Tag: Easter Eggers

The Chicken Chronicles

Posted by Steve On October 14, 2014

Let’s start off this week with a picture of the elusive “pink” egg:

Fresh Eggs – Capturing the Elusive “Pink” Egg

If you look in the second row from the bottom, second egg from the left, you will see what I call the “pink” egg. Even after all this time, I can’t with certainty say this is an Easter Egger’s egg, but I think it is. You will notice the Rhode Island Reds’ eggs are much darker brown. They are the far bottom left, right side of the second row from the bottom, and the left egg on both the first and second row from the top. The Easter Eggers mostly lay blue eggs, though there are a few that are more olive or green. This pink one is the unidentified egg though. Chickens are supposed to lay the same color egg, generally, daily. Easter Eggers can lay pink eggs, but I am supposing the coloration for one of the Rhode Island Reds may be off too. In other words, I DON’T KNOW! You have no idea how tempted I am to set up a camera. 🙂

I have been surprised lately – the Rhode Island Reds’ egg production has really slowed down. They are only averaging 3.75 eggs a week now, whereas the Easter Eggers are averaging 4.16 eggs a week. That isn’t a big difference, but the Rhode Island Reds are supposed to be the more voluminous egg producers. I keep whispering to them that they have to earn their keep, it’s either eggs or meat, but I don’t think they believe me. 🙂

Speaking of egg production, this is the lightest week in a while. There were only 40 eggs total produced, which has really impacted what we can give away. Thankfully, they upped the production the last few days of the week.

The number of eggs is not the only thing we are watching. I also pay attention to the weight of the eggs, which I haven’t reported lately. In the past the ladies were laying small eggs with a few mediums. Since that time the egg size has grown quite a bit, and we are solidly in the medium egg category now. The Rhode Island Reds’ eggs are averaging 1.85 ounces, and the Easter Eggers’ are averaging 1.775 ounces. The average for the flock is 1.78 ounces. We did have two much larger eggs this week, both weighing near the extra-large egg weight (above 2.25 ounces).

The rain we have had lately has put a real damper on their outside time. Though they play in the run all the time, Charity usually tries to let them run out in the grass daily, and that hasn’t happened as often due to the rain. I suspect it will become even less as the days get colder.

The Chicken Chronicles

Posted by Steve On September 23, 2014

What a week it has been – one of the busiest in a while. Last week I was out of town. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean things around the house slow down.

Speaking of not slowing down, let me tell you about the ladies. You may remember last week that I wondered if their egg production had maybe begun to slow down for the winter, but I am happy to report that it is not seeming to be the case yet. As a reminder, last week they laid 36 eggs for the week, which was 2 less than the week before. This week, however, they broke a record and laid 39 eggs. Go LADIES!

We blessed our neighbors with eggs this week. We blessed a few neighbors the week before last, but this week we were able to give each of the neighbors whose property is adjacent to ours half a dozen eggs. It isn’t enough for most people to not have to buy eggs, but in each case they seemed appreciative. One of the neighbors also shared an interest in getting hens themselves, which made me smile.

Interestingly enough, it seems the Easter Eggers are outlaying the Rhode Island Reds, which has not been the case up to this point. There are two more of them, but the Rhode Island Reds have been egg-laying machines up to this point.

Now that the sun is rising later, we have been opening the door to the run before the ladies have really woken good for the day. Charity was laughing about it several days this week, sharing with me how they were kind of staggering around like children who are woken from their sleep in the middle of a good dream. 🙂

Over the weekend I was having fun poking a cherry tomato into the run and the ladies would all run over after it. Whoever got it would quickly run to the other side of the run, hoping to escape the others who wanted that tomato as bad as she did. I think I finally poked enough of them in there that all the ladies that wanted one got one.

There is much more to write, but time is short here.

Be blessed.

The Chicken Chronicles

Posted by Steve On September 16, 2014

I knew it was bound to happen. This is the first week that the ladies have went down in their egg production. Last week the ladies laid 38 eggs, and I had hoped for about 42-44 this week, but they only laid 36. I am not sure if this was just an off week — they did have two days where the numbers were low, or if the time of year has come where the amounts will begin to decrease. That said, today was a seven egg day.

OH! Speaking of today’s eggs – I have long had a suspicion that one of the Easter Eggers is laying a “pink” egg. I put that in quotes, because it looks quite similar to the brown eggs of the Rhode Island Reds, just lighter in color. I have been waiting for the day where five brown eggs show up because that would mean that lighter one is indeed a pink egg from an Easter Egger. That has yet to happen, but today something just about as good happened. Four brown eggs were laid today and none of them were lighter in color. This almost certainly means that the lighter colored egg is from an Easter Egger.

I kind of dread the winter with the girls. Even now, when we don’t get out there as soon as the sun is up, they have their coop in a mess. We could leave the door to the run open, but I like the added protection it offers. Even so, come winter we may have to leave it closed some to keep the warmth in with the hens. Only time will tell, I suppose.

The Chicken Chronicles

Posted by Steve On September 9, 2014

My egg-laying ladies have just finished another record-breaking week. The new record is 38 eggs, or 3.8 eggs a week per bird. I am expecting an average next spring of about 5-6 eggs per bird, so we are still several eggs a week short of that, but we are getting there. If things go as they have in past weeks, they should lay a total of 42-44 eggs this week.

Speaking of records, today they once again tied the record for the most eggs in a day with seven! This was a special day for another reason though. We have our first green egg! All of our Easter Eggers have laid blue eggs so far, with the possible exception of a possible pink layer (time will tell if it is a Rhode Island Red with a light-colored egg or not), but we haven’t had a green egg yet. What that tells me is that we now have a new layer! Woot! Let me share a picture:

Seven eggs, including a new green one.

