Purchased 3 Rhode Island Reds = 24 weeks old [May 13]
Names: Tilly, Melly, Ruby
Purchased 3 White Leghorns = 15 weeks old [July 23]
Names: Pearl, Opal, Ivory
Purchased 2 Barred Rocks = 10-12 weeks old
Names: Thelma and Louise
Update 3/8/2016: Lost one to illness. Remaining girl has been renamed Selma, the Overcomer!
December 26, 2015
Finally, an egg! A nice hard shell! Thank you, Tilly! The first of my chickens to lay, a Rhode Island Red at 32 weeks old. She has been singing "the egg song" for about three or four weeks, but, other than that, I was happily surprised when I found the egg in the nest bucket!
Getting closer to that first dozen from Tilly; she has laid 11 as of today! I bought a digital scale to see how it would grade, and it is at 1.8 oz., or Medium.
January 7, 2016
One dozen....my first dozen! Tilly's eggs are consistently 1.8 oz.
January 9, 2016
Melly, 34 week old RIR, was singing a lot this morning and I said to her, Eggs, now! She listened! Another egg was in the other nest bucket when I went to get Tilly's egg! This was a lighter brown egg and weighed 1.6 oz. Of course, I am giving Melly the credit until I actually see who is in the nest bucket. Can Ruby be far behind? Egg count for 2016=9.
Melly's is the lightest brown egg on the right.
February 8, 2016
Pearl, the White Leghorn, (age 28 weeks) laid her first egg today, weighing 1.6 oz. An hour ago, I told my husband she would be next and any time, as Pearl was "singing" to me a lot more than Ruby, the final Rhode Island Red, who is 39 weeks. So, I wasn't surprised to see 3 eggs in the nest bucket today!
Opal, the White Leghorn (age 29 weeks) laid her first egg, weighing 1.6 oz. I told hubby this morning, I expected Opal to lay today, after I took Pearl's little white, lukewarm egg from the nest box at 8:30 a.m. Since it was Sunday, I was in a hurry to get ready for church and visiting. Not until later in the afternoon did I realize this egg could not be Pearl's because she laid between 12:30 and 2:15 p.m. the day before. [Pearl's first egg was also 1.6 oz., second-1.7 and now consistently 1.8.]
Today's proof that all three of my Rhode Island Reds are laying! Three brown eggs, Ruby has joined the hen party with Tilly and Melly! All three will be 40 weeks on the 19th.
One of the two white leghorns produced a 2.8 ounce egg today!
The other white egg was just 1.8 ounces and looks small compared to that big beauty!
February 25, 2016:
Just shy of 31 weeks old, the third and final of my White Leghorn trio, Ivory Snow, has laid her first egg today at 1.6 ounces.
March 10, 2016
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| Selma's first egg means seven out of seven of my girls are laying now! |
Just shy of 30 weeks, the lone barred rock, Selma, has laid her first egg. Shown here with her sister, who was lost to an illness.
And, eight newly purchased, one-week old chicken nuggets, 5 Black and 3 Red Stars, are in the brooder. What a wonderful way to start the day! They are in the Brooder DIY.
March 15, 2016
I got this mixed brood today, 3 week old Black Australorps, 4 males and 2 females. They're in the Crib Brooder in the garage/shed. I call them "Little Pterodactyls" My son said they looked like vultures to him, not chickens!
March 19, 2016
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| A cold start to Spring and "feels like 35 degrees" night required two heat lamps in the unheated shed, where the now-winterized brooder is! |
March 25, 2016
The sex link chicks are growing; they are approximately three weeks old now.
The sex link chicks are growing; they are approximately three weeks old now.
April 4, 2016
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| The sex-links got a larger DIY brooder today to accommodate their growth! 4.5 weeks old. |
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| The australorps are looking more like chickens and less like little vultures! They are approx. 6.5 weeks old. LaRue is proudly in the middle of them! |
May 7, 2016
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| The australorps have grown! |
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| The sex-links are going into Chicken Tractor One! |
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| The Red Stars are named The Spice Girls; The Black Stars are named Cocoa Puffs |
June 10, 2016
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| 16 week old Black Australorp cockerel, LaRue...sold! |
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| 14 week old black sex-links...sold1 |
June 28, 2016
The black Australorp pullet, Cocoa, laid her first egg. Finding there is a new layer among the girls has not lost its excitement! I am eagerly anticipating her sister Mocha's first egg. Cocoa's egg is shown below with Selma's daily deposit. Selma is a very consistent laying barred Plymouth Rock hen. Maybe she will show the pullets how it is done! [Update, April, 2017, Mocha never laid one egg that I know of and was sold to free range for ticks and bugs.]
"Psycho Melly" is one strange chicken! She crowds the tractor door to get to the feed pan and has gone to the broody cage twice this spring. She sits on an egg that is not hers, growling protectively, when I gather eggs (even when she is not broody) and lays a large to extra large, speckled, rough-shelled egg of multi-tinted brown every other day or three. Melly has tried my patience more than once, but, as long as she is laying good eggs, I will keep her around.
August 13, 2016
July 5, 2016
Sold another cockerel on July 3, I called Rootenant Dan. I now have two left, LaRue2 and Bruce Jenner.
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| 20 week old cockerel enjoying his bachelor pad! |
July 7, 2016
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| (l to r) A-frame, Tractor 1, Monster Tractor, Suite An afternoon after a windy, cloudy, rainy day. |
July 9, 2016
This morning, I had the inclination to remove the barrier from the nest buckets in Chicken Tractor 1, which is home to the black and red sex-links. I had noticed some were becoming clucky, not to mention enlarged, red combs and wattles. Both are signs to me they are close to laying.
This afternoon, to my surprise, when I was opening the door to the nest buckets to throw a few frozen bananas through (on a very hot day), there was a tiny brown egg!
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| This first egg weighed 1.2 oz. |
Another day, another egg! It may or may not be from the same girl, but, it was a tiny .9 oz. Comparing it to a "normal" large, it is, of course, half the size or less!
July 12, 2016:
Sold the last young rooster today, which made room for 14 week old Black Australorp pullets! They occupy the A-frame tractor.
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| The collective group is called Java Mamas. I have ceased calling them by individual names when I can't tell them apart! |
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| 19 week old red sex-link, I call Red Girl, has been bullied by the other girls. Because she spends her day on the roost bar, I am selling her to give her a better life. One of the other red sex-links started laying last week. |
Confirmation....3 of the 5 sex-link pullets (20 weeks old) are laying now. The "new" egg today was a tiny .8 oz. The other two were 1.5 and 1.1 oz. It is fun to watch the weights increase over time to large or extra large eggs.
August 13, 2016
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| Filling up a carton doesn't take long when 9 out of ll pullets are laying plus 7 hens! |
My girls have officially laid 100 dozen eggs! That's 1,200 eggs....wow!
April, 2017
My flock is enjoying their new hen house and run as much as I am! I sold one unproductive Black Australorp, bringing my number down to 17 hens. 7 are two years old and 10 are one year old. I resisted chicks this year!
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| All the hens have moved into the new Chicken Coop and Run. See the page on this blog for more details! |
July 8, 2017:
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| 3 bared Plymouth Rocks purchased today. 18 weeks old (March 3) First to lay: July 23 at 20 weeks Second to lay: Aug. 4 at 22 weeks Third to lay: Aug 10 at 23 weeks 2018: 3 barred rocks and 1 red star from fall 4-H auction, laying or laid within next 6 weeks.  |
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