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rebbetzin
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The only time I have noticed "wind eggs" is either when they first start laying, or after molting. But, so far I haven't had any after these huge ones.thistlebloom said:
This egg is way tooo big!
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897tgigvib
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Looks like you have a special hen, and a special feed.
Gotsta find out which hen, and definitely breed her to a rooster who has sisters that lay huge eggs too. You may have a special strain or lineage of her breed!
Gotsta find out which hen, and definitely breed her to a rooster who has sisters that lay huge eggs too. You may have a special strain or lineage of her breed!
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rebbetzin
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We aren't allowed roosters in the city. I would love to do some breeding experiments!! Maybe someday.....marshallsmyth said:
897tgigvib
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Darn! Maybe at a friend or relative's house you can set up a conjugal visit??? Lol! I think that's the right word
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rebbetzin
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I do know some people with roosters. Hmmmm... maybe I could have some chicks...marshallsmyth said:
897tgigvib
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Make sure the rooster has sisters that lay huge eggs, or maybe colorful eggs. Wouldn't it be cool to get colorful huge eggs?
Smiles Jr.
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I get some extra large eggs once in a while, too. I have a few older hens and I suspect they are the ones laying the jumbo eggs. And like most chicken folks, we get some tiny and some "wind" eggs from the very young hens. I have one large Delaware hen that lays tiny eggs all the time.
Funny thing - I have not had a broody hen for a long time. And our big fat roo services the gals almost daily. Springtime is soon upon us and I would like to have a new batch of pullets soon. As well as some young roosters for the freezer. I certainly don't want to buy chicks and go through the "brooder box" routine. It's so much nicer to have the hens rear their young out in the coop.
Funny thing - I have not had a broody hen for a long time. And our big fat roo services the gals almost daily. Springtime is soon upon us and I would like to have a new batch of pullets soon. As well as some young roosters for the freezer. I certainly don't want to buy chicks and go through the "brooder box" routine. It's so much nicer to have the hens rear their young out in the coop.
Ridgerunner
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Yes, the eggs tend to get larger as the hens get older. That can be really noticeable after a molt. I remember some posts on your chickens Rebbetzin and I don't think of them as being all that old. Have we been on this forum that long?
Smiles, having a rooster around has nothing to do with a hen going broody. I wish it did because I really like my broodies. They always get a dozen eggs to hatch regardless of time of year or how many chicks I already have. And I try to keep replacement pullets from eggs that come from the ones that go broody.
Hatcheries don't need hens to hatch eggs. They have incubators for that. They just need hens to lay eggs. When a hen goes broody they are still eating some and not laying eggs. They take special handling because they disrupt the laying hens and mess up the system. Commercial egg laying operations really don't like broodies since they mess their system up too.
If you make going broody a capital offense, in a few generations you have a flock of hens that doesn't go broody very often. That's what's happened to a lot of the utility breeds of chickens. Any hen can go broody but the decorative ones like Silkies, Cochin, or Polish and the bantams are much more likely to. The ones that have been developed and kept around to be pretty, not necessarily the productive ones.
I have to use an incubator to get enough chickens. I have an incubator hatch going on right now. One came out last night. I'm just waiting to see how many of the others make it.
I forgot to mention that Marshall is exactly right. Genetically a rooster adds as much as a hen to the egg laying, whether a hen goes broody, or anything else. But a rooster doesn't lay eggs or go broody (though some help broodies raise their chicks) so it is a little harder to tell what they are contributing genetically. The best guidelines you can go by are his close relatives like his mommy, grannies, and sisters.
Smiles, having a rooster around has nothing to do with a hen going broody. I wish it did because I really like my broodies. They always get a dozen eggs to hatch regardless of time of year or how many chicks I already have. And I try to keep replacement pullets from eggs that come from the ones that go broody.
Hatcheries don't need hens to hatch eggs. They have incubators for that. They just need hens to lay eggs. When a hen goes broody they are still eating some and not laying eggs. They take special handling because they disrupt the laying hens and mess up the system. Commercial egg laying operations really don't like broodies since they mess their system up too.
If you make going broody a capital offense, in a few generations you have a flock of hens that doesn't go broody very often. That's what's happened to a lot of the utility breeds of chickens. Any hen can go broody but the decorative ones like Silkies, Cochin, or Polish and the bantams are much more likely to. The ones that have been developed and kept around to be pretty, not necessarily the productive ones.
I have to use an incubator to get enough chickens. I have an incubator hatch going on right now. One came out last night. I'm just waiting to see how many of the others make it.
I forgot to mention that Marshall is exactly right. Genetically a rooster adds as much as a hen to the egg laying, whether a hen goes broody, or anything else. But a rooster doesn't lay eggs or go broody (though some help broodies raise their chicks) so it is a little harder to tell what they are contributing genetically. The best guidelines you can go by are his close relatives like his mommy, grannies, and sisters.
897tgigvib
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I can visualize it now:
A new breed oF SOOPER CHICKENS who lay double sized eggs.
And, wouldn't it be nice to have a breed of Chicken that has quiet Roosters with no inclination at all to crow, that just mumble and talk like chickens?
A new breed oF SOOPER CHICKENS who lay double sized eggs.
And, wouldn't it be nice to have a breed of Chicken that has quiet Roosters with no inclination at all to crow, that just mumble and talk like chickens?
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rebbetzin
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I started Glenn Cottage Eggery, Aug. 8th of 2008,Ridgerunner said:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/glenn-cottage-eggery
That was the day I laid the concrete threshold to the chicken run.
I didn't get chicks until Sept.
Those first four chickens are "pushing up daisies" in the back garden now.
The new ones are about 2 years old. I was thinking of getting some new
hens, but then these started laying again. So, maybe I will wait now until
next year to get some new ones.
