 10-Box store. Looked like at least 100 cartons for about ten bucks.

I still think I'll get rid of this black rooster and let the new picked-on Buff rooster take over the flock.

Hope lots of the new ones are hens like the six out of seven were last year!

Wow! Way to go! I'm just impressed as hell at an ELEVEN YEAR OLD hen!

Summerthyme

 

[Martinhouse]

Summerthyme, I know this hen is eleven because my Mom died ten years ago this summer and my brother bought me some guineas when he was here. I already had the hens then so that makes her eleven. I also have a Buff Orpington from the same batch who started laying around Thanksgiving last year and this lasted about two months and then she quit. I figured this was her way of going out in a blaze of glory, but she's still looking good but just not laying any more. I had a third from the same group, a white Wyandot, who was laying until mid summer last year, but she died this last January.

It is so fun to watch this chick business in the spring! And I am so amazed how some hens seem to prefer sharing one nest and they get along just fine. I think it's a good thing to have two mamas protecting those chicks.

 

[Hfcomms]

I picked up four Rhode Island Red 16 week old pullets last Thurs and an Buff cockeral that is only 8 weeks old. They have settled in pretty good but they are in a temporary coop and I have materials being delivered on Saturday to build a 7'x10' open front coop to give them more room. They are used to being handled but not by me yet and it's interesting to see them establish their own pecking order. They will stand up tall and ruffle their neck feathers and posture against each other. Just minor squabbles then they go back to foraging. I was worried about putting the small cockeral with them but after some pushing, pecking and shoving him around the first night they settled in together. Darn things though want to sleep in the nest boxes instead of on the roosts and three or even four of them will try to cram into one nest box. And of course they crap in the nest boxes.

Once I build the new coop I'll put in new nest boxes on the ground and have a cover I'll put over them at night until they get used to the idea of using the roosts. Open front and deep litter seems to be the way to go and apparently they deal well with the cold if you keep them out of drafts. With the pullets being already 16 weeks old hopefully they will start laying within the next four to six weeks. I'm using a PVC feeder and waterer with a horizontal nipple and it seems to be working out well so far. All I have to do is throw some scratch in the run and they go nuts over the stuff. Pretty entertaining so far and I hope to get them out of the coop to free range in a few more days once they imprint the coop as 'home'.

 

[imaginative]

I hope you chicken farmers post some pics to share....all of us would really enjoy seeing your flock.

I cant believe how fast these chicks are growing,,,they get noticeably bigger every day; they have probably grown 10 or 12 fold since breaking thru the shell not even 5 weeks ago. Dang coop will be crowded in just a few more weeks.

I have ELEVEN new little black chicks!!!!!

Guess that Australorp Rooster was busy after all. Just real sneaky about it.

Wow! What a surprise. How are they doing?

Wow! Way to go! I'm just impressed as hell at an ELEVEN YEAR OLD hen!

Summerthyme

No kidding! Did yours hatch yet?

Hf- Fun times-

It seems to be helpful to cover the nesting boxes until about 2 weeks before they should lay. Then I always put in a golf ball or 2 in each box. The perch should be higher then the nesting boxes also. Good luck. Pics por favor

 

[Martinhouse]

At the end of the day yesterday, all eleven of my new chicks were still alive. The one weak one was doing a little better so I'm hoping it was just the last to hatch and not malformed in some way. Am also hoping most will be pullets. The seven that my hen hatched last year were six hens and one rooster, which I thought was pretty amazing.

I'd love to post pictures but I have no digital camera and would not have a clue how to put the pictures on the computer. The only way I've ever moved pictures around is when my brother visits. He takes pictures and emails them to me and then I can remove some stuff from that email and send it to someone else with "Forward". He creates a folder for me every January, too, so I can drag the pictures from his emails to my folder.

