Eggs, getting eggs!

Although this is not about cooking eggs (albeit indirectly with the results of the labours of the hens) it is about the chickens that lay the eggs.
My son finally succumbed to my whining about missing my chickens and farm, he built a coop. I fetched the 5 chickens he ordered and oops, I brought home 7 . We purchased POL (point of lay) or aka RTL (ready to lay). Slightly more expensive than day old chicks but we didn't want to go thru the hassle of raising them. Would have been good for the kids but the adults preferred to NOT.
Took a week for them to settle in, at first we only got 1 or 2 eggs a day but they've suddenly got the hang of it and we are just starting to get 7 per. Still pretty small but eggs will get extra large when matured.

After about a week or so, we still had not quite finished the run. Mostly but still some more things to do - finish securing the wire overhead to various attachments, one of them being the roof of the coop. I suggested to my son we could let them out while we are working in there. They'd be so happy looking around the grass that they won't be looking up.... wrong! Within 15 minutes one headed/flew straight to the roof of the coop - the one biggest place not secure. Panic ensued - if she went from the roof of the coop to the outer fence (2-3 feet maybe?) she would be in heavy weeds and growth from an empty lot that led to the ravine and a busy main thoroughfare. Nimble son to the rescue, practically leapt to the roof from the opposite side and managed to literally push her back into the run. That's the first story.
Next...
Now the thing is you have to understand, chickens are omnivores. Yes, they eat and like grain - but go insane chasing anything alive and kicking. If they happen to spot a dot of a different colour they peck at it to find out if it's edible. You know... like that little bloody spot on your knee where you knelt on a sharp stone while gardening.
I'm sure there will be more stories to come.
Does anyone else have some episodes they remember from past or present?

dragnlaw said:

Although this is not about cooking eggs (albeit indirectly with the results of the labours of the hens) it is about the chickens that lay the eggs.
My son finally succumbed to my whining about missing my chickens and farm, he built a coop. I fetched the 5 chickens he ordered and oops, I brought home 7 . We purchased POL (point of lay) or aka RTL (ready to lay). Slightly more expensive than day old chicks but we didn't want to go thru the hassle of raising them. Would have been good for the kids but the adults preferred to NOT.
Took a week for them to settle in, at first we only got 1 or 2 eggs a day but they've suddenly got the hang of it and we are just starting to get 7 per. Still pretty small but eggs will get extra large when matured.

After about a week or so, we still had not quite finished the run. Mostly but still some more things to do - finish securing the wire overhead to various attachments, one of them being the roof of the coop. I suggested to my son we could let them out while we are working in there. They'd be so happy looking around the grass that they won't be looking up.... wrong! Within 15 minutes one headed/flew straight to the roof of the coop - the one biggest place not secure. Panic ensued - if she went from the roof of the coop to the outer fence (2-3 feet maybe?) she would be in heavy weeds and growth from an empty lot that led to the ravine and a busy main thoroughfare. Nimble son to the rescue, practically leapt to the roof from the opposite side and managed to literally push her back into the run. That's the first story.
Next...
Now the thing is you have to understand, chickens are omnivores. Yes, they eat and like grain - but go insane chasing anything alive and kicking. If they happen to spot a dot of a different colour they peck at it to find out if it's edible. You know... like that little bloody spot on your knee where you knelt on a sharp stone while gardening.
I'm sure there will be more stories to come.
Does anyone else have some episodes they remember from past or present?

Click to expand...

I harvested 12 large eggs today. Must have been from really well trained chickens, because they laid them neatly in cartons.

CD

I tried finding that thread about the chickens that @CWS4322 had. It's got to be here somewhere. She used to refer to them as "the girls".

We had chickens for many years, until the raccoons got your last one, the kids moved out and my wife went vegan. Didn't need a few dozen eggs a week anymore, maybe when I have grand kids I'll do it again.

Of all our chickens, we had one that was more like a pet ' Dominick'. She would follow me around the yard, and ultimately into the house, where we would feed her peanuts ( she would literally jump to get them from my hand). Luckily, she never had an accident either ( my wife would have killed me).

