Double-yolkers

This week one of our chickens laid a giant egg.



In comparison to our usual 50-60g eggs this one was a whopping 83g!



We have been told that hens that have just come into lay can lay double-yolk eggs. This happens because 2 yolks are produced at once from the chicken's ovaries and both get incorporated into the developing egg. This is quite rare (1/1000 eggs), but is most common in younger hens. Younger hen's hormonal systems are still settling down and this is one of the possible affects. The hen laying the egg is is the major stimulus involved in triggering the hen's hormonal systems to produce the ovulation hormone (called LH, which is the same hormone that triggers ovulation in humans). The control mechanisms for this are not yet fully understood, but it is believed that when this doesn't happen properly you can end up with another yolk being released before an egg is laid; hence the double-yolk egg. Double-yolk eggs are similar to how non-identical twins happen in humans, but twin chicks is very unlikely to be possible due to the space restriction within the shell. In our case, this is totally impossible as we don't have a rooster so none of our eggs are fertilised.

Here is our double yolker, which Ant enjoyed poached this morning!



As a comparison a standard single-yolk egg from our chucks.

Our chucks love porridge

An egg a day...

So far this week we have had 3 eggs (thurs, fri, sat morning).

Lilly is definately the layer as we caught her in the act.



The third egg just laid:



Here, I am demonstrating to Lilly's friends what an egg is and how they should be following in Lilly's example! The other chucks do seem to be quite interested in what she is doing and keep following her into the house and watching her. Hopefully soon they will follow suit!



This morning's breakfast:

The day has finally come!!

Lilly laid an egg!!

How close are our girls to laying?

2 weeks ago we had some bad news, Kiev died. She had not been looking too well for a couple of days and then we found her dead in the chicken house in the morning. Very sad. We are unsure why it happened. The symptoms were that she had a wet vent and was sneezing. At first she was eating and drinking fine and seemed quite well in herself. We thought this just had a chill and would recover. Unfortunately a day later she went down hill quick and was looking very lethargic. The next morning she had died. RIP Kiev!

The other girls are looking healthy, although we haven't had any eggs yet. The girls are 25 and a half weeks old, but we know that the time of year may delay them starting to lay. They do look more mature now though so I keep checking every day! If anyone has any advice regarding the death or whether our remaining chickens are near to laying yet that would be great.

Caroline posing for the camera



Nugget enjoying the sunshine



Snowy (behind caroline)



All the girls scratching in the leaves




Admiring their hard work in building a dustbath. They really like this corner as it catches the sun.



Nugget perching on the dustbath that we provided.

Another week down the line and the chickens are maturing quickly! Their combs are now starting to grow and look slightly more red. Hopefully this means the girls are getting closer to laying.



The girls will come when you approach the run.



It is easy to hand feed them raisins!

The chucks are settling in nicely

It was 2 weeks ago today that we brought the chickens home. They are now 17 weeks old. No eggs yet, which is to be expected. The girls have grown quite a bit, but don't look like they will be laying soon. Their combs are still small and very light pink. Their personalities are starting to really show through. Snowy is crazy and seems to like winding the other girls up. Nugget, on the other side, doesn't seem to be very bright (even for a chicken!). We have found they all love blueberries, raisins and raspberries. Once you arrive with the blueberries it is a quick scrabble for the treats! Nugget, unfortunately, doesn't seem to grasp that she needs to get the treat quickly and that running around the pen with it in her beak results in her loosing out to a faster chicken! Within a week they were able to be hand-fed and now as soon as you go outside they are up to the edge of the run following you around. They are certainly more confident!

Today I attempted to get a few macro shots. The issue is that the girls are now so interested in you that they get far too close and it is difficult to get good shots!

Lilly



Kiev



Snowy



Nugget

The naming of our happy brood

With help from my niece and our neighbours kids we have named our chickens.

Please meet: Lilly (black rock) and caroline (speckledy) with nugget (blacktail - brown coloured in the background).



Snowy (white star)



Nugget (blacktail - brown) climbing the ladder followed by kiev (white leghorn). In the background is lilly.

Finishing off and the chickens arrive

Despite the weather we have managed to make some good progress. Unfortunately, Steve has not been well so we have been finishing the job ourselves. We had to finish the nesting box...



...and put in a wooden floor (removable for cleaning).



We started to build the roof...



...and Ant roped in another friend to help us put the rest of the chicken wire up.




Ant's dad sheltered from the rain and painted the inside of the roofing planks.




Very bravely, JB fixed plastic roofing to give the chickens a dry area in the run.



I worked on edging the run.



Ant and his dad finish the nesting box...



...and roof.



We cut a novel window in the hut door. This will be covered with transparent acrylic sheeting.



The chickens arrive! We bought our chickens from www.happychicks.com who are based near Poulton-le-Flyde.



We decided on a 4 hybrids and a white leghorn. Here you can see the blacktail, speckledy and blackrock.



We also have a whitestar pictured here with the white leghorn.



Ant's dad releases the girls into their new home.



We then realise it is a good idea to also put a catch on the inside of the door!



The only chicken to be named so far decides to explore. She is called 'nugget'.



The girls seem to really like this corner!



The white leghorn seems to be the most dominant already!



The girls take a rest after the long journey.

The next few days construction

Ste has been away on holiday for the weekend so we made some progress on our own. Ant and his dad bash up the large concrete blocks to create a hardcore layer.



The chicken house has a 2nd coat of paint.



...and so does the run.



Ant breaks up the concrete base of the filter area, which is now infront of the chicken house, so we can grass over here.



We start to edge the run with concrete edging blocks.



Ant's dad continues edge around the other side of the run.