growLively

Who is laying which eggs?

The Pox must be tapering off at this point because the gals have started laying again. I think I can also now officially say that all 5 are laying. I do believe that Phyllis, the Polish, has just started laying her first eggs...she is obviously a very late bloomer. I've tried to identify which chicken is laying which eggs, well, because I think that's fun! Each bird will lay a specific color egg, and always lay eggs close to that color. The different breeds obviously also have differences between size and color. Here is my best guess at this point:

 

From left to right, Honkers, Eunice, Pecker, Phyllis and Einstein. Now, I do think the pox is still effecting some of their egg sizes. Einstein's eggs were bigger pre-pox and molting, so I expect they will go back up in size a bit. Same thing with Eunice (the sage green egg). I expect hers to go back up in size a bit too. You can see the difference between Phyllis's (Polish) eggs, which are more elongated and a lovely pinkish color and Einstein's (Houdan) which are pure white and more round.

 

I must say, Honkers is laying some honkin' big eggs right now! On the left is a large organic free-range egg from Whole Foods. On the right, is one of my eggs. My yolks are much more orange than the WF eggs as well. I must say that I think I'm kinda kicking WF's behind!

Einstein is a Houdan...not a Polish...a chicken surprise...

So, my little Einstein...that was originally supposedto be a Polish hen, is not a Polish hen. Now, as the girls developed, it became more and more obvious to me that Einstein was making a departure from Phyllis in the looks department. Phyllis's hair just got bigger and more impressive, whereas Einstein's never really got any fancier than when she was a pullet. Phyllis's waddles came in pretty good sized in the last two months...Einstein..nada. Phyllis has also gotten a good bit bigger than Einstein. Einstein has feathers on her legs...Phyllis does not. I kind of knew that Einstein's feather pattern really wasn't Polishesque. Now, I guess I've just been too busy to bother investigating this divergence of appearance. But I've been inspecting them a lot more lately (because they have the Pox) and it just couldn't be ignored any longer. After a tad bit of research, and some toe counting, it appears I have myself a Houdan...

Einstein, the mottled Houdan

Houdans have five toes total, Polish have four. That's the clincher. By the looks of it Einstein is a mottled Houdan and may even be a bantam at that. She's the smallest of all the gals, but was the first to start laying. Phyllis has continued to grow, but Einstein has stayed much smaller. I have to say, I'm kinda glad to have a Houdan. I'm already planning my spring 2010 acquisitions...still trying to decide what to get...anyone have any votes?!

Chicken Pox...my poor babies...

Ok, so chicken pox (that we get) and avian pox (that chickens get) aren't the same things...but my chickens got it...the avian pox that is. Mosquitoes were so bad in September with all the rainfall, that they must have transmitted it to my birds.

I started having a drop in egg production about a month ago. One of my Polish stopped laying completely but I thought it was because she was molting. Then I got 3 eggs with no shell...which I also figured were coming from Einstein because of her molting. Then I started to see scabs showing up on her back where she'd lost feathers. Thought the other gals were just picking at her. But, 3 days ago, the telltale scab spots started showing up on everyone's combs or waddles...What a bummer! Everyone is eating as normal and none of them seem to be having any respiratory problems, so I'm hoping it just manifests itself in the cutaneous form and won't get too bad. I'm still getting about 1-2 eggs a day, I'm assuming from the two biggest girls. I got some xenodine I'm going to apply to the one that's molting and try to get a bit on the rest's combs...but they don't really like being handled too much, so we'll just have to see how that goes!

You can read more about Pox here: 

Backyard Chickens.com

So for those of you in the area with chickens, keep an eye out for it. There is no treatment other than vaccination, so you just have to ride it out and make sure they are eating and drinking normally.

Wet Chicken: Have you ever seen anything sadder?

I laughed out loud the other evening when I stepped into the coop and saw poor Einstein..what with all this rain, and the fact she can't seem to drink water without putting her entire head in the container...she's a hot mess! Now that's a bad hair day. Poor gal. LOL.

Chickens are starting to earn their keep...

We got a full dozen eggs last week and another three today. Lovely blue, sage green and pure white eggs. They are a beautiful sight on the kitchen table. I believe that either 3 or 4 out of the 5 hens are laying right now. Einstein of course, who is laying the smaller white eggs, Eunice, who is laying green eggs, and Honkers who I believe is laying the blue eggs. It's possible that Pecker is also laying and if so I think she is also contributing green eggs. Phyllis may be the last hold out. She is quite the individual. We didn't have to buy eggs at the grocery store today...how nice! I just bought a unique ceramic bowl this weekend at an antique store in Mineola to display the eggs. It's a lovely pale blue color. I'll shoot a photo of it with our lovely eggs next time.

Chickens in the news...again...

Yet another segment on chickens in the city ran on Channel 11 this week...all you chicken lovers can check it out:

Chickens on Channel 11 

We carry the chicken tractor they showed in the segment at NHG, not to mention organic feeds, starters, scratch, straw, feeders, waterers and more, right here in Dallas. Our next Chicken Sale day is October 17th. Sale starts 10am with open Q&A.  We hold hen sales the third Saturday of each month.

Organic chicken feed

Ok, you guys have been asking for organic feed, so I just placed an order or Organic Pullet Starter, Organic Layer Feed and Organic Corn today. We hope to get that in at North Haven Gardens within about a week. They will all be 50lb bags because after 6 months of haggling that is the only size I can get! Retail pricing for the feed will be around $60 a bag give or take (don't have final yet) and the corn around $50. So around a buck a pound for the organic. Still waiting on an eta but don't imagine it will be more than a week. We will still carry the conventional layer pellets and scratch. NHG carries lots of backyard chicken keeping supplies like handcrafted cedar arks, nesting boxes, feeders, waterers, supplements, food grade diatomaceous earth, books and more.

Chicken-feather biodegradable nursery pots...

Four billion...that's Billion...pounds of chicken feathers are discarded each year in the U.S. after processing. So what to do with all that valuable organic matter? Well..make some biodegradable flower pots! While I don't eat chickens, or cows, or fish and am therefore not crazy about nor support large scale animal production, I do agree that at least the most should be made of the animal in a responsible way. They shouldn't just be thrown in the trash. Being in the horticulture industry, the plastic pot issue is a big one.

You can read the story here: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090908.htm

"Think" KERA podcast show on chickens

Hi all, if you missed the Think program yesterday on KERA 90.1, or if you're not local, they have a podcast of the show on their site. Good chicken info no matter where you live. There was a ton of information we never could get to and questions as well, but it was fun nonetheless.

Garden Center Magazine Sustainable Living Article

Here is a nice little article put out by Garden Center Magazine...Einstein and Phyllis are so famous...LOL

Sustainable Living Article