We’ve noticed some egg strangeness lately. The other day, what looked like a yolk had been dropped on the poop board. This morning, we found two shell-less eggs (which look like rubbery water balloons) on the poop board. And a “fart” egg – a tiny egg that usually is composed of just egg white – odd but interesting.
We currently have six, one year old adult laying hens; one is broody, so we usually get around four eggs a day. Our batch #1 pullets are about four months old, and our adults started laying at around five months of age, so it seems early for any pullets to be laying. Regardless, this is how it started with the first pullets – weird eggs, some soft-shelled, some with no shells, and a fart egg. Continue reading “Weird Eggs”
We had another night of severe storms, with forecasted winds of up to 55 mph. After the chicken tractor went aloft in the last windstorm, we modified it by shortening the tarp providing shade and cover on top; the result was that less than a quarter of it remained covered. There’s no way that thing could take off again.
Anyone who has been to the farm store this time of year knows it’s chick season. The stores will have big galvanized tubs full of chicks and ducklings on display, and some, frustratingly, will fail to ensure that people and/or children don’t handle those chicks (which can result in dropped and injured chicks).
We spent the weekend putting up hawk deterrents to try to discourage the hawk from continuing to attack our chickens. The reflective mylar tape was very flashy with its prismatic print, and we cut “tails” into it to make it even more annoying and distracting. The tape lengths we tied onto the lines rustled and spun in the breeze. We also added DVDs tied onto lines throughout the streambed area, and they spun and flashed, too. Finally, the glowering owl was added on a tall pole. Hopefully, it sends the message “hawks stay away”!