Thanks as always for the awesome resource here. I've not been active for some time as hens are pretty much no brainers after a while.
Then a neighbor's dog got in when we accidentally had the run door unlatched. Panic ensued and one girl got a few bites. Nothing serious looking but I came here...
Mine lay whenever though I believe hens have their own pattern. I'm down to one layer and she lays around 5 or 6 PM. She's old so not every day. And I get my fair share of eggs in the grass and they have nesting boxes.
It is a sad thing I do to write a eulogy for our beautiful Buffy girl. Our Buff Orpington has always been the biggest, best layer, most beautiful hen in our small flock. The flock is aging a bit after three years, but I still got an egg or two when one of them wasn't broody. Much to my...
I've now gone 2 months without an egg out of any of my four girls. I'd been averaging 2-4 a day for a while from year+ old hens before that. Now I may have to actually buy eggs! The horror! I know they slow down as the hours get less light, but two months ago? What's their excuse. hehe
After careful consideration, I've decided to make this page about the great home-made chicken coop and arc my brother designed after looking at hundreds of options out there, specifically built for our yards (we built two identical coops). I hope you enjoy the page and appreciate that hard work...
Great post! I'm not sure why, but my brother's hens and mine are night and day different. They were bought from the same stock at the feed store (similar breeds) and fed the same food (starter then layer) with equal foraging access. Mine fattened up nicely, grew combs first and started laying...
It's weird. My brother and I got the same chicks at the same time and mine have been laying for a month and his are doing nothing. Very odd. We weren't concerned at first, but a month difference from the same batch? We raised them the same as well. Boggles the mind.
I ended up going 2x2 galvanized kennel fencing for my run. Works well. Not as light as hardware cloth, but effective. I think I got it at Lowes for $50 for 25 feet by 4 feet. Not great but not horrible. Good luck!
Five month old plus a couple of days and I found this in the run when I went out to bring them in. Wasn't home to hear it but I hope it wasn't too loud. YAY! Likely from my Welsummer, or maybe the Buff Orpington, though it's a week younger.
Yep, effectively grower was recommended by the earlier folks here too. They just found too little difference between starter and grower, so they don't stock grower. /shrug
Man are there ever opinions out there. My brother convinced me to go a few more weeks of starter feed, basically on the advice we got from the feed store. I got there today and they told me any hen over 4 months should get layer feed. Go figure. Same place, different official opinions. Anyhow...
Thanks folks, they're actually almost 5 months and my feed store recommended against grower, thus this current bag of starter. They have access to forage all day and get kitchen scraps for treats, but still go through lots of feed.
I will definitely switch to layer and likely make the...
Hey, my hens are nearly ready to start laying and I'm almost out of starter feed. Should I just buy layer feed now or invest in more starter? I plan on supplementing with baked crushed egg shells for added calcium, and let them forage on grass and weeds, but want opinions on their feed for the...
I'm not worried about waste. They clean it out fast, even it they flip it. It's insane how fast they eat with no holes to stop them.
Thanks folks, as always!