Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Ridgerunner]

New to this forum, love reading all the info.
I have a question as I am new to chickens and egglayers.
I have 26 pullets that are 16 weeks and 13 pullets that are 13 weeks.
My question is about the nesting boxes.
I have a two row nesting box with 5 boxes across.
the bottom row is 19" off the floor and the top row is 31 ".
My roosts are 36" off the floor.
Are the nesting boxes too high or are they ok?

thanks

I'm not sure if you are talking about the bottom of each row, the top or each row, or the bottom of the opening? But that really doesn't matter. Let your chickens tell you. Are they sleeping on the roosts or in the nest boxes? If they are sleeping on the roosts, your nest box height is perfect.

 

[ldutch123]

We boil ours as normal. then cut in half and use a spoon to dip the egg half out of the egg shell. There are also some products at TSC stores for boiling eggs.

 

Or from http://amazingproducts.tv/eggies-system.html

FYI: We have never tried this ptroduct. Just found it interesting.

I have these and they are awful!! I thought ohhhh boy how neat this would be but no such luck the Inside of the plastic egg leaked in water and so you had half wet eggs that were squirting out the seems. Also these tiny little "Eggies" have like 4 tiny pieces per plastic egg.


I was a mad mad lady when I spent the time to try the out. I really thought it would solve my dislike of peeling eggs.

 

[ldutch123]

There was talk earlier about feeding an all flock feed instead of a layer feed because there is no need for all the extra calcium. So I took your (not sure who's) (FRED I THINK) Advice and now am feeding them 18% all flock feed. I always offered oyster shell anyhow but now I make sure I have a big bowl of it.


So do you think I will see any change in my egg shells at all? Also is there a concern about giving them too much protein? The layer feed is only 16%.

I also like the pellets now because I won't see so much dust like the crumbles produce. But I'm mixing the crumble and pellet in the other coop because the 2 month old chicks and bantams are in there. But my full grown girls and boys like it just fine.

My goal is to have healthier chickens. It makes sense to me not to feed excess calcium and you guys and gals seemed to say the same thing so shall it be

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Never tried the eggie things but saw an infomercial on them and figured it sounded too good to be true, same as those egg separators, why waste money on that when you can just use half the eggshell to catch the yoke and it's always the perfect size, and nothing extra to wash.

 

[Fred's Hens]

New to this forum, love reading all the info.
I have a question as I am new to chickens and egglayers.
I have 26 pullets that are 16 weeks and 13 pullets that are 13 weeks.
My question is about the nesting boxes.
I have a two row nesting box with 5 boxes across.
the bottom row is 19" off the floor and the top row is 31 ".
My roosts are 36" off the floor.
Are the nesting boxes too high or are they ok?

thanks

My brother uses rear entering nesting boxes some 30 inches off the ground. He doesn't have an issue with the layers using them. Me? I like to train young pullets with boxes very, very low. In fact, I set them virtually on the ground, on some half blocks. I've always found it the easiest way to start.

As for the roost, it depends on the breed and whether you have graduated step bars going up to that height. I'm not a fan of having heavier birds jumping down from 3 foot height all the time. Try what you've got and see how it works out for you.

 

[Fred's Hens]

There was talk earlier about feeding an all flock feed instead of a layer feed because there is no need for all the extra calcium. So I took your (not sure who's) (FRED I THINK) Advice and now am feeding them 18% all flock feed. I always offered oyster shell anyhow but now I make sure I have a big bowl of it.
So do you think I will see any change in my egg shells at all? Also is there a concern about giving them too much protein? The layer feed is only 16%.
I also like the pellets now because I won't see so much dust like the crumbles produce. But I'm mixing the crumble and pellet in the other coop because the 2 month old chicks and bantams are in there. But my full grown girls and boys like it just fine.
My goal is to have healthier chickens. It makes sense to me not to feed excess calcium and you guys and gals seemed to say the same thing so shall it be

Just wanted to be clear. Layer feed is essentially just feed with the higher calcium ground into it. I like the Hubbard 17% layer mash I buy, freshly ground, at our local mill.
But, when one has a mixed flock of layers and younger birds, who shouldn't have the high calcium, gathering around a shared feeder, just feeding everyone a Grower or All Flock makes things simple. The Grower we get here is 18% and everyone does just fine on it.

 

[Beekissed]

For the OT chicken breeders: Can you give us your top 5-10 most important tips on breeding that you would want newbies to know?

 

[mississippifarmboy]

For the OT chicken breeders: Can you give us your top 5-10 most important tips on breeding that you would want newbies to know?

That's a tough one Bee, because I breed for two reasons; show and my personal goals.

On either one though;
I never breed a weak or un-thrifty bird.. ooops, I ate those earlier in the year....

I never breed a bird with obvious faults.... oops, ate those too.

I never breed a bird for meat that is not properly developed and " meaty"... ooops, ate those too.

I never breed a laying breed that is under productive or lays odd shaped or deformed eggs.... oops, ate those too.

I always hatch early in the year and never after it gets hot. Nope, lying like a rug, I've got two incubators going right now and it's mid July.




Sorry.... No tips from the dumb farmboy.

 

[canesisters]

 

[Clay Mudd]

That's a tough one Bee, because I breed for two reasons; show and my personal goals.

On either one though;
I never breed a weak or un-thrifty bird.. ooops, I ate those earlier in the year....

I never breed a bird with obvious faults.... oops, ate those too.

I never breed a bird for meat that is not properly developed and " meaty"... ooops, ate those too.

I never breed a laying breed that is under productive or lays odd shaped or deformed eggs.... oops, ate those too.

I always hatch early in the year and never after it gets hot. Nope, lying like a rug, I've got two incubators going right now and it's mid July.




Sorry.... No tips from the dumb farmboy.

So, the most important thing about breeding is eating a lot of chicken?

Hey, even I can do that!