When describing egg-laying habits of each breed, my favorite chicken book (A Chicken in Every Yard, by Robert and Hannah Litt) mentions average quantities of eggs laid in the summer vs. winter. For example, my breeds will lay an average of 5-6 a week in the summer and 3-4 a week in the winter...
Thanks, Webster4 - On the right side of the run post is where I've attached the coffee and soup cans that I planted with the greens for the chickens, the idea being that we snip a few leaves off for the ladies as we enter the run - it's nice to have them right there, and the chickens love it!
That is a great point, KAC266! I hadn't thought of that - I will try to set them on their roost tonight (and hereafter, until they do it themselves). Thanks for the tip!!!
They did it!!! Last night I glanced out the kitchen window and noticed that one of the four chickens was walking up the ramp into the coop - the others soon followed! When I went out to close the coop door, I noticed that all 4 chickens were in a clump, hunkered down inside of a single egg...
Thanks, you guys! I took this photo before I added the frame to cover the lawn (that's now starting to grow) in the middle section of the planter inside the run. It's super cute to watch those chicks stand over it and try to grab a blade or two of grass through the screen!) - I wish I could...
This is great - I'm particularly envious that it took only a "couple of weeks" to build :) - it took me longer to build my coop/run than to renovate my kitchen!!! Looks like your chickens will have a wonderful place to live, good luck raising those Rhode Island Reds!
I used BYC a lot for ideas for the coop and run, but unfortunately I didn't have the foresight to cite anyone. Apparently foresight is not my strong suit, because I neglected to take progress photos while building my coop and run as well.
I started off with a coop from craigslist and soon...
My 4 chickens are about 10 weeks old now and have been out in their coop/run for a week (exclusively in the coop for the first couple days). Every night, I pick each one up and put her in her coop. When do they start to walk up the ladder into the coop on their own? I certainly don't mind...