My chickens are coming of age...what do i need to do to prepare them?

[redhen]

..

..my girls are getting close to laying age...so...i have the nest boxes in there..i leave them open during the day..close them at night(so they wont sleep in them)..um..what else do i need to do to "show" them where to lay...they dont even really even go in the boxes..(maybe they dont like them?

)...any help will be appreciated..thanks, Wendy

 

[Kessidy]

Do you have them on a layer food? Do you have oyster shell available for them?

I am new to this as well, but that is what I am doing.

 

[redoak]

toss some golf balls or ping pong balls into the nests, it'll help show the girls where to lay. Mine didn't show much interest in the nests until a week or so before their first eggs.

 

[simba49450]

hi there

when they lay thier first egg you can show them where to lay with thier egg or get a fake object in the shape of a egg and use that, regular grit will be fine unless you are planning on shipping eggs, if not you dont need the oyster shell even though there are people swear by it. a chickens egg is hard enough without oyster shell. ive been raising for a while now and i never used oyster shell. there are people who do use it and the chicks sometimes have a very hard time breaking out. if you have any othre questions let me know

 

[GlacierNan]

Allright, I read your heading and my mind went right to...

the birds and bees talk...then...

the pep talk!

Come on girls, let's go in there and LAY those EGGS!!!

My girls have 3 mos to go but I encourage 'em under my breath every time I see 'em!

 

[redhen]

LOL..thanks guys for all the advice...i have some of those fake..wooden type country eggs..for decorating around the house..could i use them? Hate to ruin them though!...lol...what about plastic easter eggs?..i have some of those...maybe they'll want to lay pink and yellow eggs for me then.

...and when do i put them in the nest boxes?...also..my oldest are close to laying age..but my youngest are like a month to 6 weeks behind them.so..can i still use layer feed?...i dont want the younger ones to get to much calcium..so....i'm confused..which isnt a new thing..

....thanks so much, Wendy

 

[redoak]

My father-in-law used the plastic easter eggs as decoys and they worked fine. I switched over to layer when I got my 1st egg, which was a month ago. So 3 of my hens are getting layer without laying. I'm guessing it would be more stress on chickens to lay eggs without layer feed, then to have layer feed for a few extra weeks without laying?

 

[redhen]

thanks redoak..

...and good point..about it only being a few weeks differance..thanks!..Wendy(I WANT SOME EGGS!!)

 

[Shared Acres]

Yep, my first thought was to give them the "birds and the bees" talk as well!

 

[redhen]

LOL..okay..i'm gonna give it a try...or maybe i'll give them the KFC talk!..

..Wendy