Our girls a year old. We have one that is pretty dramatic about laying her eggs. She has been sitting on the nest now for at least 16 hours, clucking kind of funny. I'm intimidated by the idea of an impacted egg, but worried if I don't check.
I put a heat lamp in the covered run for my flock today. They are predicting negative 20. I think my rooster was sunbathing when I checked on them this evening!
Right now, the nesting box has a hinged roof. The girls like to lay on the "first floor" coop level too so we have to reach in from the back door which swings down on hinges too.
The roof is definitely in need of changing for the winter. Currently, it's an old political sign that was posted on...
Our coop is about 4x4.5 foot with a little elevated nesting box area. The run is about 4x10 feet. My husband moves it about every 3 to 4 days, but the chickens have the run of the whole yard during the day. I can't see him lifting the coop/run tractor and hauling it in the snow covered yard...
Thank you Kelsie. She did lay the egg and settled down. She has since laid two more, every other day, and there was not as much drama. It might have just thrown the poor guy for a loop that first day! Would be interested to know how common that behavior is.
One of my barred rocks, Queen, is trying to pass her first egg today. I saw our rooster mount her last week. He was in the nesting box next to her for an hour. I kicked him out so to leave her alone. Well, Queen just shuffled around in the coop, came out a few times to get a drink, and would...
We are in a similar situation. It just dawned on me that one of our 5 month old americaunas (or EE?) is a boy. He/She has a dark pink comb, is larger, and has always been more aggressive, and stands off to the side when I bring treats out (letting the ladies eat first?). A few days ago, he...
chynasparks - Yes ... Amelia definitely likes to give us her opinion. She even got paint on her tail feathers. She laid her first egg in the coop five days after we painted so I reckon she approved.
There's a store in town here that sells a GMO-free eggs for $6 a dozen and they say they sometimes sell out in 1 day. We have 2 out of 10 girls who are laying (they are 20 weeks old). I'm nervous about asking friends to pay for our eggs once all 10 girls get up and running.
We finally painted ours 2 weeks ago. We found old putt putt golf boards that some church had used for a fun fair of sorts. Thus, the holes. We tore off the astroturf to make the side walls. The floor and roof are old political signs. The girls seem happy with it!
Our chickens will be 18 weeks old tomorrow. Thus far, we've found one little egg 5 days ago. So excited. Now nada. I think all chicken owners feel that same anticipation.
Here is a photo of my uncle with my grandparents brooder house in the background. My grandpa built it. My grandma used to get 200-300 chicks every spring. I'm guessing the year is about 1946 or 1947