First Egg Countdown

[CarolynF]

Happy Chooks: Ditto on Beiber!!!

I like your names! Your kids did a good job. Our GDs are much less creative with names like Steve, Olivia, and a black silkie named Violet

Go figure!

 

[polishchickens111]

Assuming 20 weeks, 19 weeks to go.

Yeah, that's not such a short wait.

Oh well.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

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Believe me, it goes by faster then you think!

 

[CarolynF]

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So can you tell me why they push the egg around the nest box?
I watched my EE lay the egg once, just a bit later I saw her pushing it around. Very interesting.

 

[SIMPleChick]

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So can you tell me why they push the egg around the nest box?
I watched my EE lay the egg once, just a bit later I saw her pushing it around. Very interesting.

All I can think of, is that chickens, when they go broody and incubate the eggs, they will roll the eggs and move them, which keeps the yolks/babies from sticking to the egg shell. So it's probably just instinct, or she is wanting to move it and figure out what just came out of her!

 

[ChicksterJo]

Thanks, HurstsHens.

Nothing yet today. I made one of mine check out their new nesting box, made out of a plastic crate. It's much roomier but I don't think she's impressed...Well, I'm not impressed with her making me wait

 

[Crafty-Chicken-Lady]

Thanks for the welcome.

I did post once and mentioned a new grandbaby, but no worries, I'm not real talkative on here.

I will be placing my nesting boxes in a few weeks (they have been ready since we built the coop); So when I place them I then place hay in them and ping pong balls or fake eggs? I think I get why the pretend eggs, but does color matter?

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

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Yep, when the nest boxes are in the coop you place some ping pong balls (It doesn't really matter what you put in there as long as its round and looks like an egg.) to encourage them to lay in the boxes. I don't think the fake egg color matters as I have heard of people using those colorful plastic easter eggs. You can use any type of bedding in the nest boxes (as long as it isn't cedar shavings). I am currently using pine shavings.

Congratulations on your new grandbaby!

 

[Pele]

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Yes congrats on the grandbaby!!

Unfortunately (or fortunately) chickens aren't um... mental giants. Just the round shape and size seems to be good enough for them. I would recommend something ovoid instead of round though, because my ping pong balls get rolled around the coop, and I'm constantly corralling them to put back into the nesting box.

Hope that helps!

 

[SIMPleChick]

The FAKE OUT IS OVER!!!!! hehehe Cricket, my 21 week old EE has been giving me the Egg Song and Dance fake out for 3 days now, but she laid today! Silly girl was in the nest this morning and when I came back a couple hours later...still no egg...But I still praised her! I found 2 eggs from my others who are laying steady now! And all of the sudden my eye was drawn to a little green mound on the ground! LOL! She had an accident and it came out next to their water drinking/pool! She tried SOOOOOOOO hard to lay it in the nest! And for all her hard work she farted it out in the grass!!! BaHaHaHAHAH!!!

Here's her pretty little green egg! The next pic is of how drained of color her comb and face gets after exhausting herself in the nest...