Eggs

The younger batch of chickens have started laying.  I'm not exactly sure which ones are all laying yet since I'm not home during the day to witness the act.  However, I have my suspicions on which ones they are.

How do I know they younger ones are laying?  I'm getting 6-7 eggs daily now yet about half are smaller than average - not that there's anything wrong with that.   Smaller eggs or double yolked eggs are very common in newly laying chickens.  Here are some fun facts about eggs.

Smaller eggs are the chicken god's way of preparing the chickens for pushing something large through the vent.

Double yolk eggs tend to occur when ovulation occurs too rapidly or when one yolk gets 'lost' on the way to the shelling station and is joined by the next yolk.  Basically, the newly laying chicken is still figuring out what's going on with its body.  I saw a lot of these with the first batch of chickens.  I've only seen one so far with the second batch

No yolk, or fart eggs, can seen in the very first egg a chicken lays.  The chicken decided to try laying before the body actually sent down a yolk to be enveloped.  Luckily, I haven't seen this yet.

Okay, 12 year-olds, here's another fun fact about no-yolk eggs.  Back in the 'olden days' (like when the Office Skeptic was a child), no yolk eggs were called cock eggs because it was thought that these eggs were laid by roosters.

No shell eggs are 'normal' in young hens.  They may lay a shell-less egg or two right as they begin to lay eggs for the first time, before their systems have "gotten into the groove" of laying.   The inner membrane is all that is around the yolk/white.  The hard outer shell didn't form.  I have actually seen two of these this week.  The first one was outside on the ground under where the window sleeping chickens are.  So I'm guessing it is one of them.  The second one was in the nesting box yesterday.  The first one was still in tact, but the shell was really soft - it felt like a water balloon.  The one yesterday, there was a partial shell and then a gooey mass in the shaving.  Kind of gross.

The other time this can happen is if there is a calcium deficiency.  I don't think this is the case as all the chickens are on layer fee, which has extra calcium.  To be safe, though, i am going to put extra oyster shells in the coop for a few days.  Supposedly, if a chicken is missing something from its diet, it will go searching for a source for the deficiency.

Chickens and Heat - Follow Up

All the chickens ended up surviving the extreme heat waves over the past month.  Buffy ended up breaking her broodiness almost immediately.  I took her inside and placed her in the basement where it was about 20 degrees cooler than it was outside.  She still was panting heavily for about an hour or so before she was able to relax and take some water.  I left her inside until just before dusk - her bedtime.  She was back to her normal self and had even laid the egg she was struggling with in the heat.

The Man is Keeping the Chicken Down

The inevitable has finally happened.  The 'man' stopped by yesterday.  Red has got to go.  Can't say I blame them.  The past week or so, he's been pretty noisy.  Usually, it's just in the morning and at random intervals throughout the day.  But lately, he was crowing pretty much non-stop.  With the weather a bit cooler this past week, I'm guessing the neighbors had windows open and finally had enough. 

After the man left, I had to chase Red around the yard (he knew something was up because I usually just ignore him, even when he tries challenging me for dominance.)  I chased him around the big oak a couple of times, then down into the pines, then finally got him corralled into the coop/run.  Once he was cornered in the coop, he kind of gave up and let me pick him up.  He had to move into chicken jail in the basement.  He is not very happy down there.  He was crowing very early this morning - well before the sun came up.

I'm hoping Red doesn't go to freezer camp, so I posted an ad out on Craigslist.  If you know anyone who wants a rooster, send them my way.

Not only did the man not like the crowing, but apparently, he doesn't like free ranging chickens, either.  Again, it's not as though I blame him.  As the chickens have become more

Free-ranging in the front yard.

comfortable in their environment, they have been expanding their territory.  They are crossing the street and hanging out in Inver Grove Heights in the morning.  Later in the day, they cross the private drive and hang out under the trees in the neighbor's yard. 

Even before the man stopped by, I noticed a four-pack of chickens wander across the street.  They didn't stop at the trees like they normally do, but rather were running through their yard near the kid's play set.  I can see that being very irritating to non-chicken owners because the chickens will poop wherever they feel like.  They won't care if kids are barefoot in the area.

Mmmmmm....chicken.



So the man is going to make me stick to my permit by not allowing the chickens to free range any more unless someone is home to keep them contained the yard.  That's going to be tough, but I'm going to try to keep them in the back yard somehow.  There are plenty of trees and stuff for them to keep entertained with.  During the day, though, they are going to have to be contained to the run.  The run is plenty big enough, but I think they'll get bored easily.  I need to expand the run so I'll be in the market for dog kennel fencing this week. 





Hanging out under the oak.