Back to the new chicks...A few years ago I made a "feeding cage" for the new chicks, so that the big birds couldn't eat all the chick starter. It's just a standing cylinder of 2 x 4 welded wire fencing about 18" in diameter and two feet high. I tied it to the fence so it doesn't get knocked over and covered it with an old square grate from a barbecue grill. Works great! Also, I use oil change pans for water pans and I put a big rock in them when there are chicks, so they can get out if they fall in. And I put less water in them. And there's a round standard size cake pan for water for the chicks, also with rocks in it, so the big birds don't flip the pan. I don't like the regular poultry waterers because they get kicked full of dirt so quickly. They're okay if they're raised up on a couple of concrete blocks, but that won't work for new chicks.

 

[Hfcomms]

Here are some pics. This is a temporary coop and I have four Rhode Island Reds and the cockeral is a Buff Orpington that is only 9 weeks old. The pullets are 17 weeks old.

 

[imaginative]

Thanks for the pics Hf. After dealing with chicks for the past 5 weeks- those creatures seem huge to me. You will be gathering eggs real soon

Good report on the chicks Martinhouse- keep us posted.

 

[Martinhouse]

Hfcomms, I have always had Buff Orpingtons and the chicks are ALWAYS yellow and turn gold by the time they are as big as that little cockerel of yours. And the roosters are a deeper gold than the hens.

There are other kinds of Orpingtons. If yours is one of those, he will still be a fine rooster for your hens.

 

[Martinhouse]

End of day 2. Or perhaps this is day 3. All eleven chicks are alive and strong. And two of the new hens from a year ago are setting now, so I'll have a couple more little broods of chicks in two to three weeks. Even if I cull out all the extra roosters, I'll still have lots of laying hens. I'm definitely going to have to get that huge package of egg cartons at the 10-Box store!

 

[imaginative]

5 weeks ago today these creatures were in an egg

 

[summerthyme]

Hard to believe, isn't it? And in about 4 months, they'll be *laying eggs* of their own!

The only thing more awe inspiring to me is watching Cornish X chicks grow... they weigh under 2 ounces each at 3 days old when they arrive in the mail, and at 6 weeks they can weigh 7# live weight! They don't grow- they explode!

I like your Golden Comets; I always thought they were pretty colored birds. I was fascinated when last summer, my linebred (ok, verging on inbred... this was the third generation from the same roo) Americaunas began showing- very clearly- the breeds the breeder had introduced into the lines to improve production, size and color.

I had three who looked exactly like your pullets, a couple of Silver Penciled (probably Rocks), and some that clearly "threw back" to the old, purebred Auracaunas... one was rumpless (but otherwise looked like a perfect Cuckoo Maran hen!) a couple were an interesting dark bronze, with dark green legs, and one was jet black from beak to toes... comb, earlobes, feathers, legs... And she laid a Kelly green egg!

Summerthyme

 

[imaginative]

It really is hard to believe that in just 11 more weeks they will start laying. Everyday. They are just little biological machines.

A friend raises meat birds (I believe they are Cornish chickens) and it is a bit freaky to watch their incredible growth...It seems that they actually want to meet the butcher by the time they reach 6 weeks....they cant hardly more

 

[Martinhouse]

Well, my other broody hen just hatched her eggs and there are tons more little back chicks out there now. she was still sitting with them so I couldn't count them.

I doubt I'll ever get a good count now. When they're on the ground they remind me of the little schools of black bullhead minnows we'd find in the shallows right at the shoreline at our Wisconsin lake cabin when we were kids. Always moving and impossible to get an accurate count.

Anyway, I now have LOTS of little black balls of fuzz darting around in the chicken run.

Such a common thing, and always so exciting each time it happens!

 

[Hfcomms]

I just got the permanent coop done. It's 7'x10' with a 2/12 pitch and built off my workshop. I used AC3 treated lumber and plywood with a metal roof. It's open front facing to the South and in the winter it will still be open but I have plexiglas for the windows and I can put some plexiglas on the front as well.

The girls and one boy were just moved in there last night and I finished it up this morning. Now just trying to figure out what breed the cockeral is. He is only 10 weeks old and the Rhode Island Reds are 18 weeks old so hopefully they'll start to drop eggs in the next week or two.

