I wrote almost exactly eight weeks ago about my suspicions (yes, I was being bamboozled by the neighbor's daughter) when I found a nicely-formed, full-size egg in the coop with my then 12-week-old pullets. This new laying flock is a mix (see signature below).
I didn't see a thing in the coop yesterday morning as I went about feeding . . . but, this morning, the BH came sailing though the back door to report five (count 'em, 1, 2, .... 5) eggs laying about the litter in the coop. Sure enough.
I don't expect that five pullets lit off laying the same day. My thought is that the RSLs in the flock laid their first after I checked yesterday, and again this morning. Small, three of them with mottled shells like you'd expect first eggs to have. Odd or not, it's 20 weeks yesterday that they were all hatched. Satisfying to say the least.
So today's plans for work about the homestead were laid aside. The coop is new this year, so we saw to trimming out the window on the south side, which provided the anchor (with a backing plate inside the siding) to hinge the lid on the nest boxes. Inside, I removed the cobbled up wire and strapping that has kept the ladies out of the nest boxes until now. Tossed all the shavings they've managed to scratch into the nest boxes in the last 3+ months back out onto the floor of the coop, and replace it with straw, along with putting up a ledge on the inside to discourage such scratching and make the boxes seem more a sheltered place to them. Got a coon-proof latch on the outside lid of the boxes, and I think we're ready for winter.
There's not a wooden egg to be found here or in the three counties surrounding us but, thanks to a friend's friendly but smart-arse reply to that issue (and a bulging shag bag), we now have golf balls in each nest in the hope that the ladies will catch on to the purpose of the newly opened space for them.
I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm a pretty happy camper tonight.
I didn't see a thing in the coop yesterday morning as I went about feeding . . . but, this morning, the BH came sailing though the back door to report five (count 'em, 1, 2, .... 5) eggs laying about the litter in the coop. Sure enough.
I don't expect that five pullets lit off laying the same day. My thought is that the RSLs in the flock laid their first after I checked yesterday, and again this morning. Small, three of them with mottled shells like you'd expect first eggs to have. Odd or not, it's 20 weeks yesterday that they were all hatched. Satisfying to say the least.
So today's plans for work about the homestead were laid aside. The coop is new this year, so we saw to trimming out the window on the south side, which provided the anchor (with a backing plate inside the siding) to hinge the lid on the nest boxes. Inside, I removed the cobbled up wire and strapping that has kept the ladies out of the nest boxes until now. Tossed all the shavings they've managed to scratch into the nest boxes in the last 3+ months back out onto the floor of the coop, and replace it with straw, along with putting up a ledge on the inside to discourage such scratching and make the boxes seem more a sheltered place to them. Got a coon-proof latch on the outside lid of the boxes, and I think we're ready for winter.
There's not a wooden egg to be found here or in the three counties surrounding us but, thanks to a friend's friendly but smart-arse reply to that issue (and a bulging shag bag), we now have golf balls in each nest in the hope that the ladies will catch on to the purpose of the newly opened space for them.
I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm a pretty happy camper tonight.
