B.Y.C. Dorking Club!

Pics
Date sort Score sort
and on a down side... i'm currently down 2 red roosters. thing2 turned up missing sometime during the day today (I was at a swap so no idea what took him) and my craig Russell roo is in the hospital cage still, with an abscess on one foot, and the other appears to be broken (stepped on by a horse, most likely).

I've sent an email to the guy I got thing2 from, hoping he has some cockerels available. I got an email from him not long ago saying he just processed a number of birds, but maybe I can get some eggs from him next month when I head over that direction.

my silver greys I have penned have completely quit laying right now too, and are all moulting. it was like a group decision or something. I was getting 4-6 eggs a day, then 3, 2, 1, and nothing less than a week later... so I only got 5 eggs to set for myself! LOL crossing fingers that I get something out of them... then again if I can keep them penned (at least some of them) then I can hatch this fall for myself and grow out over the winter to get eggs in spring when I need them most.
 
My husband goes out in the morning and when he goes in the coop, he has 4-5 hen and Rooster's pop their head's out from one box :eek:)
too funny. In their yard they do have a higher order developing. And or 5 rooster's have their ladies that seem to favor one guy. So they do have little disputes within the flock but they overall get along. I guess they are not over crowded. Wondering if six nesting boxes are enough for our 9 ladies?
They are still not laying eggs yet so this could all change.
What is considered over crowding?
 
SandiDent said:
My husband goes out in the morning and when he goes in the coop, he has 4-5 hen and Rooster's pop their head's out from one box :eek:)
too funny. In their yard they do have a higher order developing. And or 5 rooster's have their ladies that seem to favor one guy. So they do have little disputes within the flock but they overall get along. I guess they are not over crowded. Wondering if six nesting boxes are enough for our 9 ladies?
They are still not laying eggs yet so this could all change.
What is considered over crowding?
Click to expand...
they're not supposed to sleep in the nests, if that's what you mean... LOL make sure your roosts are higher than the tops of the nest boxes. that'll get them where they're supposed to be. and if they're stubborn, I've gone out after dark and put them where they should be. otherwise you get poopy eggs.
sickbyc.gif


1 nest for 2-3 girls is about average I think. mine free range mostly but in the sg pen I have 6 nests for 12 girls. but they're not laying for me.
 
Lol...I think they got in the habbit because we did not have their roost in yet but we will move their "new roost" higher! Thanks for the tip. I don't like poopy eggs!!! Not getting any yet but they are still young.
 
Ugh... One of my pet peeves. Sleeping in the nesting boxes. I've FOREVER moved hens out of the nests and onto the roosts at night. So stinkin sick of poopy eggs!! For a short while we actually had our nesting boxes on the outside of our roosting area, and no one was interested in sleeping in them then of course... lol Most recently we've acquired one of the metal two-story nesting box setups that have the wooden perches on them, the perches can be flipped up to block the nests at night, which works perfectly as long as you close them off *after* eggs are all done being laid, and *before* anyone wants to go to bed! Involves a 3rd trip to the coop to do so, which isn't too bad most days, but geez, wish these girls would figure it out already... I always seem to have trouble with the younger pullets sleeping in the nesting boxes, don't know if it's just what they want to do or maybe they're still getting harassed by the older girls on the roosts. Plenty of space for everyone but not as cozy as the boxes... lol

As for number of nesting boxes, you can have as many as you want, but they will always be a few that are the favorites, sometimes 2 or 3 hens piled into one box to lay their egg while a bunch of other nests are sitting unoccupied... ;) The Animal Welfare Approved group suggests at least one nesting box per 5 hens, and of course more is fine too.
 
Sazbaby said:
Ugh... One of my pet peeves. Sleeping in the nesting boxes. I've FOREVER moved hens out of the nests and onto the roosts at night. So stinkin sick of poopy eggs!! For a short while we actually had our nesting boxes on the outside of our roosting area, and no one was interested in sleeping in them then of course... lol Most recently we've acquired one of the metal two-story nesting box setups that have the wooden perches on them, the perches can be flipped up to block the nests at night, which works perfectly as long as you close them off *after* eggs are all done being laid, and *before* anyone wants to go to bed! Involves a 3rd trip to the coop to do so, which isn't too bad most days, but geez, wish these girls would figure it out already... I always seem to have trouble with the younger pullets sleeping in the nesting boxes, don't know if it's just what they want to do or maybe they're still getting harassed by the older girls on the roosts. Plenty of space for everyone but not as cozy as the boxes... lol

As for number of nesting boxes, you can have as many as you want, but they will always be a few that are the favorites, sometimes 2 or 3 hens piled into one box to lay their egg while a bunch of other nests are sitting unoccupied... ;) The Animal Welfare Approved group suggests at least one nesting box per 5 hens, and of course more is fine too.
Click to expand...

try curtains
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/03/nest-box-curtains-more-than-fashion.html
 
Sazbaby said:
Quote: I was thinking that sounds like an idea for me, since I was leaving a gap between the front wall/doors and the floor frame (raised houses) during colder months maybe.

just a bit more to do and the first one will be done! then I work on adding the second group to it.



eventually it will be a 2x4 configuration

Click to expand...
 

Similar threads

Athenaeum
Best chicken breed to have in a small flock with a disabled Rhode Island Red hen?
Replies
2
Views
470
Athenaeum
Athenaeum
1
Lethargic Australorp
Replies
1
Views
130
Eggcessive
Eggcessive
inquisitivebird
Dorking chicks coloring
Replies
4
Views
1K
inquisitivebird
inquisitivebird
M3lLov3sCh1ck3ns
chick with vision problems and stunted growth but no physical issues.
Replies
9
Views
431
M3lLov3sCh1ck3ns
M3lLov3sCh1ck3ns
eveleychook
    • Like
Dorking Cross Breeding
Replies
7
Views
4K
eveleychook
eveleychook

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom