I've got white ones!

[Suechooks]

Sorry Sue, wasn't ignoring you, have busy all day. As others have said, Limestone flour usually stocked at horsey places. I have been using it for a few months and have seen a big improvement in quality of eggshells. I also put crushed eggshells in hopper with dry food. (I must get a grinder so I can put them in porridge like Maureen does.)

hooraynana, apparently supermarkets won't stock eggs from 'old' hens, battery or free range.

No worries! I'm on my way to the local horsey place in a few minutes!

[hooraynana]

Ta Frias - glad to know the answer - I thought they were only a year old - it still seems so young - grr supermarkets
So excited as one of the newbies laid an egg today - was a softie as others have mentioned - but both the new girls are scratting around in the muck today so am hoping they will firm up in due course

[lizzylemon]

I could be (probably am) wrong but I'm thinking don't be fooled by their current small size. My Amber was tiny when we got the girls (she was the runt freebe) but since then she's done nothing but eat (and poo weird yellow stuff) and grow. She's nearlly as tall as the Nera pictured above the Ambers in the Chickens for Sale section of website now and the 2 Reds are startin to leave her alone too.

[lynda66]

bear in mind that although free range eggs,may say free range, most of them live in barns, but have an opening to a small amount of outside land, if those openings are guarded by bossy hens, they can't get out anyway, and having so many hens in a small space, leads to stress not much different to the stress levels felt by barn or even battery hens ..... ie not enough room leads to stressed behaviours........ including feather plucking ...... hence they also have bald bits.

so as battery hens are replaced every year to 18 months, the same goes for barn or 'free range' hens.

[hooraynana]

Wohoooo!
What a fabulous morning it is , Christmas eve and Batty has laid an egg at last - and one of the new girls laid a really nice hard egg - fried eggs on toast for brekkie
am ridiculously happy about this
Merry Christmas !

[MaureenHall]

Best Christmas present ever Well done Batty, keep up the good work, it gets easier now you've got the first one out of the way!

[frias]

Fabulous

[Glutton4...]

I put a small stool in the Chook run at the weekend, so I could sit and take pics, (to follow) and get to know the new white ones. One of the brown ones (I've had them 7 weeks) trotted up, and hopped up onto my lap for a cuddle!

To say I was surprised is an understatement. She eventually did it three times, and once to OH when he sat there (the look on his face was a picture).

A couple of the white ones are beginning to be a bit less timid, and come up to me when I go in, but not like the brown ones, who stop what they're doing and run over to me as soon as they see me. I didn't realise how friendly chickens could be - I know it's only because I feed them, but it's good to know they're content.

[lynda66]

mine love me most when i have meal worms