%99 of the time, she'd make it back to the coop at night. I remember one time, it was dark outside, my wife and I were watching television in the den, and we heard banging on the sliding door (in the den). I put the backyard light on, just to see dominick pecking at the glass on the door, and jumping into it, trying to get inside to be with us. I opened the door and she ran in and just kinda hung out in the room with us for a few minutes. I knew there was no way she'd be able to spend the night in the house, so I picked her up, brought her back to the coop, and locked and secured it. She really was more like a pet than an egg producer . Sadly, one night, a raccoon figured out how to get into the coop, and when I checked the chickens the next morning, I found her headless body laying on the floor. I buried her, and the damn raccoons dug her up and continued to eat the rest of her. I set up a ring cam inside the coop to see how they got in so I could protect the others. It worked. The cam alerted me there was action in the coop ( at about 10:30pm , when they should be still and sleeiipng). I ran out there (in my boxers), with an aluminum bat, not necessarily to harm the raccoon, but to protect myself, I first banged on the coop door to alert the raccoon that someone (me ) was coming in. Opened the door, and sure enough, he had one of the remaining chickens kinda cornered on her perch. When the raccoon saw me, it went to escape ( through a very, much smaller than expected, whole that led out to their fenced in run. As it tried to squeeze its big, fat butt through the hole, I gave it a swift kick in the behind. I then blocked the hole, went outside and watched it in the caged run to see how it got in, I did poke it a bit with a long pic pipe just to prompt it too escape. Finally , it climbed the fence and squeezed through this very small seam ( where the wall of the run met the ceiling ( both fenced with wire). The next day, had to weave wire ( almost like sewing with wire) to maked sure there were now more gaps in the seam. A few years before, they dug their way inm even though the fenced walls are buried a foot deep under the ground, so I had to fence the floor too ( along with large paver stoned along the borders).

Another story, when we didnt realize/ know that a cat really wasn't a threat to an adult chicken ( n most cases), it was one of the first times we let Dominick roam the backyard unattended. Me and my wife were in the basement, and she had to go upstairs to get something. All of a sudden , I hear her yell " Oh my God, there's a cat outside, DOMINICK". I here her open the sliding door, I ran upstairs and look out the back door. Its was like a cartoon, First I see Dominick running from right to left past the back door. A few seconds later, I see a cat running from right to left towards Dominick. Then, a few seconds after that , I see my wife running from right to left after cat , who was running after Dominick, who was running as fast as she could to escape the cat. I couldn't stop laughing. My only regret is I didn't have it on video. It truly resembled a stupid cartoon from back when I was a kid.

dragnlaw said:

Although this is not about cooking eggs (albeit indirectly with the results of the labours of the hens) it is about the chickens that lay the eggs.
My son finally succumbed to my whining about missing my chickens and farm, he built a coop. I fetched the 5 chickens he ordered and oops, I brought home 7 . We purchased POL (point of lay) or aka RTL (ready to lay). Slightly more expensive than day old chicks but we didn't want to go thru the hassle of raising them. Would have been good for the kids but the adults preferred to NOT.
Took a week for them to settle in, at first we only got 1 or 2 eggs a day but they've suddenly got the hang of it and we are just starting to get 7 per. Still pretty small but eggs will get extra large when matured.

After about a week or so, we still had not quite finished the run. Mostly but still some more things to do - finish securing the wire overhead to various attachments, one of them being the roof of the coop. I suggested to my son we could let them out while we are working in there. They'd be so happy looking around the grass that they won't be looking up.... wrong! Within 15 minutes one headed/flew straight to the roof of the coop - the one biggest place not secure. Panic ensued - if she went from the roof of the coop to the outer fence (2-3 feet maybe?) she would be in heavy weeds and growth from an empty lot that led to the ravine and a busy main thoroughfare. Nimble son to the rescue, practically leapt to the roof from the opposite side and managed to literally push her back into the run. That's the first story.
Next...
Now the thing is you have to understand, chickens are omnivores. Yes, they eat and like grain - but go insane chasing anything alive and kicking. If they happen to spot a dot of a different colour they peck at it to find out if it's edible. You know... like that little bloody spot on your knee where you knelt on a sharp stone while gardening.
I'm sure there will be more stories to come.
Does anyone else have some episodes they remember from past or present?

Click to expand...

Ha! Love this story! Especially the mental image of your son leaping to the rescue like a superhero. Chickens can be such escape artists, but they're also surprisingly clever (sometimes in mischievous ways!).

