Got my first two round bales of the season delivered today. While I generally think we can produce enough hay to feed the sheep flock when you count in the useless nags we don't so we are still forced to buy hay. This means I have to take the yearling and invalid sheep off the Winter pasture early to let the nags out there which also means I have to start feeding hay to the yearlings before I would have to if we didn't have the nags. I put a large round bale out in the main hayfield/Winter pasture for the horses and another one in the West pasture for the yearling/invalid flock. I then only have to feed the breeding ewes and rams from the square bales I have stored.
Ideally I would run both the nags and the yearlings out in the hay field until the cold killed the remaining grass but one of the horses likes to chase the sheep and it also requires I leave the gate open to the pasture. The fencing around the hay field is sheep proof but the pasture is only four strand barbed wire and the sheep can escape from it. So that means when the nags go out the sheep have to stay in the smaller West pasture.
It's not too bad of an arrangement this year as the hay crop was pretty good so we are getting the big 6x6 foot round bales for $25.00 each. Usually the big farmer down the road brings em up on his New Holland and drops em where I want em and even uses his spike to rip off the wrapping. This year however he is so far behind in harvesting his wife just showed up with one on her truck spike and made two trips and just dropped em off on their side in the pasture.
That meant I had to break out the two foot long bolt and logging chains to pull the things over with my 8N. That was after I rolled one around with the blade into position too.
The stupid sheep kept trying to eat the thing while I was rolling it.
Oh well no sheep were crushed while I pushed this 2000 pound round bale around, so there was that.
I got seven eggs today. I don't think that is a bad haul considering six of the 18 hens are over a year old and it's November and all. Yet the two Eastereggers and the Hamburg hen have me stumped. I have yet to see the Hamburg hen lay but the rooster is mating her so I assume she is somewhere. I do occasionally get an almost white egg but it's almost as large as the others and I thought the Hamburg laid a smaller white egg. Maybe the almost white one is hers? The Eastereggers have really confused me though. I have seen each of them sitting to lay and twice now I have gotten light blue eggs BUT I have also seen both of them come off a nest having laid a light brown egg as well.
Now I was under the impression from reading that these hens could lay blue eggs (or green or pink) but that if they did they would only lay that color. These hens seem to lay mostly light brown eggs but rarely pop out a blue egg that is larger than usual. I have only seen one short blurb that stated these hens would do that, all the rest claim they only lay one color, whatever color that is.
So anyone out there have any experience with Easteregger hens laying mostly brown eggs with the rare big blue one from time to time? Or do I just have mutant Easteregger hens? That wouldn't surprise me because I have determined we are not allowed to have normal animals on the Small-Hold, only weird ones.
It's like only the misfits of the animal kingdom actually thrive around here sometimes it seems.
Anyway I don't really care what color their eggs are but it just has me confused. Those few blue eggs are HUGE too. I don't see how those little hens can pop one of them things out without exploding.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!!
Right now we have 4 young easter eggers and they all lay blue eggs, all the time.
ReplyDeleteTewshooz - Hmmmm. I don't know maybe one of my two just laid those blue eggs and then stopped laying or is hiding em well.I do occasionally see a kinda dark olive egg as well maybe that's the other one. When I do see a blue egg it is literally HUGE though and I read somewhere (I can't find it now) where someone said they will occasionally lay a big blue egg too.
DeleteDennis
ReplyDeleteI thought the colour of the egg was related to diet? This is all new to me and very interesting.
My Easter Eggers lay the same color every time. I'd like to know more about your anomaly.
ReplyDeleteIzzy - Well I am not sure it is an anomaly and not just a lack of information. I have found 2 big blue eggs so far and those were about 2 weeks ago or so. After that not a one but I have seen the easter eggers laying in nests so I assumed they were laying. Perhaps it's only one that is laid the blue eggs and then she stopped for some reason. As I mentioned I read one article that said some easter eggers will only lay a big blue egg occasionally but that seems to be a very minor opinion.
DeleteI have hens that just seem to like sitting on a nest and there won't be any eggs when they leave. Could be your girls are just not laying as some breeds will do. We have a small leghorn that lays what looks like a duck egg.
ReplyDeleteThose nags are money bags when your nearby city runs out of government food some day, you will get rich off of them.
Sf - Ya I had a red sitting this morning who just got up and didn't leave an egg behind. Not sure what is going on with these easter eggers though.
DeleteI have often contemplated the fate of the nags when this long slow decline finally reaches the point that feed isn't available to buy any longer. They don't really drain my pocketbook because I don't buy their feed my mother does but they do use pasture that I eventually plan on using for sheep. Most of them are too old to be on any work value and only one has been ridden in recent memory so they really are not good for anything but eating when that time comes.
I should say that you've just got one hen laying a blue egg. Mine are not laying well at the moment and the flock is long overdue for a cull.
ReplyDeleteKev - Well you probably are right but if so she only laid those two and then stopped OR she has found a hiding place I haven't found yet. As a matter of fact I haven't checked the loft in a while...hmmmm...
DeleteI been wondering how I am going to tell when it is time to cull some hens since I really am unsure which ones are actually laying and that will get even more of an issue the longer i have them.
I have the same problem. Last year I culled what I thought was the non layers and egg production dropped right off, so I must have got it wrong. There are ways to tell when you lift the bird up and the distance from its vent to its breastfeeding bone, but I'm no expert!
DeleteOur Hamburg lays a small/medium tinted white egg. Not pure white, slightly off.
ReplyDeleteOur Eastereggers lay light green. We also have Australorpes, brown eggs. Our chickens share laying areas. When you come up on them they leave. Maybe you are seeing brown eggs from a previous hen that was there and not the Eastereggers.
Anon - That is possible. Usually I only catch em when they don't know I am watching or I am around close enough to hear em do their egg laying bok and come out of the nesting spot. I do occasionally see a smallish sized very light cream egg maybe that is hers?
DeletePP,
ReplyDeleteYour chickens are trying to keep you on your feet with providing you the occasional blue egg :-)
Eggers lay blue, blue/green or olive colored eggs. You may have a Welsummer. Looks like an Egger/Americauna hen. The eggs are a little darker than the Red Sex Links. But sometimes hens will hop in a nest that some other hen had left an egg and act like they laid that egg. Clear as mud? :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Hamburg egg will be white. Not as large as the sex links but not as small as a bantam. They are a nice sized egg. About what they consider a 'large' white egg in the stores. She may not be old enough to lay eggs yet. A good indicator is if her comb is a nice bright red. If not, she is not ready yet.