 

[Martinhouse]

Hfcomms, that little guy is going to be one gorgeous rooster when he grows up!

I was wrong about a third hen hatching her eggs yesterday. TWO hens hatched their eggs yesterday! When I went out this morning one was on the ground with about four or five of her chicks and another was down eating with no chicks on the ground yet. Between the two new nests I put 17 new chicks down in a fresh pet carrier. So that will be at least 21 more to add to the original eleven. And it looks like another of the young hens has started sitting on a HUGE batch of eggs starting yesterday.

Even if half these new chicks are roosters, I'm gonna have a LOT of chickens! I just hope one of the first batch will be a barred rock hen, since my eleven year old hen can't possibly last much longer.

Having hens that are half large bantams certainly results in lots of broody activity in the spring!

I don't feed whole corn when there are chicks around, and chickens don't eat it much when the weather gets hot, but it looks like I'd best get a few bags of chops for when all these chicks get bigger. If we get GSM cool spells this summer, they will like the chops.

 

[Hfcomms]

I posted on backyardchickens and was told that the cockeral is a Columbian Wyandotte and should look like this when fully grown.

 

[TxGal]

For the first time I've just ordered 25 feather-footed bantams, straight run. We decided to go with smaller chickens in greater numbers for a variety of reasons, more eggs even though they're smaller, and smaller chickens in the freezer. I'm really hoping there's at least one silky pullet in the group for future hatching, and definitely hoping there are more pullets than cockerels in the shipment but I'm guessing at least 50% will be male. Most males will ultimately end up in the freezer, but we'll keep the best two or so for breeding.

We're down to three older hens now, light brahmas which are wonderful, but they've pretty much stopped laying. We've had barred rocks also, and they were great, too. We should get some bantam brahmas, if we're lucky.

If we like the bantams as much as I think we will, we can add bantam brahmas and barred rocks later, along with a few silkies.

 

[Faroe]

For the first time I've just ordered 25 feather-footed bantams, straight run. We decided to go with smaller chickens in greater numbers for a variety of reasons, more eggs even though they're smaller, and smaller chickens in the freezer. I'm really hoping there's at least one silky pullet in the group for future hatching, and definitely hoping there are more pullets than cockerels in the shipment but I'm guessing at least 50% will be male. Most males will ultimately end up in the freezer, but we'll keep the best two or so for breeding.

We're down to three older hens now, light brahmas which are wonderful, but they've pretty much stopped laying. We've had barred rocks also, and they were great, too. We should get some bantam brahmas, if we're lucky.

If we like the bantams as much as I think we will, we can add bantam brahmas and barred rocks later, along with a few silkies.

I enjoyed a small flock of buff Cochin bantams (feather footed) for several years. Sweet, personable birds. Don't much care for the silkies, but maybe I never owned a nice one.

Just acquired two bantams yesterday (sort of a return favor from the neighbor). He had an irresistible tiny, tiny... tiny! little black bantam he really had no use for. Did I want it? "Of course!" He brought the little roo over yesterday with a matching female. Not sure what breed. As tiny as the male is, he doesn't have that pouter pigeon carriage that the Seramas are known for, and I'm not seeing Japanese, either (has long legs, but his body set is more delicate) My best guess is Olde English Game. He also has a small chalky white earlobe, so possibly Minorca (?), if that comes in a miniature size.

I like little chickens.

 

[summerthyme]

My little speckled bantam hen just hatched out 12 chicks! They're about twice the size of bumblebees, and all have feather feet (courtesy of Dad, who is a really pretty Partridge colored feather footed bantam.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting a Silkie bantam in that mix. While they're the "gold standard", almost every bantam I've ever known are fantastic setters and mothers. I'm amazed... she hatched 12 out of 13 eggs, and since she's about 4 years old, she only laid an egg every other day, meaning the oldest eggs were over three weeks old! One didn't even appear to be fertile, or died VERY early in the process. The rest hatched.

We had to scoop them all up and move them, since she was crouched over her brood directly in the path of the cattle coming in the barn. We put them all in a large dog crate temporarily, and once we were done with the livestock chores, hubby scooped her up and I started grabbing chicks... I had to really hurry when chicks started falling out of the hen! They apparently were tucked far up under her wings, and stayed there when hubby picked her up. No injuries (except to feelings!) and we took them all down to the old barn where I keep my poultry, and where she'll be safe from large livestock. I've already trained the barn cats that chicks are off limits (spray bottle of water when I put some I hatched in my incubator into a crate in the barn), and any who get curious will quickly be disabused of the notion by the hen. She already pecked Dixie on the nose when she dared get too close to a baby. She loves baby chicks, and wouldn't ever hurt one, but the hen doesn't trust anything!

I really do enjoy the bantams... it only takes an 18" fence to keep them out of my raised beds, and they dont' make the mess in the gardens the big chickens do. However, I did have to round up all my free range half-grown chicks last summer, when they discovered how to get UNDER the bird mesh on the blueberry bushes and pick berries. I saw them at it... they'd spy a berry a foot above their heads, and JUMP up and pick it! Sheesh... and I thought English sparrows were bad!

Fortunately, Momma hen hasn't found the strawberry patch, or she may find herself incarcerated in a big pen for the duration of strawberry season. The robins steal enough already!

Summerthyme

 

[Freeholder]

Just wanted to mention that I got the Icelandic chickens I talked about earlier, and really like them. I got eight hens and five roosters (keeping future genetics and prevention of inbreeding in mind), and a bunch of hatching eggs. I got some chicks from the eggs, then hatched another incubator full of eggs from the hens I brought home. I've lost count of how many chickens I have right now! But we are getting plenty of eggs, should have some (light-weight) cockerels to eat later this year, and shouldn't have to worry about inbreeding depression for a long time.

I am very happy with these guys. They are small -- like Summerthyme said about the Whiting True Blues, the hens probably only weigh a little over three pounds each. But they are good foragers, good layers even in cold weather, cute as can be (and come in all kinds of colors, and some have crests), and good mothers as well. That's what really sold me on Icelandics. I wanted a fairly small, good-laying and foraging breed that would also raise their own chicks. Most of the small breeds that lay well don't often go broody. They are a bit skittish, which is a good thing when they are running loose in the yard, but they will also come right up to me if they are looking for something. I've got some that are roosting in trees right now, and I need to put a stop to that before an owl finds them, but otherwise they are just what I was looking for. And in spite of their small size, we will still eat surplus birds -- they may not have a lot of meat on them, but they should make good chicken soup.

Kathleen

 

[shepherdess]

Hi Kathleen, I have Icelandic chickens also. I’m going on my fourth year with them, and really enjoy them. The Roos are small, but are very tasty. I love all the colors. Its like enjoying the colors and patterns of many different breeds, but in one. I’ve found that they keep a much cleaner coop, also.

 

[Hfcomms]

I'm going to have to take some more pictures. The little cockeral is just about as big as the pullets now and I keep waiting for them to start laying but nothing yet. One pullet now has the bright red comb and wattles and another one is about there and the other two are starting to get more color. The pullets are now between 22 and 24 weeks old so it should be just about anytime now. I now free range them and open the coop at dawn and lock them back up at dark and they're happy. During most of the day they hang out in the woods near the coop searching for bugs in the leaf litter and just staying cool. And if they see me with the coffee can in my hand that has the chicken scratch then they are happy to see me. Without it they would rather not get too close to me. I try to pick them all up occasionally and at least they don't fight me as much to get away as what they first did.

 

[Melodi]

Adoption of the one surviving incubator chick worked! Believe it or not, it is a month old but part bantie and Momma is a big Buffy. We are trying a second incubator load, the first ones probably died because of the thunderstorms this Spring, I did get 5 rescue battery hens and they are already laying and with the house cleaning and repairs I am giving eggs away as it is (limited freezer space).

 

[Martinhouse]

Oh, Melodi, such a cute picture!

I had to rescue one of my stupid no-longer-so-little chicks this afternoon. It had gotten it's head stuck in a narrow gap where two layers of chicken wire overlap unevenly. I had to run back into the house and get a pair of wire cutters and make two cuts. Poor little thing already had a pecked place the size of a quarter on one shoulder, and lots of ants on it's head. Not sure it will survive, but I'm going to keep all the birds fed extra well, hoping they'll be less apt to peck that wound. The little thing may not make it, but I have no way to care for it in the house, and if it healed, it could be rejected when I put it back with the flock and still not make it.
So I will have to let nature decide whether the poor baby is too stupid to survive or not.

I love Buff Orpingtons! I used to have a whole flock of them. They cross well with Barred Rocks and make the most gorgeously marked hens I've ever seen.

 

[imaginative]

Great pics everyone- thanks for taking the time

Yesterday I sold 6 of my 16....coop was waaay too crowded. The garden is booming- the chicks are starting week 13 and are being fed an all-you-can-eat buffet of Kale, Chard, Spinach, Beets, Zucchini, Kohlrabi, ect

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune

 

[imaginative]

My little speckled bantam hen just hatched out 12 chicks! They're about twice the size of bumblebees, and all have feather feet (courtesy of Dad, who is a really pretty Partridge colored feather footed bantam.

I think we all would love to see a pic or 2!

 

[Hfcomms]

My little cockeral is now nearly as big as the pullets although he is 8 weeks younger than they are and he just started crowing this morning. I heard him as me and the dog came back from the morning run. He kind of sounded like a chicken choking his chicken but he was doing the best he could. The pullets were cocking their heads and looking at him as if to say 'what did you just say?' it's pretty funny as he is starting to find his voice. The crowing won't bother me though as I'm an early riser and three of my neighbors also have roosters and we hear them in the morning as we run past them so looking forward to him finding his voice. Besides, it makes it easier to find them when they are free ranging if he is crowing occasionally during the day.

 

[imaginative]

After 20 weeks I finally got the 1st egg. Usually these Golden Comets start laying at 16-18 weeks....I wonder why these took so long. Maybe the Heat?

Anyway, I started with 16....sold 10 about a month and a half ago. I made enough to cover the feed expense and ended up with 6 free birds and a few bucks left over. These birds are beautiful and healthy, I will post a pic or 2 when I get the chance

 

[summerthyme]

Nah... 18-20 weeks is normal for even the earliest laying breeds. Yours are right on time.

Golden Comets are really pretty hens.

My home-hatched Americauna-True Blue crosses just started laying at 20 weeks. I gave 4 of them to my son (their customers are complaining about the lack of "pretty" eggs in the cartons! I've got pulkets coming up from two more hatches which were 3 weeks apart. The old laying hens (except the True Blues, who are from 2017) are going to be butchered next week. They're almost all molting, and if i wasn't getting a couple pullet eggs daily, I probably would have had to buy some. Horrors!

Summerthyme

 

[Martinhouse]

Well, all the chicks I got this summer, which must have been nearly two dozen, are down to 13 good-looking healthy little birds. I don't remember when they hatched, but by now I should be able to tell which are roosters, and they all appear to be hens. One might be a rooster...it is the only one with much of a comb, but it doesn't stand tall like a rooster. This is pretty odd. The little batch of seven I got the previous year were six hens and a rooster, also pretty odd.

I don't expect the new girls to start laying this fall since they are still pretty young, but since they are all mostly black, I need to get rid of the Black Australorp rooster and just keep the Buff Orpington so I can get some gold hens next year.

Two of my three remaining 11-year-old hens died over the summer, but the good mama Barred Rock is still looking good and I hope she lives to set at least one more nest next spring. She's been the best mama hen I've ever had except for a couple of game hens many years ago.