83 replies to this topic

[Chook12]

Pics from this morning's feed (15th feed):

 IMGP2439.JPG   381.91KB   4 downloads  IMGP2440.JPG   407.33KB   4 downloads

Egg counts for the week:

Sun: 4; Mon: 1; Tue: 3; Wed: 5; Thu: 3; Fri: 3; Sat: 4; Average: 3.3

[Mind]

Homework assignment: Someone find out the median lifespan of this species of chicken in normal rearing environments. Extra credit: Find out the median productive (egg-laying) life, ie. how long before they are past their peak egg-laying.

[Turnbuckle]

Since chickens typically live 5-7 years and can live to 10 or even 20 years, some of the members here will likely die off before this is done.

Edited by Turnbuckle, 25 August 2012 - 12:39 PM.

[Chook12]

pic from Saturday morning (16th feed):

 IMGP2449.JPG   392.9KB   3 downloads

Egg counts for the week:

Sun: 3; Mon: 3; Tue: 3; Wed: 5; Thu: 2; Fri: 5; Sat: 1; Avg: 3.14

Sun: 7

On Sat eggs were collected 2 hours earlier than normal due to my having to go out early - this could account for the low number on Sat (1) and large number the next day (7).

I am going overseas for the next 4 weeks, so the chicken and human experiments will be suspended during this time.

Due to being busy with the preparations for the overseas trip, I haven't done much about looking into the lifespan of a chicken. Doing a quick internet search, it seems a few websites say about 7 years for chickens' lifespan. However, a few chicken owners report birds living into their teens, and still laying the odd egg.

http://www.backyardc...icken-life-span

[orion602]

thanks for this thread. Good idea trying this on hens , even though they are rather long-living species for life extension experiments as well as other birds. But i think it can produce interesting results as they are farm animals and have different anatomy from mammals.

One of the hens, a black leghorn, just started laying again yesterday after not laying since sometime in March. This hen is the only one that lays white eggs (all the others lay brown eggs), so it is easy to tell if that hen is laying.

The potion was made with 1g of c60 and 1.5L of olive oil. This is 0.67mg/ml. So the 20 ml is 13.3mg, and if all 6 chickens are getting the same amount, they would be getting 2.2mg each.

So far there does not seem to be any detrimental effect on their egg laying.

Can you examine yolk color for possible tone difference of eggs layed before c60oo and now? +Are there any differences in feathers quality now?

What about incresing dose or frequency of c60 feeding for one of the hens and compare? (perhaps the one laying white eggs)

[Chook12]

I arrived back from vacation late Sat. Chickens were fed their c60oo bread Sun morning (17th feed):

 IMGP2519.JPG   424.4KB   8 downloads  IMGP2524.JPG   414.29KB   8 downloads

Chickens look fine, seem a bit quieter than normal. Collected 3 eggs this morning.

Edited by chicken12, 23 September 2012 - 09:37 AM.

[Chook12]

18th feed yesterday morning (Saturday). After I gave them the c60oo bread I tried to take a photo, but didn't realise my camera was in video mode, and by the time I worked out what was going on, the bread had all been gobbled up. Therefore I have a small video of them eating the bread but no still pictures. I have tried uploading the video in avi and mp4 format (file is less than 2MB) but each time it said that it is not permitted to upload this type of file. If someone can tell me what video file formats are permitted then I can try to convert it and upload it.

Egg counts for the week:

Sun: 3; Mon: 3; Tue: 4; Wed 6; Thurs: -; Fri: -; Sat: 12

On Thurs and Fri I had to go away on a business trip so wasn't around to count the eggs, however 12 eggs were collected on Sat morning, which would be an average of 4 eggs/day for Thurs, Fri, Sat.

Edited by chicken12, 30 September 2012 - 05:21 AM.

[Chook12]

19th feed this morning.

