4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[paintingbird]

Hi Everyone,

 

We seem to have a problem, can anyone help. We got 3 speckledys back in July, we have had them for nearly 10 weeks now. Bertha has been laying for 3 weeks but the eggs are only as big as a pigeons. ( could she be a bantam? as she is quite small)

Elsie and Maud are still very imature and seem to refuse to grow up. Maud has no red or pink colouring at all, no wattles or comb.

Elsie is a little pinker but in the same state. They were 17 weeks old when we got them. So they must be 27 weeks old now.

 

Elsie refuses to go in the run at night, we chase around trying to catch her, now Maud has decided to do the same, just like two teenage laddettes the have a close bond.

Bertha is happy to go in with the three older pepperpots.

 

We love out little speckledys but are wonder who or what they are?

 

Almost time now to go into the run, so here we go again with the run around trying to catch them. Any advise would be most welcome.

Lettie. Clara and Flo

(speckledys) Bertha, Maud and Elsie

 

 

very old cat Beau.

[madchickenlady]

Hi. Have you got any pics of the speckeldys?

[Egluntyne]

What are you feeding them on?

[Helen&Lee]

I got 2 Speckledy's back in June, they are both now laying but they do lay small eggs -around 42g normally.

 

One has a very developed comb and wattles, and the other a tiny stubb, yet they are both sisiters.

 

Also, one very friendly and the other totally flighty.

 

What treats do they like? Do they like corn? A sure fire way to get them in the run is to chuck the corn in and watch them race in.

[paintingbird]

Hi everyone,

well they are in the run after half an hours run around. They are fed on organic pellets and they free range all day. Yes corn on cob is very popular with all of them, they grow a lot around these parts and it is easy to come by at this time of the year, but nothing not even corn will get those two in the run. I can take some photos but I am not sure how to up load them. At the moment they are sitting in the roost looking out of the door like two big dollies. I will weigh Bertha's egg, but two of her eggs = 1 pepperpots at present.

 

We got them from pimlotts, a long drive from here, but we really wanted speckled.

 

Maud is very adventurous, but Elsie has always been timid. Just weighed Bertha's egg and it is about 38 grams.

 

We did find a very tiny egg ( thrushes) in the run, perfectly formed but with no yoke inside. last week we think it may have been Elsie's. But nothing since.

 

:doh:will try and take some photos tomorrow

[moomin]

When they first start laying they can lay very small eggs and very weird eggs, and often 'softies'. My Barnevelder laid softies off and on for about three weeks.

 

Try taking their treats out to them in a brightly coloured bowl - I use a red plastic dog bowl I have a few of them in different sizes Call them to you with the same sound or name each day. Once they are trained to come to the call and the bowl, they should be easier to get into the run, as they will come to you and then follow you in with the bowl!

 

That's the theory anyway and it worked with mine. Chickens are creatures of habit

[paintingbird]

thanks Moonmin,

 

we shall give it a try. We will let you know how we get on. We do call them with a dish of treats, 4 hens all race into the run the other two legg off into the bushes

 

We will wait a couple of weeks and then get back to you with the latest

[alison]

Hi,

 

My speckeldy also lays very small eggs ( POL 14/7) her eggs are 38-42 gms whilst the PP's I got the same time lay 56gm every day. The speckeldy is also the only chook who has a day off from laying. She is a big girl now too!

[BeckyBoo]

Hi there, if they genuinely are 27 weeks old then I would have expected them to lay, that said if they are a bit younger then maybe it's too late in the season for them to start laying, pure breeds sometimes slow down or stop in the winter (that said our silkie STARTED laying in December )

I'm not sure they come as bantams though?

 

Mrs B

[paintingbird]

Hi Mrs Bertie,

I do think that speckledys are hybrids like pepperpots

[BeckyBoo]

Oooh, are they? Sorry, shows how much I know!! Do what I do then, in the absence of eggs, threaten them with the roasting tin!

 

Mrs B

[paintingbird]

Hi Alison

 

My husband is renaming Bertha, "Brenda" as she certainly isn't big. We have to put her eggs in a thimble to eat the boiled

 

We used to have a beautiful blue burmese called Banjo, sadly he passed away 3 years ago We still miss him, he was a bag of mischief and would have "loved" the chooks

But we still have a pure white dog called Beau. He has got no ears, no tail and one eye. He is now over 18 years old and we have had him since a kitten. He is on various medications now but he is still going strong. He just loves us too much to leave us. He had a twin brother ( benji) who passed 5 years ago, he has no intentions of joining yet.

he just ignores the chooks.

 

Lettie Clara Flo

Speckledy Bertha ( Brenda)

Maud & Elsie the adolescents

[paintingbird]

sorry Alison,

I just called Beau a DOG! he will never forgive me I mean to type MOG!

It is getting late, time for bed me thinks.

[Snowy]

sorry Alison,

I just called Beau a DOG! he will never forgive me I mean to type MOG!

It is getting late, time for bed me thinks.

 

That did confuse me - a dog that you've had since he was a kitten!

[Chicken Licken]

I have one speckeldy. She is a very reliable layer and the most timid of my girls. She was laying by the age of yours though and she is the biggest of my girls (although not the biggest eggs)

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Mine has a relatively small comb and wattle. And mine was late to start laying. The eggs will be dark and small. Maybe give it another month before you start panicking, by which time they lay less anyway so maybe it will be spring before you get eggs. But the diet sounds reasonably sensible.

 

Does anyone know if supplements or worming may help the non-laying speckledys?

 

In terms of getting them to come in, mine go for live mealworms like chavs to Tennant's Extra. They are mental for them. So I pop a few in the entrance to their run and then push them in if they are free ranging and won't come in. Maybe try mealworms?

 

Anna x

[paintingbird]

thanks chickchickchick.

 

I will try, I think it is because they are so immature that they wont go into the run. all others go in readily but then they are all egg laying.

 

We had a real pantomime with then today, 4 in the run easy, but then the two little ones well what a to do. I wish they would start crouching at least. We are back to fencing them off at the bottom of the garden, less ground to cover. Once they are in then we have to close the pop hole, or they sit in the entrance and refuse to come down.

 

Bertha is OK she will run the gauntlet with the 3 pepperpots and seems to manage OK but the little ones are really apprehensive. We haven't had too much bother, just a bit of bullying but no real agro. We introduced them very slowly over the last 10 weeks, so they should be used to it by now.

 

Will try your method and let you know how we get on.

 

many thanks

 

lettie clara flo

Speckledys Bertha, Maud and Elsie.

One old cat called Beau

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Awww. Bless their fast-running socks!

I want a video section on here with vids of us all chasing our chickens round for baths and bedtime and the like. There are some funny anecdotes on here!

 

Anna x

[paintingbird]

Hi Snowey

 

Loved the jeans bag. I will watch out for somthing simular on your site.

 

Diane

 

 

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