The Trap Nesting Thread

[123farm]

ok, I should have read first.... the link is great! I am so glad it has photos.... thank you!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

@123farm that's a good explanation of your goals and needs. You're right, it won't tell how many eggs a hen is laying but it will tell you if they are laying at all.

I think for best production, you may replace your culls with breeds that work both for your climate and excellent production.
I would probably slowly shift the breed mix. Some I would recommend the Rocks and Aorps you already have plus good production breeds like Dominiques, Fayoumis, Hamburgs, Leghorns, Minorcas, Anconas, Sussex and Penedesenca.

RIRs are excellent layers but can be bullies in a mixed flock. That may not be a problem with your setup. Lots of birds and lots of space.

 

[123farm]

The RIR are bullies! For God knows what reason, the old manager order a run of fancy chickens this summer. Thought they have the sweetest temperaments, they serve no purpose on this farm. Most of them are sultans and the RIR's pluck out all of their head feathers... its hilarious looking, these poor guys with grandpa bald heads. I have decided on a British? folding door design, with a trip wire and small stoppers glued to the back of the door so they cannot swing it the other direction and get out. I will post pictures if it works. This way anyone who just wants to modify their current nest boxes rather than build all new ones can do the same... if it works. We'll see. Thanks a bunch guys. I appreciate this community here.

 

[123RedBeard]

Great thread!

I read every post last night ... Now I'm thinking of adding this concept to a front roll out design when I build mine ... Kinda like theses, but collection on the front ... https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/287684/new-rollout-nest-design-picture-heavy-edited-1-21

MANOZ,

That was a great series of pictures of the egg laying process!

Thank you for the time and effort you took to share your interest in this, hopefully you will be back around here soon!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As far as the pelvic bones, besides being very hard to catch and check close to 100 hens, I read that the pelvic bone measurement is for egg laying potential and not actual laying quantity. I need the group average to be higher than 50%. I would like to see 70-80% (if I have 100 hens, I am getting an average of 70-80 eggs per day). I am in southern California so I might be able to catch them before production slows for winter if I can get these doors made in the next two weeks. right? It goes by daylight hours and we still have 12-13.

My birds are wild and impossible to catch during the day. So I do all the handling and checking at night. They're easy to pluck off the roost, look over and return.

The RIR are bullies! For God knows what reason, the old manager order a run of fancy chickens this summer. Thought they have the sweetest temperaments, they serve no purpose on this farm. Most of them are sultans and the RIR's pluck out all of their head feathers... its hilarious looking, these poor guys with grandpa bald heads. I have decided on a British? folding door design, with a trip wire and small stoppers glued to the back of the door so they cannot swing it the other direction and get out. I will post pictures if it works. This way anyone who just wants to modify their current nest boxes rather than build all new ones can do the same... if it works. We'll see. Thanks a bunch guys. I appreciate this community here.

I'd either go with all RIRs or no RIRs. If egg color isn't important, and white eggs are ok, in So. Cal I'd go with Leghorns, Anconas, Minorcas and Hamburgs. If you need brown eggs, some of the other breeds I mentioned would be good. Penedesencas are great layers of extremely dark eggs.

 

[123farm]

My birds are wild and impossible to catch during the day. So I do all the handling and checking at night. They're easy to pluck off the roost, look over and return.


I'd either go with all RIRs or no RIRs. If egg color isn't important, and white eggs are ok, in So. Cal I'd go with Leghorns, Anconas, Minorcas and Hamburgs. If you need brown eggs, some of the other breeds I mentioned would be good. Penedesencas are great layers of extremely dark eggs.

I have handled them at night and it's like a dream come true. It is just hard for me to get here at night (this is work) because I have two young kids and my husband and I work opposite shifts so our little guys can be with at least one parent at a time instead of daycare. If this were my home flock, checking them at night would be easier. If my trap nesting idea doesn't work, I will try the manual inspection. As far as RIR's, we have a lot of them. I think the old manager ordered 50 chicks last summer. We lost a few along the way, but they still make up the majority of the flock. I was assuming that the ongoing feather eating and plucking was because they aren't getting enough protein and I know they have worms (we are trying to deal with it now), but maybe a lot of it is just bullying from those guys. Our barred rocks can get a little mean sometimes too. Egg color doesn't matter at all since they are just used in a restaurant, so I will look into the suggested breeds for future flocks if we don't go with an heirloom breed. Thanks ChickenCanoe.

 

[123farm]

Great thread!

I read every post last night ... Now I'm thinking of adding this concept to a front roll out design when I build mine ... Kinda like theses, but collection on the front ... https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/287684/new-rollout-nest-design-picture-heavy-edited-1-21

MANOZ,

That was a great series of pictures of the egg laying process!

Thank you for the time and effort you took to share your interest in this, hopefully you will be back around here soon!

WAY TO GO READING EVERY POST!!! I couldn't keep going after about 24 pages. Impatient I guess

 

[123RedBeard]

Great thread!


I read every post last night ... Now I'm thinking of adding this concept to a front roll out design when I build mine ... Kinda like theses, but collection on the front ... https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/287684/new-rollout-nest-design-picture-heavy-edited-1-21


MANOZ,


That was a great series of pictures of the egg laying process!


Thank you for the time and effort you took to share your interest in this, hopefully you will be back around here soon!

WAY TO GO READING EVERY POST!!! I couldn't keep going after about 24 pages. Impatient I guess 

At the moment I'm a long distance truck driver ... We need to move to a new location to have chickens, so I'm in the research mode, getting new ideas ... I raised both meaties and layer chickens in my teen years as a source of money as a country boy ... Then in my early twenties meaties for my sled dog team for winter food ...

I'm currently laid over in OH ... Dropped yesterday at noon, but my next load doesn't pick up until tonight! So I have the time ...


I sent MANOZ a pm, hoping he would give us an update ...

 

[knjinnm]

123,
How crowded is your flock?
If the 50 RIR's were added last year I would send the rest to freeze camp ASAP. That would reduce feed costs and most likely reduce feather loss.
Have read any of the threads on fermented feeds?

 

[123farm]

123,
How crowded is your flock?
If the 50 RIR's were added last year I would send the rest to freeze camp ASAP. That would reduce feed costs and most likely reduce feather loss.
Have read any of the threads on fermented feeds?

They are in a run that is 60x60 feet, so 3,600 square feet, about 36 square feet per bird. In the coop, we have two coops, one with 12 boxes, the other with 16. There are no greens left in the area, so they might be bored.

I have recently learned about fermented feed and ordered a few buckets, specifically for trying it out. I feed them twice a day, two scoops if layer mash, two scoops of chick grower for the few we have that are on the verge of laying. I also leave out oyster shell. I havent read the threads, just a pretty detailed blog, plus my husband is a brewer at a craft brewery so we are familiar with fermentation of grains. Ideally, it would be done in a glass container, but because of the quantity I need to ferment, this is not going to be possible.

If my trap doors don't work out, then I will have to do something like you said... cull heavily for this one time to stabilize my flock and then move forward from there. We already have the materials for the trap doors, so I'd at least like to try and give these ladies all a chance to prove themselves.