My new henny- Lavender Araucana

I got a new little henny! A light lavender and light brown araucana pullet. She will (eventually) lay light blue eggs which I am very excited about! I probably wont get eggs for another 1-2months but nevertheless they will be blue!

She is very pretty with purple/grey legs and a puff of feathers on her head. Almost looks like a little hawk rather than a chicken.

And hard to take a photo of. Araucana's are South American->Very skitterish.

My little happy hen house

My chicken egg laying project

No, I am not going to try to lay eggs as my title would suggest.

I am combining a few ideas to see if I can encourage my hennies to keep laying through winter. As our aim is always to suburban farm as organically and environmentally stress free as possible I am not going to push my hens to do anything that they aren't physically up to. So using heat and lights to falsely extend their days is not whats in mind. I am supplementing their normal layers mash/pellets with fortnightly (mmm sometimes weekly) feeds of porridge. Cooked with water and cooled with cows milk.
As well as fortnightly sunflower seeds. 1 tsp per bird, per fortnight.
These supplements I have read will give the bird the extra nutrients they need to continue laying through winter as well as through moulting. Moulting and winter use more of the birds energy.

I have also filled their little house with plenty of hay to help insulate the place. Photos to come tomorrow

I know I am not the first person to spoil her hennies but very curious to see how they go with these added diet supplements. A few things working in my favour for those of you playing at home; I live in QLD, Australia=>no snow. Also 2 of my hennies are in their second laying season, 1 is in her first and the 4th one is yet to start. The older 2 are ISA brown egg laying mix breed. SO they are all pretty keen to lay anyway.

If you have any opinions on this please feel free to comment!!

ooopsy

Well its been awhile since I last posted! Just under 2 months actually. Been too busy changing that place called work and trying to build up our little paradise!

I no longer work in the awful hell-hole I was in. I now have a much better paying job in the city that constantly challenges my brain. LOVE THAT.

On the only downside I have to leave for work an hour earlier (now at 7am). I get home sometimes earlier and sometimes at the same time as my previous position.

I drive 10 kms to the bus stop and 10kms home (that kinda maketh sense now doesn't it) and my bus ride costs $8 per day. Im saving money, saving car expenses and also taking one more car off the road. Actually I read on a sign in the bus this morning that for every full bus (I do ride an overly packed up bus) is 40 cars off the road.

Cannot WAIT for winter to be over even though it doesn't officially start for 2 more days! I always look forward to that wondrous day in June. THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR. Why do I look forward to it? because from that day on the days start getting longer again.

Only one more day!

After I get ready for that place called work (and I finish writing this) will be going down to check on whitey and her little clutch of eggs. When we candled the eggs last week we only candled two *facepalm*. It turns out the definitely one-maybe two are not fertile and off. lol DEFINITELY off. One exploded all over me and poor old whitey. She was possibly less horrified than I as she immediately set to work eating the newly exploded egg.
So then there was three. One of the three is off as well, feeling a whole lot lighter than it should. I have chosen to ignore this until tomorrow and the other two hopefully hatch out.

On the garden front everything is growing nicely. My tomatoes are getting tall and one of the original tomatoes has a few reddening right now.

Still having issues with caterpillars and I have a fantastic caterpillar-rid but it can only be put on the plants early in the morning or late afternoon. I get home in the dark and always get distracted until too late in the morning- ala today!
Hopefully tonight will be the night. On another note the 6 lettuces that I bought as seedlings are growing UP. Not out but up. Much like lettuces that have been growing for too long, long stem and all that. Hmmmm. will see how they go.
Must be off to check on Whitey
...

We're gonna have us some chicky babies!!

Unless something bad happens over the next week (yes, yes I am very aware of the old saying about not counting chickens etc etc) we should have 4 little baby cheapies next Sunday!! Not sure if Im ready, actually I KNOW Im not ready yet. I guess I just wasn't expecting the eggs to work out for some reason. Tisk tisk here I was COMPLETELY underestimating Whitey!

We candled the eggs tonight and we have blackness! and veinyness!!

So fabulously amazing! When the light is put underneath the baby chicky inside goes to the other side of the egg AWAY from the light.

Might have to spend tomorrow (day off that place of work)preparing for the hopefully imminent arrival!

whitey update

Whitey is still sitting nicely like all good broody's do. I really am very impressed!
Im not sure if I should be pushing her off the nest once a day or just leave her. I have been letting nature take its course and just giving her a handfull of pellets in the nesting box. She does seem to love that!


 <- Whitey all puffed up and annoyed at me looking at her




The babies are due on April 10 so she has been sitting for 8 days so far. Not sure when I should candle them and see if anything is going on? Since dark browny and light browny have been still laying in whitey's nesting box I have been checking the eggs daily to take out the new ones. None of the marked eggs are feeling particularly light and I would imagine after a week of warmth that if they werent fertile perhaps they would be lighter with off-egg gases by now?




Husband updated the chicken pen on the weekend and it really is looking all suburban farm like!

Eggs incubating

I think Whitey was happy this morning when I put eggs UNDER her rather than taking them away! 4 eggs are now incubating. Lets hope something appears on April 11th!