 IMGP2540.JPG   403.29KB   6 downloads

Egg counts for the week:

Sun: 4; Mon: 5; Tue: 2; Wed: 4; Thu: 6; Fri: 4; Sat: 3; Avg: 4

[Chook12]

20th feed yesterday:

 IMGP2545.JPG   432.09KB   7 downloads

Egg counts for the week:

Sun: 6; Mon: 4; Tue: 5; Wed: 6; Thu: 3; Fri: 3; Sat: 6; Avg: 4.7

Edited by chicken12, 14 October 2012 - 09:35 AM.

[AgeVivo]

Is there a graph of egg counts / a googledoc, to follow it visually?

[Chook12]

21st feed on Sat morning (20 Oct). Sorry a bit slow with posting.

 IMGP2547.JPG   409.19KB   26 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 3; Mon: 6; Tue: 5; Wed:4; Thu: 6; Fri 4; Sat: 4; Avg: 4.6

I am now entering the egg count data in a spreadsheet, so can eventually plot a graph of egg count data with time.

[Chook12]

22nd feed on Sat 27 Oct 2012:

 IMGP2551.JPG   396.09KB   25 downloads

Feed was done in the afternoon (as can be seen from position of shadows)

Egg counts:
Sun: 5; Mon: 4; Tue: 5; Wed:4; Thu: 3; Fri 2; Sat: 5; Avg: 4


23rd feed on Sat 3 Nov 2012:

 IMGP2557.JPG   441.48KB   25 downloads

Position of feed dishes was moved during the week.


Egg counts:
Sun: 7; Mon: 3; Tue: 3; Wed:5; Thu: 2; Fri 6; Sat: 4; Avg: 4.3

Busy back at work lately, will post a googledoc of ongoing data soon.

[Mind]

Egg counts are a nice metric, thanks so much for keeping everyone updated.

Also, I think the fact that the chickens are alive and healthy is quite relevant to the "human lab rats" here at Longecity who are experimenting with C60.

[Chook12]

24th feed on Sat 10 Nov 2012:

 IMGP2563.JPG   438.38KB   22 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 4; Mon: 5; Tue: 5; Wed: 3; Thu: 5; Fri: 6; Sat: 5; Avg: 4.7


25th feed on Sat 17 Nov 2012:

 IMGP2565.JPG   412.51KB   23 downloads  IMGP2567.JPG   429.43KB   24 downloads


Egg counts:
Sun: 4; Mon: 3; Tue: 4; Wed: 5; Thu: 3; Fri: 6; Sat: 4; Avg: 4.1

Edited by chicken12, 17 November 2012 - 04:32 AM.

[Chook12]

Link to chicken spreadsheet:

https://docs.google....cjJkU1g0UlRHOEU

[Chook12]

26th feed on Sat 24 Nov 2012:

 IMGP2569.JPG   401.94KB   21 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 5; Mon: 3; Tue: 4; Wed: 4; Thu: 4; Fri: 3; Sat: 6; Avg: 4.1

Link to chicken spreadsheet:

https://docs.google....cjJkU1g0UlRHOEU

[AgeVivo]

very good work. nice to see the trend for more egg laying. Whether it would be normal in non-treated hen, at I least it aligned with overall health

with google docs you can create spreadsheets and insert a graph

Edited by AgeVivo, 24 November 2012 - 11:25 AM.

[Chook12]

27th feed on Sat 1 Dec 2012:

 IMGP2573.JPG   341.11KB   16 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 4; Mon: 4; Tue: 6; Wed: 3; Thu: 4; Fri: 3; Sat: 4; Avg: 4

The increase in egg laying could just be seasonal and have nothing to do with c60. However, at least the chickens are in good health.

[Chook12]

28th feed on Sat 8 Dec 2012:

 IMGP2579.JPG   438.3KB   14 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 3; Mon: 3; Tue: 3; Wed: 2; Thu: 2; Fri: 3; Sat: 2; Avg: 2.6


29th feed on Sat 15 Dec 2012:

 IMGP2585.JPG   382.19KB   13 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 3; Mon: 3; Tue: 2; Wed: 3; Thu: 4; Fri: 1; Sat: 2; Avg: 2.6
One egg on Tue was very large - this turned out to be a double yolker.

