Well well,..After losing one of my five birds to what I think was a raccoon, I finally got my first egg today. I lost a bird due to lack of responsibility and not closing my run and coop up one night. I still feel terrible about it. Then my neighbor lost 5 of his 6 birds a few days later. Some raccoons have been trapped and dealt with since then. And I will never ever forget to lock the chickens up anymore.. I had on camera a few videos of some 'coons destroying my PVC feeder on the outside of my coop and just being reckless.
Anyhow...Today, i'm out crusing around, mowing the lawn, and I noticed one of my rhode island reds (the smaller of the two) wasn't with the rest of the flock under the pines (the pines seem to be their hangout). She was just kind of running around, so I just kept an eye on her (it was very warm today, so I was a little worried). Then she went in the coop and came back out...then back in...then back out. They very rarely go into the coop unless its bed time, or they want to eat. They free range all day, for the most part. So she went back into the coop and didn't come back out. I got off the mower and she was in the nesting box, trying to get the two golf balls I had in there out. haha. 20 minutes later, she laid an egg. Man, I was pumped, and still am.
Nnot exciting to some, but this was an exciting day for me. I got these chickens exactly 16 weeks ago today, and I have been waiting and waiting for eggs, while enjoying their entertainment each day.
I went and got some oyster shell crumbles. I was wondering, would it be ok to crush up their egg shells and feed them back?
Thanks in advance.
Anyhow...Today, i'm out crusing around, mowing the lawn, and I noticed one of my rhode island reds (the smaller of the two) wasn't with the rest of the flock under the pines (the pines seem to be their hangout). She was just kind of running around, so I just kept an eye on her (it was very warm today, so I was a little worried). Then she went in the coop and came back out...then back in...then back out. They very rarely go into the coop unless its bed time, or they want to eat. They free range all day, for the most part. So she went back into the coop and didn't come back out. I got off the mower and she was in the nesting box, trying to get the two golf balls I had in there out. haha. 20 minutes later, she laid an egg. Man, I was pumped, and still am.
Nnot exciting to some, but this was an exciting day for me. I got these chickens exactly 16 weeks ago today, and I have been waiting and waiting for eggs, while enjoying their entertainment each day.
I went and got some oyster shell crumbles. I was wondering, would it be ok to crush up their egg shells and feed them back?
Thanks in advance.
