Duck Eggs, Chicken Eggs, and Hatching Eggs!

The Disney Ducks have been giving me eggs!  Last week, I found a total of 4, though two were in there one day.  I didn't know how long they had been in there, so I fed them to the dogs, and they were happy to get the treat.  Then I got two more.  I put them in some pancakes, but I didn't really notice a difference in richness.

Yesterday, there was another waiting for me to pick up.  This egg and the four preceding eggs were about the size as a large chicken egg, so I figured I was getting the average sized egg.  Apparently NOT!  I went out this morning to find a HUGE egg!  The brown egg is from my Red Sex-Link, Red.

As far as my chickens are laying, I'm happy with the array of colors.  Dark brown, green, cream, and blue make the basket carton beautiful, and they are all natural.  There are no artificially colored shells, and soon I will be getting enough eggs to sell!  $3/doz.

  

We are averaging between five and eight eggs a day, and sometimes they make me work for the eggs.  Since some of the layers are new to laying, they don't always know where they are supposed to drop their goods.  It's a real easter egg hunt.

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Dora is one of the easiest to capture on film.  Bandit was luring her away towards the coop, so this was not one of my easier shoots.

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The chicks are doing well too.  It was getting close to roosting hour.

Baby Bok Joy, the Lavender Orpington

McMurray EE, Calamity Jane

Phoenixes (one not pictured) Not named

OE (Bandit x Splash OE) looks a lot like Calamity Jane.  This is Livewire for his exuberance.  I think it's a cockerel, based on what I remember from sexing him at day two.  I'm not happy with the comb on this one.  Straight combs mean he doesn't have the blue egg laying gene that is possessed by his parents.

Blue OE (Bandit x Splash OE) no name has a good comb.  She will have a pea comb that is synonymous with the blue egg laying gene.  I believe this is also a cockerel, based on the sexing at day one.

If both of the (Bandit x Splash OE) are cockerels, they will be put in the freezer.  I will know for sure in another  weeks

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I'm still researching genetics in chickens.  I'm not really good at genetics, so understanding is a bit of work for me.  Keeping the information here, I may be able to look back and read up on it.

This information is regarding sex-linked traits in chickens:
http://www.extension.org/pages/65471/sex-linked-traits-in-poultry#.U9e5D_ldVip

Information from BYC:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information