finger lickin good Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 I'm so excited, we have just ordered a cube after deciding to add to our current 3 chickens. we are looking to get 7 more. 1 will definatley be an orpington but we are also looking for some blue egg layers, dark brown egg layers and white egg layers. Can anyone suggest any hybrids that we can get that lay these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-real-tinkerbell Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 you need a cream /creasted legbar for blue eggs ,and something like a white star for white eggs im not sure about dark brown remember that the legbars have a 80% chance of blue eggs and the rest lay pastels i was lucky i got 2 merrydale creasted and got one blue layer and 1 green layer i was very chuffed hope that helps a litlle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Cream legbars and araucana's are pure breeds that lay blue eggs. Columbines or Skylines are hybrids that as the-real-tinkerbell has said have an 80% chance of laying a blue or green egg. If it's dark eggs you want then again pure breed wise it's Marans or Welsummers - not sure about hybrids that lay dark eggs though. Presumably you are not averse to pure breeds as you are having a lovely Orpington. I wanted hens that would fit in and have a similar temperament to my original hybrids so I have gone for cream legbars and a cuckoo marans. Again as t-r-tinkerbell has said it would be a white star for white eggs. Just don't accidentally get an amber star instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 How big is your run? A cube run won't take 10- even though the house will - although you could let them free range -or get a walk in run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 My Welbar laid lovely dark brown eggs and was a friendly, placid girl though rather timid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finger lickin good Posted August 14, 2010 Author Share Posted August 14, 2010 We have an electric fence enclosure which is approx 40sqm so space isn't a problem. Thanks for the suggestions on breeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
migsy Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Anconas lay white eggs too, but they are a pure breed. Lovely looking though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 I'm so excited, we have just ordered a cube after deciding to add to our current 3 chickens. we are looking to get 7 more. 1 will definatley be an orpington but we are also looking for some blue egg layers, dark brown egg layers and white egg layers. Can anyone suggest any hybrids that we can get that lay these? Hi there, haven't seen you on here for ages. So excited you are finally getting your cube . I got some lovely hybrids called Coton Blues from Glencroft Poultry, that lay a lovely green/blue egg. Henthusiastic, from this forum, got her Hipswell Whites from there.....lovely friendly hybrids who lay pure white eggs. You can get Copper Black hybrids who lay kind of a dark brown egg, but if you want the very dark brown ones, then I would go for pure bred marans or welsummers. What colour cube are you getting? Here is the link to Glencroft, in case you haven't been there, I can't remember where you got your first girls from http://www.glencroftpoultry.co.uk/hen_house.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finger lickin good Posted August 15, 2010 Author Share Posted August 15, 2010 He wasn't very happy about a pink one so we are having a purple one. i'm sure the old ladies won't be very happy but they will get used to it. ive looked at glencroft polutry and we are thinking of getting some from there, hopefully next weekend. don't think they have any corton blues but they do have columbines. No haven't been on here for ages Mostin, had aot going on as you know, but things are slowly getting back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennydavies Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Our Black Rock girl called Nugget laid beautiful dark brown eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finger lickin good Posted August 15, 2010 Author Share Posted August 15, 2010 We already have a black rock Jenny but ours only lays really pale creamy eggs, although they are large. Think it will have to a pure breed maran to get chocholate eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 He wasn't very happy about a pink one so we are having a purple one. i'm sure the old ladies won't be very happy but they will get used to it. ive looked at glencroft polutry and we are thinking of getting some from there, hopefully next weekend. don't think they have any corton blues but they do have columbines. No haven't been on here for ages Mostin, had aot going on as you know, but things are slowly getting back to normal. oooooooooo purple, I am sooooo , that's the colour cube that I have always wanted. I am so glad things are getting back to normal for you. OH and I owe you a very, very overdue visit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finger lickin good Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Well 5 out of 7 newbies have landed, they all look so small compared to the old girls. There is a lot of noise from the oldies but am sure they will get used to each other in time. We have so far got a buff orpington, speckledy, 2 white star and a cream legbar. Poor Agnes is tiny as is only 12 weeks and is getting a bit off pecking although others are only 1-2 weeks older and all from same place. I have bought some anti pecking spray, does this actually work? If i could figure out how to add pictures I would but unfortunatley I have no idea. How long do intros usually take. I'm thnking it may not be a good idea to integrate them all until the newbies get to POL age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 Appenzeller Spitzhaubens lay white eggs (they have a funky feather hat thing going on too). Araucanas lay blue eggs. Croad Langshans lay brown eggs with a plum bloom on. (I so want one of these). Spanish lay a white egg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finger lickin good Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Thanks daxigirl, got some chooks today, just have to wait a while for them to start laying. We are also getting a columbine and copper black next weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 Congratulations on the new girls. Your oldies will really have had their feathers ruffled. Lovely mix and all babies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 What a lovely lot of hens you have and more next weekend too. You are lucky. I'm keeping my growers separate until they are about 16 weeks or older - about a POL size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 I tend to let them decide for themselves . a bit vague I know but each time I've done intros I seem to turn my back one day and they jump the fence and go to bed with the oldies . I do a lot of fence line feeding which helps them get used to the sight of the newbies, and when you are ready, free range them together and see how it goes. Quite often, after a while of fence line feeding I let newbies play out with the oldies but then they all go to bed in separate houses, then one day........the newbies just toddle off to bed with the old gals . I've never used anti-peck spray but a water spray in the face works wonders . You can tell when the trouble maker is eyeing up her target for a good peck....... just before she makes the lunge...........get her in the face with some water. It just snaps her out of that attack mindset, and soon she is retrained. Good luck..............and lets have some pictures of the new cuties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
migsy Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 I've been letting my older girls FR with my 15 week olds for a week now. They are fine FRing together but the big girls will give a quick peck if the little ones try to get a treat that they want. I tried putting them in the WIR together yesterday but it was a disaster and I had to let the little ones out. I'm thinking of dividing it but I don't know whether I should just carry on FRing them together and try again next weekend. My 15 week olds look really small in comparison to the big girls and I am beginning to wonder if I bought bantams. Surely not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finger lickin good Posted August 22, 2010 Author Share Posted August 22, 2010 Poor little Agnes won't come out of the cube today, everytime she tries to be brave Ethel has a go at her. I'm sure it will sort itself out, had a look at Agnes and there doesn't seem to be any damage to her. I have put some food and water in the cube house for her and she has tucked into it, so at least she is eating . Will try free ranging them all together next weekend. On the plus side they have now stopped bullying Bella Henburg, and they all managed to take themselves to bed so didn't have to resort to a torch. Poor Margot though is looking a bit under the weather today, think it might be the shock of the newbies. Will just have to see how she goes, she is still eating but looks like someone has pulled her batteries out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 I've been letting my older girls FR with my 15 week olds for a week now. They are fine FRing together but the big girls will give a quick peck if the little ones try to get a treat that they want. I tried putting them in the WIR together yesterday but it was a disaster and I had to let the little ones out. I'm thinking of dividing it but I don't know whether I should just carry on FRing them together and try again next weekend. My 15 week olds look really small in comparison to the big girls and I am beginning to wonder if I bought bantams. Surely not! I would free range them again over the coming week and try again next weekend. It can sometimes take a couple of weeks for new faces to fit in. Your new girls will still look small at 15 weeks and may still keep growing up to a year if they are pure breeds so don't worry. They are still quite young for integrations with big girls at 15 weeks, and may not be accepted by your other girls until they are at POL age (about 20-22 weeks) so don't worry. Just keep your eye on things and keep having another try each weekend. One time it will just happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 Poor little Agnes won't come out of the cube today, everytime she tries to be brave Ethel has a go at her. I'm sure it will sort itself out, had a look at Agnes and there doesn't seem to be any damage to her. I have put some food and water in the cube house for her and she has tucked into it, so at least she is eating . Will try free ranging them all together next weekend. On the plus side they have now stopped bullying Bella Henburg, and they all managed to take themselves to bed so didn't have to resort to a torch. Poor Margot though is looking a bit under the weather today, think it might be the shock of the newbies. Will just have to see how she goes, she is still eating but looks like someone has pulled her batteries out. Poor old Agnes. Hopefully she will find her feet soon and stand up to the others. As long as she is getting food and water, cross your fingers and hope they soon sort out he power struggle. Or if it goes on for more than a couple of days.......I would blast Ethel in the face with the hose pipe every time she goes for Agnes . Hopefully Margot may just have a softie on the way. some of my girls look so ill sometimes...........I think they are about to .........but then they lay a softie and perk back up immediately. It must make them feel really poorly. Keep your eye on her and see how she goes.............good luck xxxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
migsy Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 Thanks for the advice Mostin. Very reassuring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
