Surprise in the Chicken Tractor

Last night when I got home from work we headed to the barn to milk the cows and then water them.  Once done, Tricia normally goes inside to pour the milk into gallon glass jars, puts the milk in the outside refrigerator and then sanitizes the milking buckets in preparation for the morning milking.  I go out to feed the pullets in the chicken tractor and push it one length so they'll have fresh grass to forage on.  By this time it is dark, so I have a lantern with me to see.  As I pushed the tractor, I'm very careful as I don't want to run over them.  One time in a rush, I inadvertently ran over a hen and had to pluck and clean her and put her in a gumbo.  I've learned to slow down and be observant in the process.  So I was looking down and...

When what to my wondering eyes should appear?  But a small pullet egg on the ground, Oh dear!

Barred Rock hens are supposed to lay their first eggs anywhere between 20 -24 weeks.  We got these birds on June 27th and yesterday was December 10th.  If my math is correct, that is 166 days or 23.7 weeks, within the range.  Pullet eggs are real small at first.  Here is the first one:

The pullet egg is the one on the far right.  I put a normal barred rock hen's egg on the left and a normal Aracauna egg in the middle for perspective.

The egg is perfectly fine and edible - just small, but we'll keep it for ourselves instead of our customers.  We wouldn't want to short-change them.  Normally, when one begins to lay, the rest will join in.  So I went to the hay ring and grabbed a bucket full of hay and a milk crate, filled the milk crate with hay and put it in the tractor for them to lay additional eggs in.  I don't currently have nesting boxes in the chicken tractor that the pullets are in - I'll have to build some.  In the interim, they'll lay in the milk crate with hay in it.  So tonight, I checked in the crate and...


Two more pullet eggs!

This is good news!  We have 31 pullets in that tractor.  It would be nice for them all to start laying. 

From eggs in the hands, to chicks in the hand, I wanted to show you the growth process in the Cornish Cross chicks.  They are one week old today.  They sure are growing.  If you look closely, you can see this dude sporting spiffy white feathers on his wings.


Benjamin commented on the one week old chick, "They're not so cute anymore, Dad, and they sure do stink!"

For comparison, here is a chick just one week ago:  (Note the difference in the feet and overall size in just one week!)

One day old

I zoomed in so you could see the feathers coming in on the little fella.

New white feathers

Benjamin put him on top of the brooder.  He looked down on all of his brothers relishing his freedom for the moment.

Ruling the Roost!

So from pullets beginning to lay to chicks quickly growing, we're seeing lots of exciting growth and changes at Our Maker's Acres Family Farm!