One of the chooks (the small white sussex) has become broody. This means she is not laying, and sits in the nest box all day and night trying to incubate a plastic egg. This would be part of the reason for the lower egg counts.

However, even if the Sussex was online and laying an egg per day, the egg count would still be down from the peak. It could be due to seasonal variations (i.e. a peak in Spring, slightly less in Summer and tapering down in Autumn), or possibly the chooks are suffering a little with the hot weather the last few weeks.

Edited by Chook12, 15 December 2012 - 01:01 PM.

[Chook12]

Sorry a bit slack with typing up post the past few weeks. However, feeds and photos were taken on the right days, and egg spreadsheet was updated daily.

30th feed on Sat 22 Dec 2012:

 IMGP2589.JPG   419.42KB   13 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 2; Mon: 3; Tue: 3; Wed: 3; Thu: 3; Fri: 4; Sat: 3; Avg: 3

31st feed on Sat 29th Dec 2012:

 IMGP2591.JPG   406.38KB   14 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 2; Mon: 3; Tue: 2; Wed: 2; Thu: 1; Fri: 4; Sat: 3; Avg: 2.4

32nd feed on Sat 5 Jan 2013:

 05Jan2013.JPG   398.1KB   13 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 3; Mon: 2; Tue: 3; Wed: 4; Thu: 2; Fri: 4; Sat: 2; Avg: 2.9

The small sussex is still broody and not laying.

Link to chicken spreadsheet:
https://docs.google....HOEU/edit?pli=1

[Chook12]

33rd feed on Sat 12 Jan 2013:

 IMGP2627.JPG   385.74KB   16 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 2; Mon: 2; Tue: 3; Wed: 2; Thu: 2; Fri: 2; Sat: 3; Avg: 2.3

34th feed on Sat 19 Jan 2013:

 IMGP2628.JPG   395.12KB   16 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 2; Mon: 3; Tue: 2; Wed: 2; Thu: 2; Fri: 2; Sat: 1; Avg: 2

The small sussex is still broody and not laying. The larger of the two red hens has started to moult.

[Chook12]

Feed not done on Sat 26 Jan due to wild weather. Very windy and heavy rain due to an ex-tropical cyclone. Chickens were mostly huddled up on their perch, and the chicken coop was a mire of mud. A section of roof came off our back verandah, one of my banana trees was blown over, and we lost power for 3 days. Eggs counts were not done on Fri and Sat.

Egg counts:
Sun: 4; Mon: 1; Tue: 2; Wed: 1; Thu: 3; Fri: -; Sat: -


35th feed on Sat 2 Feb 2013:

 IMGP2634.JPG   388.27KB   12 downloads


Egg counts:
Sun: -; Mon: -; Tue: -; Wed: 5; Thu: 3; Fri: 2; Sat: 3

Eggs were not collected Sun-Tue due to the wild weather. When I finally got to collect on Wed, there were 5 eggs. Averages will be distorted for the last two weeks.

The small Sussex is walking around and appears to have stopped being broody. The large Rhode Island Red has stopped moulting.

[Mind]

Thanks for keeping up the experiment/records/posting! I like eggs, lol, but I am mainly interested to see how long your chickens live.

[stephen_b]

It looks like egg production is a function of age, so that might be a marker for aging.

Chickens can live for many years and continue to lay eggs for many of these years. However,after two or three years many hens significantly decline in productivity

Edited by stephen_b, 03 February 2013 - 07:40 PM.

[niner]

I'd be pretty interested in knowing if c60-oo affects egg production as a function of age. We've seen some indications that c60-oo might be impacting stem cell differentiation, which might play into this. After reading the link that stephen_b just posted, I can see that egg production is pretty complicated, but Chook12 seems to be keeping pretty good records, so who knows, maybe something will show up.

