Cheryl's Hen House...

[Molpet]

Gotta love it. It's musical chairs....er...nests now. No telling which one's they might use. lol...

yeah mine are switching around too.. hoping for a broodie.. but I have a few roos

 

[TerryH]

yeah mine are switching around too.. hoping for a broodie.. but I have a few roos 

Interesting. For whatever reason it seems when the BCM started to lay is when this all started. Maybe the super dark eggs confused them.

 

[aart]

For whatever reason it seems when the BCM started to lay is when this all started. Maybe the super dark eggs confused them.

I've switched around the fakies a lot....and have seen no real consistent choice of nests.
Except where ever the first of the day lays, they mostly go there.
I have 4 nests in a bank similar to yours, they seem to prefer the end nests most days
But I have 19 layers, so when many are laying I think they just choose which ever nest is unoccupied..lol.
One bird always lays in the same nest.

 

[TerryH]

I've switched around the fakies a lot....and have seen no real consistent choice of nests.
Except where ever the first of the day lays, they mostly go there.
I have 4 nests in a bank similar to yours, they seem to prefer the end nests most days
But I have 19 layers, so when many are laying I think they just choose which ever nest is unoccupied..lol.
One bird always lays in the same nest.

They had all laid in 3 of the 4 possible nests until yesterday. All 4 eggs in the one remaining nest that had never been laid in prior. lol...chickens...

 

[TerryH]

Hello all! Well, it's been a while since I've updated so it's overdue but not much to report. Things have been pretty much normal. We did loose the BCM to apparently the same respiratory issues that have plagued us since the wood chip fiasco. The remaining 3 are doing well. Laying most every day and generally look happy and healthy. We made the decision not to begin with chicks for the replacements. We have purchased some pullets. BO's and Speckled Marans from a reputable local breeder. I'm picking them up later today. They range in age from 10 to 15 weeks. I've subdivided a spot in the run for them to be separated from the existing flock. I don't see any way to quarantine them that will be 100% effective so we've opted to just separate them for now and see how it goes.

Here's what we came up with. I'll be adding the winter curtains back on the front side so they will be protected on 3 sides.

 

[aart]

Looks GREAT!!
Fantastic introduction space.

Did they use HN's where they grew up?
You may need to provide an open waterer late in day if they can't get the hang of the nipples quickly.

Can't wait to see them!

 

[TerryH]

Looks GREAT!!
Fantastic introduction space.

Did they use HN's where they grew up?
You may need to provide an open waterer late in day if they can't get the hang of the nipples quickly.

Can't wait to see them!

Thanks! It was really just a quick and dirty fix but hopefully it will work. No clue on the waterer they have now but I have plan B if needed.

 

[aart]

Quote: Well, your 'dirty' is pretty 'clean'!

 

[TerryH]

Well, your 'dirty' is pretty 'clean'!

Ha! We won't be showing any close up shots of it.

 

[Finnie]

That's a great space you made. Very nice that your run was large enough to do that. They will be able to get to know each other through the wire, and then introducing them should go pretty smoothly. Plus you can use the whole chicken yard space for intro day. Can't wait to see the new ones!