June eggs

For the 30 days of June, our hens laid 177 eggs, with three hens going broody at the end of May and therefore not laying for June, and four new pullets started laying: Little Girl, the small single-comb Wyandotte from Luanne, one of the rosecomb Wyandottes from Luanne, and two of the red broiler pullets.  In fact, Little Girl is already showing to be a good layer: she laid her first egg on the tenth, and yesterday laid her fourteenth egg.  That is an impressive start, although her eggs aren't much bigger than the first (excepting a suspected double-yolker).

I mentioned Little Girl's good start in an email to Luanne, and Luanne replied she was pleasantly surprised by how well her line lays in frequency and how early they come into lay.  Apparently, there are enough Wyandotte lines that wait until 8 months to start laying, and only lay about 3 eggs per week.  Luanne mentioned she just wishes the Wyandottes laid a little larger eggs ... so that will likely be something I start selecting for in subsequent generations.

Breaking the broody Wheaties

So, it is now a week past when those eggs should have hatched underneath the two "Wheaties" Ameracaunas from Luanne.  Neither hen looked willing to just quit the nest, so we took action this morning.  I went into the tractor, had to lift one of the Wheaties up off the eggs (the one with the black ziptie ankle bracelet) then pick up the eggs before she could get back on them.  I handed those out to hubby, then took down the front perch so I could pull their tub out they've been using as a nestbox.  While both are upset, the one with the black ziptie is much more upset ... she was also the most dedicated to the cause.

They have no nest box right now, just two perches and a "shelf" of hardware cloth.  I plan to put Feyd in their tonight to not only shake up their little world even more, but I figure a little time with a rooster might cure what ails them.  If not, Feyd will certainly ail what cures them.  The red broiler pullets might even appreciate a short break from the "EverReady Rooster."

Capons running around!

We've been learning to let the chickens out of their tractors. 

Sounds funny but we weren't sure what would happen.

Everything has been going just fine, they even put them selves "away" when they're done!

Thanks for looking!

Peke-a-boo chicks

Four little chicks

We do indeed have four newly hatched chicks, but getting a picture of them is still quite a challenge.  Broody Eileen does not want anything or anyone too close to "her" babies, and she doesn't even like us looking at them yet.  I took the golf ball out earlier today, and she brought them out of the bantie house.  Actually, she only had one down while the other three were trying to figure out how exactly to get out of the bantie house. Two went out and onto the ramp for a few steps before "Geronimo!"-ing off the ramp, while the third required a bit of nudging out the door and onto the ramp, then geronimoed off to join its siblings and broody hen.

Fingers crossed for later this week, when the four remaining eggs under the wheaties are due to hatch either Friday or Saturday.  Those are for Tiny's test breeding, then we'll need another hen to go broody for Azar's test breeding.  Azar is now in with the older sex links and Goldie, while Feyd moved into the tractor with the five red broiler pullets.

Little Girl, the small single comb Wyandotte from Luanne's January hatch, started laying last Wednesday, and has given us four eggs already in less than a week.  Not bad, for just starting out!  Her eggs are tiny, true pullet bullets, but it looks like she may be a good layer so far.

WE HAVE CHICKS!

I was just out doing the evening feeding, and checked in on our broody bantie, the Exorcist Eileen ... and we have chicks!  I had put four eggs under her, and have seen three chicks so far.  The golf ball has about a 50-50 chance of hatching just on her sheer determination.  I'm not sure when I'll be able to get pics, because she clucks at them to hide under her when she sees me.  On two, I am sure they have rose combs.  These are Feyd's test chicks, from the three sex-links and Goldie.