Day of the Dozen Update!

Finally Reached One Dozen Eggs!

We are a true backyard farm today. We have reached one dozen eggs produced by our organic, free range hens! There are a lot of changes going on as our girls mature from pullets to egg laying hens!

So far it looks like our  Easter Eggers are beginning to lay before the rest. Here is one dozen Olive eggs from out Easter Eggers!

Egg Laying Habits

So far all but one of the eggs have been laid in their nesting boxes! I can't believe it. I keep adding new bedding to the nesting boxes and they push it all out - but they are using them! It is so satisfying to see them use them how they are meant to be used. Read about: our first egg.

They are displaying weird behaviors. A lot of strange squawking goes on. I think one of our hens laid for the first time today. She squawked for close to an hour. I went and checked on her twice and she was just sitting in the nesting box like... that wasn't me squawking!

Our First Dozen
Day 1 - 1st Egg
Day 2 - 0
Day 3 - 2nd Egg
Day 4 - 3rd Egg
Day 5 -  4th Egg
Day 6 - 5th Egg
Day 7 - 6th and 7th Egg - Two eggs in one day!!
Day 8 - 8th and 9th Egg
Day 9 - two eggs were laid that were paper thin, they were also laid late in the day, when it was getting dark, and were not in the usual spots - we aren't counting these in our dozen
Day 10 - 10th Egg
Day 11 - 11th and 12th Egg

And then.... later on the 11th day we got egg number 13! That mean at least three of our Easter Eggers are laying! Three eggs in one day!

Size and Color

Something that has been really interesting is seeing the difference in egg size and color. Each egg is a bit different. Some are very small. I think this will change after they have been laying for awhile. It is hard to tell which Easter Eggers are laying since we get more than one a day, and then get none. I am trying to think of ways to track who is laying to see if the size and color correlate to the hen or not. More data is needed!

Paper Eggs

Our first dozen eggs in the picture are the first dozen "complete" eggs but we did have two "not complete" eggs. Eggs 10 and 11 that we have seen were paper thin. They were sort of like construction paper with an egg inside! They were white and so we think they were laid by our Brown Leghorns. I think they are still learning how to lay and am excited to see complete eggs soon!

Free Ranging

The chickens are out of the coop! Since they are in a chicken tractor they already get a lot of free ranging every day but we have been giving them a little more freedom. We are letting them out for about an hour at a time when we get home from work. They get to free range and investigate the yard, and then they make their way back for bed time! It is so funny watching them all follow the flock mentality and go to bed at the same time. They really enjoy free ranging and spending time with the other animals.
The other day we moved the coop while they were out of it and I had an amusing time watching them try to get back in! They couldn't figure out where to go and decided to just jump up on the roof, off the roof, on the roof, off the roof! A few just flew right into the side wall. It made for some cute videos!

Flemish Giants

We have a new addition to the Flemish Giant family! Her name is "Eevee" after the pokemon. She is super cute! We have introduced her to the boys and they get a long fine. I was really nervous that they would beat up on each other but so far so good! They have separate homes but it is nice to see them get to hop around together from time to time.

The boys however have had a falling out. They are 5 months old now and fully matured. Since we are keeping them intact for now, they have been separated. After two scuffles I figured it was better safe than sorry. I have their homes touching so they can still interact through the bars, but when I tried to give them play time together they started fighting again. We are going to keep them separate for safety but plan to try to rebond them when they are neutered. 

Ducks

New pictures to come soon! It is safe to say that two of our ducklings are not going to be laying any eggs. Our two Rouen have matured and developed the green head feathers of the males. We have now named them "Masterchief" and "Halo". The third, the Cayuga, may still be a female. She has a slender neck and makes much louder quacking sounds which indicate a female. We have named her "Cortana" and hope to get some black eggs from her. Either way, we plan to get a few more ducks in the spring! Over the next month we hope to start building up a duck home for them as they are drifters right now. They switch up between housing with the goats and with the chickens. The duck house will hopefully be done by winter. 

Nutrition Part 3

In honor of our new eggs, and because of our "paper eggs" I have done some research on calcium sources for our hens. Check out "Calcium for Chickens" to see what I've learned!