[Chook12]

36th feed on Sat 9 Feb 2013:

 IMGP2636.JPG   426.99KB   11 downloads  IMGP2637.JPG   442.25KB   11 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 2; Mon: 3; Tue: 1; Wed: 3; Thu: 2; Fri: 2; Sat: 3; Avg: 2.3

Can see that the small white Sussex is now walking around. In the second picture parts of all 6 chickens can be seen (two are hiding behind a feeder) This pic might seen a little brighter than others. More light is getting into the garden after a tree that was damaged in the storm was chopped down, which could be contributing to this.

[LoopLooper]

Hi! I love this thread. Thank you for these posts and for the Google Docs link. I am very curious about the effect that C60 might have on reproduction and that is why I love the egg count. I am also very interested to see if the chicks born from these C60 mamas are born normally. Do you have any roosters and/or might you allow any of the eggs to hatch to discover if the chicks seem normal with a normal lifespan?

Best Regards and keep up the great work!

[Danail Bulgaria]

Chook12,

There is something important in Your study, that I didn't manage to find. Do You know the "strain" of Your chickens and what is their average life length?

[Chook12]

Sorry about not checking in. Work and home have both been very busy the last few weeks. Feeds have been done and photos taken, and egg counts recorded on the spreadsheet daily.

37th feed on Sat 16 Feb 2013:

 IMGP2639.JPG   537.7KB   4 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 2; Mon: 2; Tue: 3; Wed: 2; Thu: 2; Fri: 3; Sat: 3; Avg: 2.4

It can be seen in the photo that Clucky's (the small Sussex) tail feathers are missing, and there are some white feathers around. This chook had been moulting that week.

38th feed on Sat 23 Feb 2013:

 IMGP2644.JPG   534.95KB   4 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 3; Mon: 3; Tue: 3; Wed: 2; Thu: 2; Fri: 3; Sat: 3; Avg: 2.7


Sat 2 Mar 2013:
Feed not done. The chicken coop was a mire of smelly mud due to continued heavy rain and overflow from my newly installed water tank. Spent all weekend digging and installing pipes to improve drainage. It seems to have worked since heavy rain since has not resulted in any puddles forming in the chicken coop.

Egg counts:
Sun: 3; Mon: 2; Tue: 2; Wed: 2; Thu: 2; Fri: 2; Sat: 3; Avg: 2.3


39th feed on Sat 9 Mar 2013:

 IMGP2655.JPG   499.76KB   5 downloads

Egg counts:
Sun: 2; Mon: 1; Tue: 1; Wed: 2; Thu: 2; Fri: 1; Sat: 1; Avg: 1.4

Egg count seems to have fallen off during the last week. Actually today (Mon 11 Mar) was the first day since the experiment began that no eggs were laid at all. It is normal for egg laying to slow down this time of year, so it may be seasonal.

Chicken spreadsheet:
https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing

[Chook12]

Hi! I love this thread. Thank you for these posts and for the Google Docs link. I am very curious about the effect that C60 might have on reproduction and that is why I love the egg count. I am also very interested to see if the chicks born from these C60 mamas are born normally. Do you have any roosters and/or might you allow any of the eggs to hatch to discover if the chicks seem normal with a normal lifespan?

Best Regards and keep up the great work!

Hi QualityToast,

In my home town we are not allowed to keep roosters due to local council laws. Therefore I cannot do any experiments with hatching baby chicks. I don't think the c60oo has had any effect on egg laying. There have been changes in egg laying since the experiment started, but these are what would be normally expected with the seasons.

Chook12,

There is something important in Your study, that I didn't manage to find. Do You know the "strain" of Your chickens and what is their average life length?

Hi seivtcho,

The two red ones are Rhode Island Reds (Big Red and Plucky), just over 5 years old. The white ones (Fatso and Clucky) are White Sussex. When I bought the two black ones they said in the shop they were Australorps. However, I think one of them (Rusty) is an Australorp crossed with something else, because she has rust coloured feathers down her front. I think the other black one (Floppy) is a black leghorn. She has white earlobes and lays white coloured eggs, and looks just like a picture of a leghorn I found on the internet. The black and white chickens are all just over 2 years old.