Those first few eggs are always so exciting, aren't they? And 7 a day is pretty good, even if they're on the small side yet.

I know what you mean about the run! We built our own coop a few years back and it seemed like there was always one more thing to finish up. And, of course, Murphy's Law applies to chickens - as soon as you think everything is secure, they find the one weak spot!

On the omnivore thing, you're absolutely right. Our girls go nuts for anything buggy. It's kind of fascinating to watch them stalk and then pounce. And don't even get me started on the blood-red peckable things! They'll chase a ladybug around the yard for ages.

taxlady said:

I tried finding that thread about the chickens that @CWS4322 had. It's got to be here somewhere. She used to refer to them as "the girls".

Click to expand...

I grew up with chickens and found out that I hated them more than I liked eggs.

My grandmother kept a small flock of laying hens and an ornery old rooster that used to attack me when it was my turn to feed them.

I used to howl and cry, my older brother’s only advice was to swing the feed pail at him and give him a whack he’ll never forget!

I guess my grandmother got sick of my howling because one day the ornery old rooster disappeared and the next day we had chicken for dinner.

Thanks taxy, I too looked for her thread but guess I gave up too soon.
I too have tales from the farm - Please understand that this was a farm and I made money from these girls. They did not support me financially but did help. As such I had every right to protect my livestock from predators.
One night I fell asleep watching TV. Woke in horror to sounds from outside realizing I had not closed up the chickens for the night.
Knowing it was probably raccoons I made sure to keep the dogs inside and rushed out. Found two headless girls - with huge gouges in their backs, ran into the coop and found two more on the floor. Looked around and finally spotted one raccoon up in the rafters with an arm around a chicken sitting beside it. Almost as if it were saying "it's OK honey, we'll just cuddle for the night"
. Of course I had not brought anything with me, like my .22 (what was I thinking?) So I pointed my finger at him and said "Wait right there, I'll be back" as I turned around to leave I spotted a 2nd raccoon doing exactly the same thing with another chicken maybe 5 feet furnther down the rafter.
I ran to the house, grabbed the gun and 2 bullets from the desk. Ran back (no, they waited obediently). Loaded, (single shot .22) fired... nothing. Loaded the 2nd bullet, fired... again nothing. So again I said "Wait right there, I'll be back" and ran to the house again.
As I grabbed a couple of more bullets I realized I had grabbed bird shot! No wonder they hadn't moved!
So grabbing the right load - ran back, still sitting there and promptly dispatched them.
I was telling my ex the story and he looked at me incredulously couldn't believe I would only take 2 bullets at a time. I had a lot of bloody confidence I wouldn't miss. LOL - of course I wasn't going to miss - I was protecting my girls!

Please understand that this was a farm and I made money from these girls. They did not support me financially but did help. As such I had every right to protect my livestock from predators.

The year after we moved to the farm we got a dozen hens. We waited a year to get them while we built a coop and nest boxes, assembled the needed equipment, and read up on breeds of chickens. We ended up with Australorps because they are good layers and can stand our Texas summers.

Here are our girls. Cyrus, the rooster, was a mean guy and he "took a cab."

Aunt Bea said:

I grew up with chickens and found out that I hated them more than I liked eggs.

My grandmother kept a small flock of laying hens and an ornery old rooster that used to attack me when it was my turn to feed them.

I used to howl and cry, my older brother’s only advice was to swing the feed pail at him and give him a whack he’ll never forget!

I guess my grandmother got sick of my howling because one day the ornery old rooster disappeared and the next day we had chicken for dinner.

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I remember being chased and pecked on by a rooster when we used to keep hens, I was absolutely terrified of him. Why are they so aggressive? Jealous and over-protective perhaps, of their darling hens?

Meryl said:

I remember being chased and pecked on by a rooster when we used to keep hens, I was absolutely terrified of him. Why are they so aggressive? Jealous and over-protective perhaps, of their darling hens?

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Grandparents owned a farm. Grandmother kept chickens for eggs and also raised chicks for meat. Us kids always loved the chicks. We never figured out though why the huge amount of chicks she got each year didn’t equal a huge amount of chickens that were present year round. Anyway, the rooster was, as above, a mean, nasty suckerer.

Meryl said:

I remember being chased and pecked on by a rooster when we used to keep hens, I was absolutely terrified of him. Why are they so aggressive? Jealous and over-protective perhaps, of their darling hens?

