My birds have laid in the same spot in their coops since the dawn of Chicken'ing on my farm. As the weather warmed up and the turkeys grew, I started to find less eggs or eggs randomly placed throughout the coop. Really, I thought nothing of it. Still learning how things went, assumed it was mostly to do with the warmer weather.
Then I started finding yolky eggs. I googled it (exactly that) and found everything from egg eating to "internal laying" where eggs don't form shells and are broken by another egg that has formed a shell coming through. From what I read, happens with older birds. Alright, understandable. I have an egg eater and/or lame layer. Got it.
The weather continued to warm up and I started to let the birds free range to make sure they were cool enough (first summer, don't want to get it wrong). Eggs dropped again, figured they were laying outside. I searched (and searched); nothing. Shadowridge came by the farm, found 2 eggs instantly... wth...
A weekend comes around and, hot outside or not, I kept the birds in the coop until noon before letting them out. TADA! 3 eggs in their old spot with a reeeeally interested turkey. Hmmm... I brought the eggs outside and set one down, walked away. Here comes that turkey, casual look... reeeally close casual look, walk over top, puff up, another casual look annnnnd bam: poke and crack of egg followed by quick eats and runs! You bugger!
Surely, I thought, they couldn't be eating ALL 13 eggs a day? A week or so goes by and Moose gets our beat up broke down truck to move and I'm walking by looking for the dogs and there, where the truck used to be, is a clutch of 13 eggs. !! I underestimate how intelligent chickens can be. I started poking around that area some more and found an additional 10 eggs. They all got cooked up and mashed since I didn't know how old they were, but I candled them all before hand to make sure I wasn't cooking a baby.
Yesterday I found another nest in an area I had checked just the day before. A clutch of 13 eggs. The great egg hunt is on. I've had to stop selling eggs because I'm only getting 3 or 4 a day. With all of these large clutches, I'm disappointed nobody has gone broody on me.
Has anyone else had any boggling events like that?
Also, about 4 or 5 days ago, I was doing morning chores before work and decided to check the garden. While over there, I hear a familiar but... not noise. And then again. Well what the heck is that? I start following the sound and realize it's my young Chanty roo making the most insincere attempt at crowing resulting in a roo-roo-roooooooo sound that kind of just... sucked?
This morning I'm feeding the babies in the pens, checking water and so on, and a squeeky toy goes off beside me in a cock-a-doodle-doo type sound and I look over to see the young Araucana roo on his tip-toes giving it his his absolute all. How terrible! I hope he grows into that call. It was on, however, and the Chanty and the Araucana were crowing back and forth at eachother. A little bit more heart from the Chanty, but it was just too lame to believe.
As I was leaving, Winston came in to assert his dominance, stood between the other boys and let loose his T-Rex roar. Strutted, fluffed and walked away. Silence.
I find the culture of bird incredible, and I can watch them for hours.
Any stories?
Then I started finding yolky eggs. I googled it (exactly that) and found everything from egg eating to "internal laying" where eggs don't form shells and are broken by another egg that has formed a shell coming through. From what I read, happens with older birds. Alright, understandable. I have an egg eater and/or lame layer. Got it.
The weather continued to warm up and I started to let the birds free range to make sure they were cool enough (first summer, don't want to get it wrong). Eggs dropped again, figured they were laying outside. I searched (and searched); nothing. Shadowridge came by the farm, found 2 eggs instantly... wth...
A weekend comes around and, hot outside or not, I kept the birds in the coop until noon before letting them out. TADA! 3 eggs in their old spot with a reeeeally interested turkey. Hmmm... I brought the eggs outside and set one down, walked away. Here comes that turkey, casual look... reeeally close casual look, walk over top, puff up, another casual look annnnnd bam: poke and crack of egg followed by quick eats and runs! You bugger!
Surely, I thought, they couldn't be eating ALL 13 eggs a day? A week or so goes by and Moose gets our beat up broke down truck to move and I'm walking by looking for the dogs and there, where the truck used to be, is a clutch of 13 eggs. !! I underestimate how intelligent chickens can be. I started poking around that area some more and found an additional 10 eggs. They all got cooked up and mashed since I didn't know how old they were, but I candled them all before hand to make sure I wasn't cooking a baby.
Yesterday I found another nest in an area I had checked just the day before. A clutch of 13 eggs. The great egg hunt is on. I've had to stop selling eggs because I'm only getting 3 or 4 a day. With all of these large clutches, I'm disappointed nobody has gone broody on me.
Has anyone else had any boggling events like that?
Also, about 4 or 5 days ago, I was doing morning chores before work and decided to check the garden. While over there, I hear a familiar but... not noise. And then again. Well what the heck is that? I start following the sound and realize it's my young Chanty roo making the most insincere attempt at crowing resulting in a roo-roo-roooooooo sound that kind of just... sucked?
This morning I'm feeding the babies in the pens, checking water and so on, and a squeeky toy goes off beside me in a cock-a-doodle-doo type sound and I look over to see the young Araucana roo on his tip-toes giving it his his absolute all. How terrible! I hope he grows into that call. It was on, however, and the Chanty and the Araucana were crowing back and forth at eachother. A little bit more heart from the Chanty, but it was just too lame to believe.
As I was leaving, Winston came in to assert his dominance, stood between the other boys and let loose his T-Rex roar. Strutted, fluffed and walked away. Silence.
I find the culture of bird incredible, and I can watch them for hours.
Any stories?
) and put the 23 chicks in there. What fun watching the little roosters glaring and flaring at each other. One glance from across the new pen (and it is a big one) and two of them would run across and glare at each other. They are sure bouncy, too. Boing, boing across the pen. What I sometimes wonder is how late in the day will a chicken really lay? The books must be about factory ones, or US days, which have less daylight than us northerners, because mine do not like to lay early in the morning (though they love to crow then), and with the longer days there are often eggs out there at 7:00pm, not 3:00 like the books say. My chanteclers have decided the nest box is too hot or something, because they have made a nest at the bottom of the ramp that leads up to the nests, and all are laying there. Also find the occasional one in the run - maybe the heat is upsetting their routines? They loved the ideas of berries in ice, and I give them extra frozen fruit, and today watermelon, which they polish off in no time. Appreciate this forum and its ideas and stories.