Clean hands

[Murray]

When I get the new loft up, (It's all ready, just waiting for the builder to stand it up), The little stock shed is going to be a chook shed, sorry, hen house.
Catherine wants two or three chooks, and the little shed will be perfect. So we got some library books about chickens. Quite interesting.
One thing I did read made me think.
The author writes that when you have fertile eggs under a hen, if you handle them for any reason, wash your hands. The germs off your hands can enter the egg through the pores in the shell and kill the chick.
Makes sense.
A hens' nest will not be very sterile, nor will a pigeon's. But the embryo will have immunity passed from it's parents. It wont have immunity to all sorts of germs off my hands. I wonder if that's why you sometimes find a youngster dead in the shell, or even a pair of eggs that don't hatch?
I always put clean nest bowls in for every round of eggs and keep the boxes reasonably clean. I reckon I had over 90% hatch this year.
I raised 62 youngsters which are all over the state and according to my book only 7 of them were singles. Two of those were the Big Grizzle squashing eggs until I put a piece of foam rubber under the nest felt, and one was the surprise baby out of the old Thone' hen.
So I am going to wash my hands before I handle eggs to switch them around or whatever. Might be a tiny thing, but the one you save might be the good one you are looking for.

[Trev]

Good for you Muzza, I do love having chickens, not had any for a while now but I'm working on Lisa to get a couple more lol
I used to have loads of them when I lived on the farm, I had my pure breeds of Buff Orpingtons, Barnvelders, Welsummers, Arucanas (blue egg layers) and Blue Bells, they all had cockerels with them. I also had my flock of hybrids which were my main egg layers, these were Black rocks, Warren's and Calder reds, these also had a couple of cockerels running with them.
I used to sell the eggs outside my house, they were very popular with the holiday makers who stayed in the farms holiday cottages, I also supplied a couple of the local B&Bs.
I did used to breed a few from my pure breeds, but not the hybrids, I can't say I've heard of diseases being transmitted to the embryo/chick through handling the eggs, but as the egg shell is semi porous I guess its possible. If a hen went broody I never used to handle the eggs, I just let her sit and wait to see what hatched. I do however move the pigeon eggs around a fair bit so I guess its worth considering !!
Good luck with the chooks mate, they are fun to have around, the only advice I'd give is avoid pure breeds, especially bantams as they will constantly be broody lol

[Murray]

Thanks Trev, no, that is one thing I have said, no bantams. Toy chickens.

Not sure which way to go. Isa browns are the obvious choice for plenty of eggs, but I believe they don't last all that long?

[Andy]

Thanks Trev, no, that is one thing I have said, no bantams. Toy chickens.

Not sure which way to go. Isa browns are the obvious choice for plenty of eggs, but I believe they don't last all that long?

They can last sometime Murray. The first year of laying they will lay nearly every day, over 300 eggs. They will probably go on like that for around 18 months before going into a moult. It is at this stage that the big commercial flocks will be replaced. The second season of laying they won’t lay quite so many but the eggs will be larger. There would be a general decline in production after that but still plenty for yourself for a few years. I used to buy point of lay birds, usually half a dozen at a time. I would colour ring them so I know when they were purchased. I kept around two dozen. Each year I would get in 6 more and replace either what had died or the older ones. It is quite easy to tell if they are no longer laying.
Over here the battery farms will sell off their stock every couple of years. They would be sold for a couple of pounds each. For someone just wanting a few backyard chickens they are ideal and will keep laying for a good few years.

[Buster121]

Thanks Trev, no, that is one thing I have said, no bantams. Toy chickens.

Not sure which way to go. Isa browns are the obvious choice for plenty of eggs, but I believe they don't last all that long?

They can last sometime Murray. The first year of laying they will lay nearly every day, over 300 eggs. They will probably go on like that for around 18 months before going into a moult. It is at this stage that the big commercial flocks will be replaced. The second season of laying they won’t lay quite so many but the eggs will be larger. There would be a general decline in production after that but still plenty for yourself for a few years. I used to buy point of lay birds, usually half a dozen at a time. I would colour ring them so I know when they were purchased. I kept around two dozen. Each year I would get in 6 more and replace either what had died or the older ones. It is quite easy to tell if they are no longer laying.
Over here the battery farms will sell off their stock every couple of years. They would be sold for a couple of pounds each. For someone just wanting a few backyard chickens they are ideal and will keep laying for a good few years.

A lot of places will give them free, I used to have a black one that used to lay green shelled eggs, every day when let out used to fly onto house roof come down and lay then back up

[Trev]

Thanks Trev, no, that is one thing I have said, no bantams. Toy chickens.

Not sure which way to go. Isa browns are the obvious choice for plenty of eggs, but I believe they don't last all that long?

They can last sometime Murray. The first year of laying they will lay nearly every day, over 300 eggs. They will probably go on like that for around 18 months before going into a moult. It is at this stage that the big commercial flocks will be replaced. The second season of laying they won’t lay quite so many but the eggs will be larger. There would be a general decline in production after that but still plenty for yourself for a few years. I used to buy point of lay birds, usually half a dozen at a time. I would colour ring them so I know when they were purchased. I kept around two dozen. Each year I would get in 6 more and replace either what had died or the older ones. It is quite easy to tell if they are no longer laying.
Over here the battery farms will sell off their stock every couple of years. They would be sold for a couple of pounds each. For someone just wanting a few backyard chickens they are ideal and will keep laying for a good few years.

The last few lots our Mum got were through the RPCA, as you say Andy, they make great back garden chickens and will continue to lay for several more years, they are often very calm and friendly too.

[Trev]

Thanks Trev, no, that is one thing I have said, no bantams. Toy chickens.

Not sure which way to go. Isa browns are the obvious choice for plenty of eggs, but I believe they don't last all that long?

They can last sometime Murray. The first year of laying they will lay nearly every day, over 300 eggs. They will probably go on like that for around 18 months before going into a moult. It is at this stage that the big commercial flocks will be replaced. The second season of laying they won’t lay quite so many but the eggs will be larger. There would be a general decline in production after that but still plenty for yourself for a few years. I used to buy point of lay birds, usually half a dozen at a time. I would colour ring them so I know when they were purchased. I kept around two dozen. Each year I would get in 6 more and replace either what had died or the older ones. It is quite easy to tell if they are no longer laying.
Over here the battery farms will sell off their stock every couple of years. They would be sold for a couple of pounds each. For someone just wanting a few backyard chickens they are ideal and will keep laying for a good few years.

A lot of places will give them free, I used to have a black one that used to lay green shelled eggs, every day when let out used to fly onto house roof come down and lay then back up

Blimmy, I don't think I've ever had one that's flown quite that high

[Buster121]

It did every day it was let out was a little banty and laid it's first egg on a boxing day never seen a green shelled egg before that

[Trev]

It did every day it was let out was a little banty and laid it's first egg on a boxing day never seen a green shelled egg before that

There are a few breeds that lay Blue/Green eggs, I had the Araucana's which laid Blue eggs, I had one customer who specifically asked for them.