Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Amina]

Yeah, I guess there would be the occasional hen who would throw us for a loop, but a lot of it could be sleuthed out. Let's say I got five eggs one day, but six hens went in the box. If I knew one of the hens just liked to go roost there, she would not be getting any credit from me.

 

[Amina]

Let us know what your son says about this project! I like the idea, but I have no clue how to set it up!

 

[RedRidge]

Instead of trap nesting, has anyone thought of using rfid chips on the hens and having a scanner in the nest box to report who goes in the box?

Might work but I've got two pullets that would beat the system.
They have a tendency to roost on the nest box lip [ sometimes head first in it] so they might be getting credit for 
another chickens eggs.
RFID on leg band ?  good idea !  I might need to put my techie son on that project, 

I have a group of 17 right now who laid very heavy all fall in the beating boxes in the chicken tractor. I'm getting 8-12 eggs a day since I moved them to a coop a month ago - most spread ALL around the perimeter of the coop on the ground. Only 2-3 are laying in one of the 6 nesting boxes. Pain in the rear gathering eggs. Can't figure out why they don't like the best boxes in that pen

 

[finnfur]

I have a group of 17 right now who laid very heavy all fall in the beating boxes in the chicken tractor. I'm getting 8-12 eggs a day since I moved them to a coop a month ago - most spread ALL around the perimeter of the coop on the ground. Only 2-3 are laying in one of the 6 nesting boxes. Pain in the rear gathering eggs. Can't figure out why they don't like the best boxes in that pen

Yes I get pullet egg just inside the door when I open the coop a couple times a week- the thermo controlled heat lamp shines on water nipple bucket in that corner by door- have that happen before and they eventually go to the nest - maybe need to get the wooden eggs out for a while and put in low nests

 

[finnfur]

RFID egg track
This has been discussed here on BYC
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/736895/rfid-tags-used-to-report-which-birds-are-laying
Interesting but think it can be done differently with RFID

 

[bnjrob]

RFID egg track
This has been discussed here on BYC
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/736895/rfid-tags-used-to-report-which-birds-are-laying
Interesting but think it can be done differently with RFID

I got an email just this past week from someone doing this very thing.

Our hens are in the nest boxes all the time either roosting or digging around in the bedding, so it wouldn't work very well for us. I'm thinking of trying the old food color in the vent thing to see how well it works, since we do small group mating not pair mating. Just to get an idea of which hen the eggs belong to instead of wondering which 3 or 4 hens it came from.

 

[Amina]

Mine spend a lot of time digging in the bedding, and may go do other stuff and come back several times. But on days they do that, that hen lays an egg. I wonder if yours are the same?

 

[gjensen]

I found cutting a sheet (rag etc.) and hanging it over the nest box opening helps "train" them when I move them etc. I only partially cover the opening. It improves the perception of privacy by darkening the box, and partially closing it off.

When they get laying them around the house, they are preferring locations in the house over the nest boxes you have provided. They instinctively nest on the ground in the darkest locations where they feel more private. Behind the door etc., and often in the corners. By hanging the rang over the opening of the nest boxes, the nest boxes become the darkest, most "secure" locations in the house.

Do not completely cover them, and leave an egg or fake egg in them, and see if it changes their habits. There will always be the exceptions, but I think that you will find that it works.

I leave a gap at the edges, bottom, and middle.

I can't see chipping the birds as a practical option. They spend too much time entering nest boxes for reasons other than laying eggs.

 

[bnjrob]

Mine spend a lot of time digging in the bedding, and may go do other stuff and come back several times. But on days they do that, that hen lays an egg. I wonder if yours are the same?

I know some of them do that, but I'd never get anything done if I had to constantly run out to make certain that the ones that were actually in the box playing, came back to lay an egg. And which egg did they lay since some like to share nest boxes and others won't even use the nest boxes and seem to enjoy making me crawl around to find eggs.

We have 16 pens scattered across a couple acres and still have more pens to build. Even with pens that just have a handful of hens and a cock that we are actively trying to hatch from, that's still a lot of time spent trying to make sure which hen is laying which egg. Such is the life of preservation breeding with multiple color varieties and multiple bloodlines - gotta keep a lot more chickens than other people might keep.

 

[finnfur]

I know some of them do that, but I'd never get anything done if I had to constantly run out to make certain that the ones that were actually in the box playing, came back to lay an egg. And which egg did they lay since some like to share nest boxes and others won't even use the nest boxes and seem to enjoy making me crawl around to find eggs.

We have 16 pens scattered across a couple acres and still have more pens to build. Even with pens that just have a handful of hens and a cock that we are actively trying to hatch from, that's still a lot of time spent trying to make sure which hen is laying which egg. Such is the life of preservation breeding with multiple color varieties and multiple bloodlines - gotta keep a lot more chickens than other people might keep.

I think the person at the RFID link handled that problem by determining a egg usually showed up if they were in the nest about 20 minutes plus - so the short durations are not counted as a egg layer-
This system tracts duration time on the nest - interesting concept but needs perfection