The color isn’t perfect in this picture, but the green egg is the second one from the top on the left.

Speaking of that, did you know that a chicken will, more or less, lay the same color egg daily? I think this is probably most pronounced in Aracanas, Americanas, or Easter Eggers since they lay eggs with more varying degrees of color, but it is true for all birds. In other words, the pink egg I have mentioned above is laid by one bird, which I have yet to identify. Since I am not around the house when they are laying, the only way I am going to know for sure, I think, is if I find five reddish brown/pink eggs in one day. If so, then one of them had to have been laid by one of the Easter Eggers since I only have four Rhode Island Reds. 🙂

I think the egg-laying ladies aren’t sure what to do with the change of the seasons. We are coming out to let them down to their run a little later than we had been due to the later sunrise, and the last few days they have had the coop in an absolute mess, as if they are chomping at the bit to get downstairs. I would love to just leave the door open, but I also like the added protection it gives in case a raccoon or an opossum gets into the run during the night somehow.”

One last comment on the eggs for now – last night we had breakfast for supper. There were enough eggs laid in the last few days to feed my entire family. Woot!

Oh, one last thing! Maybe you will enjoy this video as much as I did:

The Chicken Chronicles

Posted by Steve On September 2, 2014

The ladies have really stepped it up this week. Their previous record on eggs was 25 a week, and this week they layed seven more, upping that record to 32! The most interesting thing is the Easter Eggers are hardly laying at all yet. They are only averaging 2.3 eggs a week per bird, and once they are laying at full capacity this should be around 5 eggs a week per bird.

Oh, I do have an egg pic to share this week. This is from their record day of SEVEN EGGS!

Seven eggs! This is the most we have gotten in a single day to this point.

Even though the run is secure, we have always locked the ladies in their coop at the end of the day. I figure that this is an added layer of security if a raccoon or opossum gets into the run during the night. Well, about a week or so ago we found two birds hanging out below the coop in the run when we went down to let them out in the morning! These two ladies had presumably suffered all night outside of the coop. Determined this would never happen again, we have been diligently watching for this at night. Well, on Saturday night when we went down to shut the door, there were two of the Easter Eggers sleeping on a roosting pole in the run! Those silly ladies! We ended up leaving the door open that night, but going forward we will pull that roosting pole out toward the end of the day to prevent this from happening again.

The ladies are getting more brave. I might have mentioned this last week, but I will say it here again. In the past, they would stay all together and relatively close to the run when we let them out to stretch their wings and eat some grass. In fact, let me back up. In the beginning, we would move them from the run to a dog cage, where they could get fresh grass, but be protected. As soon as we were confident that they could take care of themselves, we began letting them run in the yard, but what did they do? They ran to the dog cage! Finally they got past that, and then they would all hang close to the run together. Then they started wandering a little further away, but generally together. Now they are going all over the back yard, and sometimes they are going solo. It’s nice to see them getting more brave, but it also makes it harder to round them up to go back in the run.

All this typing about them running around the yard is making me long for the proper homestead property even more. One day …

The Chicken Chronicles

Posted by Steve On August 26, 2014

Since the ladies have started laying, I have been tracking the number and the size of the eggs. It is nice to see both numbers increase a little each week, even though I sure don’t notice it during the week. Candidly, I am often threatening them that if they don’t provide fresh eggs I will be eating fresh meat. 🙂 Yes, it is nothing but an empty threat, but maybe it will inspire the ladies to lay a little more.

I’m trying to encourage the ladies by showing them their good work.

We ended up with five eggs each day for three days in a row, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and both Friday and Saturday the Easter Eggers outlayed the Rhode Island Reds, which is unusual. In fact, it may be the first time this has happened. The Easter Eggers consistently lay smaller eggs though, but they are getting larger.

Look at the above picture again. Notice how one of the “brown” eggs is kind of pink? I am wondering if that is an Easter Egger’s egg. Supposedly they can lay pink eggs. Perhaps I have one doing just that. I’ll have to pay attention and see if I can figure out who is laying those lighter eggs.

I am curious to see how the egg production begins to fall off and when this happens. I think I mentioned this last week too. Chickens are typically light sensitive when it comes to laying eggs, though I understand the Rhode Island Reds will lay throughout the winter. We have decided we aren’t going to supplement with lights, as I think God made them to need that period of rest, which I will give them.

My wife is normally the one that lets the ladies out to “stretch their wings”. She is beginning to convince me that the birds are not dumb animals as many say. Most of the time she can say something like, “Time to go back in.” over and over, and the chickens start heading for the chicken run. Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few stubborn birds, but believe it or not, there are times they all just go in.

I have also noticed the ladies are not staying together when we let them out as much. In fact, they all go their own separate ways. I do like seeing that they are scratching in the garden more, and I am seeing them get plenty of bugs. The more the merrier! I have explained to them that this is one way they should pay their rent. 😀

Chicken Eyes

Posted by Steve On July 24, 2014

It won’t be long, my friends. It won’t be long until some of the girls start laying. Perhaps a week, perhaps a month. If they are really late bloomers, sometime in October, but it won’t be long. I am checking their laying boxes daily even now though.

Check out this cute Easter Egger giving me the eye:

Are you Lookin’ at Me?

Did you know that chickens are near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other? According to FreshEggsDaily.com:

Just before hatching, a chick turns in the shell so its right eye is next to the shell (and absorbs light through the shell) and its left eye is covered by its body. As a result the right eye develops near-sightedness to allow a chicken to search for food, while the left eye develops far-sightedness, to allow a chicken to search for predators from afar. That is why when a hawk flies overhead, you will notice your chickens tilt their heads with their left eye to the sky.

I suppose this means she was using her right eye so she could see me better. 🙂

365 Days of Me