Finished coop for Rodney the Rooster

[Donny]

So today i woke up and of coarse first thing i do is look outside. Three is Rodney, beak up against the wire. Flapping his wings every thirty seconds and pacing! LOL

but when i went to take a pic he darted off. i'll catch him in the act later.

i also found THIS:

my first egg already

here's the ladies pecking about this morning.

also, these may sound like some dumb questions. Since i'll have a roo living with them, how much time can pass without collecting an egg before it's considered inedible? as in a fertilized egg. you just collect them and put them in the fridge also right? people keep asking, "but won't they be fertilized when you collect/eat them?" i just tell them you can eat fertilized eggs and that i figure you just have to collect and refrigerate them soon enough. i'm just wondering how soon that has to be. what's the limit they can sit not collected if fertilized before you can't eat them? and i just plop them into the fridge right after? anything else?


thanks.

 

[sunnydee]

Congrats on your first egg! Those girls must be comfortable to lay you an egg so quickly! I will sit here waiting for one of the other members answer to your fertile egg question as I have no clue. I am getting a rooster next weekend so I would like to know the answer also.

 

[Jenlyn9483]

Just gather your eggs everyday and refrigerate. Thats it. Fresh eggs.

 

[BeckyLa]

You have a very nice coop and great girls. And Rodney is soo beautiful! The only way I'd know of to catch him would be to lock the girls up top, leave the run door open with some corn/scratch on the ground inside, and run a long string from the door to a hiding place behind the coop somewhere. Then hide until he goes in and shut the door behind him. This should work, if you're patient enough.

 

[peeplessinNC]

Very cool hens! You get them one day and the next you already have a fresh egg laid and waiting for you! Do you know how many people here are just green with envy? Ha! Evidently you have the right vibes going at your place for chickens! Want to bet more chickens find their way to your place? Should we place bets on how soon you will be building a bigger coop/run?

 

[PassthePeace1]

Congrats on the new hens, and the first egg.....wow. My DH and I have been following your saga into chickenkeeping......we call you the Accidental ChickenKeeper.

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

As long as you collect every day and refridgerate you'll never notice the difference between a fertalized and non fertalized egg unless you look really closely and know exactly what to look for. The safety factor on eggs has more to do with the temps outside than the fertilization factor. At 90 deg. eggs would go bad much faster than at 50. For a general age check on eggs, place in a bowl of water and check position of egg. Parallell is fresh, tipping up slightly is good for boiling, floating is a potential bomb.

 

[Donny]

lol accidental chicken keeper. that's funny!

good to know about the eggs. it's what i though

Rodney keeps coming right up to the run and just stares at the hens for 10 min straight. the goes about pecking. ten min later he comes back and puffs out his feather. just too funny. HA he has to go through 2 more days of anticipation before i let the girls out to roam.


BeckyLa: i was told let them stay in there for three days. they'll get used to it and make it there home. then let them out and free roam. when sunset comes the roo will just follow them home. then at night when they are all asleep close the door and done deal.

 

[sianara]

Donny,

You might want to keep the hens inside for a few more days beyond the 3. I have found 5-6 days has always worked for me in the past. Are your chickens going to free range or will you have a fenced in area for them? I'd be concerned about letting the hens out after only 3 days as they might follow Rodney into HIS area and then you're going to have three chickens to catch!

Here is a BYC link (with pix) to a discussion about whether eggs are fertile or not: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=346838

Good luck, keep us posted. I'd like to know when you are successful with getting them all to roost in the new coop (which is very nice BTW).

 

[Donny]

thank you sianara. and everyone else for that matter. i was wondering about how long to leave them in myself!

has anyone else had problems with their hens not knowing what to do on their first sundown in the coop? the little dark one kept trying to roost on the top middle run support. but the chicken wire stopped it every time. it'd climb halfway onto the ramp and jump flapping like mad. the barred rock ended up IN the doorway, half on the ramp half in the coop. which forced the little one to be outside on the top of the ramp.

so i walked in the run and looked at the barred rock and said "you selfish girl" and put her in the coop. then i picked up the little dark one (with a tiny vocal objection from her) and put her in the coop. they just stayed right where i put them on the pine shavings.

will they figure out they should spend the nights in the coop soon? should i leave them in the coop and run till they do for 2 nights in a row or so? they know how to use the ramp. heck, one laid an egg the night before. strange.


and... a pic of them hanging out