- Feb 3, 2014
- 5
- 0
- 7
I just inherited four chickens and their coop. I have two Rhode Island Reds and two Sex Links. My kids and I named them--the Reds are Scarlett and Bloody Mary (just Mary for short). She's named after a chicken from a book by Orson Scott Card in the Seventh Son Series. The other two are Darlin' and Louise.
I was told these chickens had been a little neglected and might never be really friendly. They seemed to have been fed, but not really cared for. Their coop was a mess, so first of all we cleaned that up, or I guess, out. They had 5 gallon buckets for the nesting boxes, but they took up a lot of space in the small coop and seemed to roll around. So we built some little boxes (really a kind of framework that just fits against one wall with four spaces) and they seemed to like that well enough.
We were also told that we wouldn't get any eggs for a while. Mary was the friendliest and she laid an egg the very next day. I think she liked having space to run around and already felt the love! After two days, we got two eggs. Both the Rhode Island Reds were laying. During the next week, Darlin' started laying, and holy cow--she lays gigantic eggs! They almost don't fit in an egg carton. At the end of two weeks, Louise took her turn. She was the most skittish and nervous, around us as well as the other chickens, but now she doesn't hold back at all.
When the girls hear me coming, they start in squawking and clucking at me for treats. They are at the gate and can't wait to see what I have for them. I was told they were eating pellets, but they don't seem to like them at all. So now I have this big bag of pellets that I keep putting out hoping they'll go for them, but they really don't.
I was also told that if I feed them cooked food, or table scraps, the eggs will taste terrible. But I see that other people feed them cooked food, so I'm assuming your eggs taste good or you wouldn't feed them that kind of food? I have read several things about chickens (books and Internet) and seem to get a lot of conflicting information. Lights--no lights. Cooked food--no cooked food. Crushed eggs shells--never because that would make them eat their own eggs. Etc.
So I'm doing a lot of guessing. But we seem to have happy chickens since I get 3-4 eggs every day. Now and then someone doesn't lay, but then she does the next day. I'm having fun and have plans to better the coop. They have plenty of room to run and scratch because I gave up my garden to them. I'm worried because I live next to a field and there are foxes and other critters there I don't see. So far I haven't had any trouble with them, but I anticipate issues one of these days.
Okay--there you go. I'm having fun and so are my kids. All the chickens are friendly, sometimes a little crazy with the jumping trying to get a treat. But I'm not ready to give them up yet.
I was told these chickens had been a little neglected and might never be really friendly. They seemed to have been fed, but not really cared for. Their coop was a mess, so first of all we cleaned that up, or I guess, out. They had 5 gallon buckets for the nesting boxes, but they took up a lot of space in the small coop and seemed to roll around. So we built some little boxes (really a kind of framework that just fits against one wall with four spaces) and they seemed to like that well enough.
We were also told that we wouldn't get any eggs for a while. Mary was the friendliest and she laid an egg the very next day. I think she liked having space to run around and already felt the love! After two days, we got two eggs. Both the Rhode Island Reds were laying. During the next week, Darlin' started laying, and holy cow--she lays gigantic eggs! They almost don't fit in an egg carton. At the end of two weeks, Louise took her turn. She was the most skittish and nervous, around us as well as the other chickens, but now she doesn't hold back at all.
When the girls hear me coming, they start in squawking and clucking at me for treats. They are at the gate and can't wait to see what I have for them. I was told they were eating pellets, but they don't seem to like them at all. So now I have this big bag of pellets that I keep putting out hoping they'll go for them, but they really don't.
I was also told that if I feed them cooked food, or table scraps, the eggs will taste terrible. But I see that other people feed them cooked food, so I'm assuming your eggs taste good or you wouldn't feed them that kind of food? I have read several things about chickens (books and Internet) and seem to get a lot of conflicting information. Lights--no lights. Cooked food--no cooked food. Crushed eggs shells--never because that would make them eat their own eggs. Etc.
So I'm doing a lot of guessing. But we seem to have happy chickens since I get 3-4 eggs every day. Now and then someone doesn't lay, but then she does the next day. I'm having fun and have plans to better the coop. They have plenty of room to run and scratch because I gave up my garden to them. I'm worried because I live next to a field and there are foxes and other critters there I don't see. So far I haven't had any trouble with them, but I anticipate issues one of these days.
Okay--there you go. I'm having fun and so are my kids. All the chickens are friendly, sometimes a little crazy with the jumping trying to get a treat. But I'm not ready to give them up yet.
and Welcome To BYC!
