Finally! (And egg questons)

[EggSighted4Life]

Maybe the problem will fix itself.

Maybe, but rarely. A more likely scenario would be that she teaches others to lay on the floor. (at least in my experience)

I have double stack laying boxes and most use the ground level. My nest hider who doesn't have a broody bone in her body, an EE is actually the one who uses the top level. It is more natural as far as hatching chicks goes to be low... elevated nest is risky, which *may* be what the pullet is thinking. I think they can see them when they are investigating, my top level box doesn't have an approach perch, and I KNOW it would be helpful. Maybe consider adding a low lay box or adjusting your current ones down lower.

Fake eggs are worth the investment... curiosity pecks from new layers won't break them. And as stated a fantastic location training tool. They even thwart egg thieves like rats, snakes, crows or anything else that might eventually discover them.

Congrats on the first egg!

 

[kraftykrow]

I picked them each up and set them in the boxes. One (who isnt laying yet) hung out for about a minute then hopped down. The other two, who aren't very happy about being picked up, jumped down immediately.

I over estimated how high they are. 20ish inches. Pics provided. They look kinda cramped with the slanted roof but they're plenty big enough in reality.

As you can also see, Hennessy is pretty set on making that corner her nest. She had kicked all the bedding to that corner and is unfortunately right under the roost bar. I'm going to try to find a piece of wood or something to try to get her to pick somewhere else (fingers crossed one of the boxes)

 

[kraftykrow]

Well, I went out to try to put a branch where she was laying and she was singing her egg song. Put the board where she was and she just moved to the other corner. Got ahold of her (not easily) and put her in the box twice. She ain't having it. I could make some makeshift boxes but it would take up floor space. That's why I liked how the boxes were up in the air and I heard they liked that.

 

[guineapeeps]

Well, I went out to try to put a branch where she was laying and she was singing her egg song. Put the board where she was and she just moved to the other corner. Got ahold of her (not easily) and put her in the box twice. She ain't having it. I could make some makeshift boxes but it would take up floor space. That's why I liked how the boxes were up in the air and I heard they liked that.

I had several guinea hens that liked to lay their eggs in the corner like that. I didn’t really want the eggs on the ground so got a big Rubbermaid wheelbarrow and put it in the corner and put their eggs in it. It was an instant hit and all my hens fought over it. At one point I had 3 guineas laying on eggs in there and hatched out 30+ keets....which was way too crowded. If only 1 or 2 hens were in there, then it was big enough to wedge a small feeder and waterer in for a few days until all the little ones were all hatched out. The only bad thing is that the sides are too tall and it’s too high for the little ones to get out on their own so they have to be removed after the first few days. Not sure about chickens, but if you mess with the guinea keets, the moms go ballistic. It’s like fighting a fire breathing dragon (with claws and a beak!)...it’s brutal!
Here are 2 of the hens in their nestbarrow:

 

[kraftykrow]

I had several guinea hens that liked to lay their eggs in the corner like that. I didn’t really want the eggs on the ground so got a big Rubbermaid wheelbarrow and put it in the corner and put their eggs in it. It was an instant hit and all my hens fought over it. At one point I had 3 guineas laying on eggs in there and hatched out 30+ keets....which was way too crowded. If only 1 or 2 hens were in there, then it was big enough to wedge a small feeder and waterer in for a few days until all the little ones were all hatched out. The only bad thing is that the sides are too tall and it’s too high for the little ones to get out on their own so they have to be removed after the first few days. Not sure about chickens, but if you mess with the guinea keets, the moms go ballistic. It’s like fighting a fire breathing dragon (with claws and a beak!)...it’s brutal!
Here are 2 of the hens in their nestbarrow:

View attachment 1814587

They're beautiful! Their feathers are like an optical illusion.

 

[kraftykrow]

The ceramic eggs worked! At least this one time. I was lucky enough to catch her right as she was about to lay in the corner and picked her up (she was surprising ok with it) and put her in the box. Idk if it just clicked or if she was too ready to lay to fight it, but she settled in. Checked on her 20 minutes later and HEY, egg!

I hope she does this on her own now and the other two will follow her example.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

nestbarrow

I sure enjoy made up words!

Last night my mini's spent their first night in their Pigloo.

 

[Nicaragua]

What a pretty first egg! Isn't this egg-citing

On refrigerating eggs, if you can store them under 25 C° they'll be just fine (and apparently tastier), but if it's hotter you'd better pop them in the fridge.

I've got this really interesting chart on egg use vs. freshness, sorry it's in French but basically the top line is the number of days after laying (J is for "jour", meaning day) and the picture show you what you should do with the egg depending on it's age.

Another trick to test freshness is to submerge the egg in water, if it lays on the bottom it's extra-fresh, if it starts tilting upwards you can still eat it but preferably well-cooked, if it stands up straight bin it!

 

[Helloworld]

Our first ever egg! Despite being a complete newbie I actually was able to predict our Hennessy was about to lay. She was acting strangely that morning.
Then that afternoon, egg!

Question: we're aren't planing on having more chickens, so I was wanting some advice on storage. Some ppl have told me not refrigerating the eggs helps them stay fresh longer. Is this true? What's the normal shelf life of a REAL egg? I know I could Google all this but everyone had been so helpful here. Any other tips and tricks are help!

Yay! I have an egg!

I still remember my first egg 10 years ago. I actually blew it out and kept lol.

If your not planning on raising put into the fridge. Eggs last a while. A good test is to place them in water completely covered and let them settled still. Fresh eggs lay in their sides. Old eggs will start rising slowly until their air sac has become so large the pointy side is sticking straight up. I feed mine to the dogs when they start turning upwards.
I have never really counted how long this takes but I have eggs from May that are still laying flat. You can also candle and see but why bother when this is so much easier.

To store for raising, (because you will get the bug, I promise hehe)collect no more than 14 days worth if possible because after that fertility of egg goes way down. I usually collect mine and put in a dark place where it is cool and collecting only clean eggs at 10 days.

FYI... every time a roo hits a hen, that sperm lasts 6-7 days so that’s why we put our roos away until we need them. Keeps our egg layers happier when they don’t have a monkey, I mean a rooster on their backs constantly! Lol

Have fun! This first egg is only the beginning! Lol

 

[kraftykrow]

Now have 5 eggs from Hennessy. She is consistently laying in the nest box now! She's not broody at all. I've never actually seen her sitting on one. Seems she plops it out and is out of there. Maybe that's normal behavior lol. Makes it easy to collect though. I'm hoping the other two follow suit, though neither have started to lay. Had to have a stern talking to yesterday about their freeloading

I'm curious to hear Henocide's egg song considering she never shuts up when I'm outside with them. She might as well be a rooster with all the loud talking she does.