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Ya' just gotta' have ya' a dawg, I say, a dawg to keep yer rooster in line.



CD

One of my sons used to raise a few chickens but quit after a few years. On the other hand, my younger brother has about a dozen chickens, and they are producing well.

Having said this, I have sent both of them one of these: https://www.temu.com/1pc-chicken-eg...&refer_page_id=10009_1720277667776_yz6oekyt43

LOVE it!!

dragnlaw said:

Thanks taxy, I too looked for her thread but guess I gave up too soon.
I too have tales from the farm - Please understand that this was a farm and I made money from these girls. They did not support me financially but did help. As such I had every right to protect my livestock from predators.
One night I fell asleep watching TV. Woke in horror to sounds from outside realizing I had not closed up the chickens for the night.
Knowing it was probably raccoons I made sure to keep the dogs inside and rushed out. Found two headless girls - with huge gouges in their backs, ran into the coop and found two more on the floor. Looked around and finally spotted one raccoon up in the rafters with an arm around a chicken sitting beside it. Almost as if it were saying "it's OK honey, we'll just cuddle for the night"
. Of course I had not brought anything with me, like my .22 (what was I thinking?) So I pointed my finger at him and said "Wait right there, I'll be back" as I turned around to leave I spotted a 2nd raccoon doing exactly the same thing with another chicken maybe 5 feet furnther down the rafter.
I ran to the house, grabbed the gun and 2 bullets from the desk. Ran back (no, they waited obediently). Loaded, (single shot .22) fired... nothing. Loaded the 2nd bullet, fired... again nothing. So again I said "Wait right there, I'll be back" and ran to the house again.
As I grabbed a couple of more bullets I realized I had grabbed bird shot! No wonder they hadn't moved!
So grabbing the right load - ran back, still sitting there and promptly dispatched them.
I was telling my ex the story and he looked at me incredulously couldn't believe I would only take 2 bullets at a time. I had a lot of bloody confidence I wouldn't miss. LOL - of course I wasn't going to miss - I was protecting my girls!

Please understand that this was a farm and I made money from these girls. They did not support me financially but did help. As such I had every right to protect my livestock from predators.

Click to expand...

I grew up in a house with guns and had never heard of 22 birdshot until today, interesting.

I have no idea who gave me that ammo. Not something I would normally buy. I'm strictly a target shooter.

I've had several roosters, most were sweeties. Except one - the rooster from hell. He would stalk you across the yard and attack. I think he was from fighting stock. Positively beautiful guy but deadly. One day, trying to do some work in the paddock, my worker and I spent more time checking behind us to see if he was sneaking up than hammering. Was nothing to it but to catch him up (fishing nets are wonderful!) and put him in solitary. Kids were coming one weekend and I decided I'd had enough. Was a delicious stew, thank you very much.

The road that goes along the water into my little town is usually 35mph, so many people along the road have chickens. There's one spot where they sometimes get out and sit out on the road, and one day there were some chickens there with a big black rooster, so I had to stop the car. I got out to shoo them out of the road and the rooster got up and spread his wings to me, so I did what he said and got right back in my car.

Then I yelled at them from the safety of my vehicle and called them something like suicidal birdbrains. The owner heard and was laughing so hard she could hardly walk while she rounded them up off the road and apologized.

And that, folks, is as close as I ever want to come to chickens.

rodentraiser said:

The road that goes along the water into my little town is usually 35mph, so many people along the road have chickens. There's one spot where they sometimes get out and sit out on the road, and one day there were some chickens there with a big black rooster, so I had to stop the car. I got out to shoo them out of the road and the rooster got up and spread his wings to me, so I did what he said and got right back in my car.

Then I yelled at them from the safety of my vehicle and called them something like suicidal birdbrains. The owner heard and was laughing so hard she could hardly walk while she rounded them up off the road and apologized.

And that, folks, is as close as I ever want to come to chickens.

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Have you ever been to Key West, Florida?


Chickens run loose all over town. Big rabbits, too.

CD

DL, I didn't find Chicken Chronicles. Aunt Bea found that.

Ooops, my apologizies Aunt Bea, thank you!

caseydog said:

Have you ever been to Key West, Florida?

Chickens run loose all over town. Big rabbits, too.

CD

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More entertaining than seeing wild boars crossing the street!