First Time /Shipped Eggs/NR 360

[adirondak5]

Time for another update . Pullets were 21 weeks old Friday , all are doing great . My daughter texts me this morn and says this EE (upper center behind the 2 orpingtons) was running in the coop going in and out of the nesting boxes clucking and whiney .

I told her she's nest hunting and probably getting ready to lay . Well , after doing that for more than an hour she settled down and layed her first egg .

Its a good size egg for her first egg and a beautiful pastel blue . I figured the EE's were going to start laying before the Orpingtons , their combs really redened up the last few weeks . They will all be laying shortly .

 

[K0k0shka]

Congrats! That’s a beautiful egg. Mine are 26 weeks old and not even close to laying yet, they’re really taking their time. I don’t have EE’s though, I think EE’s start earlier.

 

[adirondak5]

Congrats! That’s a beautiful egg. Mine are 26 weeks old and not even close to laying yet, they’re really taking their time. I don’t have EE’s though, I think EE’s start earlier.

Thanks . My daughter is happy , she picked up a dozen eggs from us yesterday and i told her she has to bring them back now . I went out there this afternoon and set up her Rat Proof Feeder , we put some crumbles in it and were going to remove the regular feeder at sundown and start training them to use the Rat proof Feeder tomorrow morning . The pullets started feeding from it on their own within 1/2 hr . Amazing how curious they can be . There should be no problems transitioning them to the Rat Proof Feeder .
We also got a report from my buddy upstate on Little Stevie the Cockerel . He is doing just fine

I thought for sure you had to get some eggs by now but looking at my daughters Orps today it looks like they are still a few weeks away from any egg laying , their combs are getting red but not a deep red yet .

 

[K0k0shka]

Thanks . My daughter is happy , she picked up a dozen eggs from us yesterday and i told her she has to bring them back now . I went out there this afternoon and set up her Rat Proof Feeder , we put some crumbles in it and were going to remove the regular feeder at sundown and start training them to use the Rat proof Feeder tomorrow morning . The pullets started feeding from it on their own within 1/2 hr . Amazing how curious they can be . There should be no problems transitioning them to the Rat Proof Feeder .
We also got a report from my buddy upstate on Little Stevie the Cockerel . He is doing just fine

I thought for sure you had to get some eggs by now but looking at my daughters Orps today it looks like they are still a few weeks away from any egg laying , their combs are getting red but not a deep red yet .

Rat proof feeder? That sounds intriguing. Is it the kind where the chicken steps on a plate to open the feeder? Do you have pictures? That coop+run has dense HC all around... Does it still get rats/mice despite that?

 

[adirondak5]

The Rat Proof Feeder is a treadle type feeder , here is the website

Ratproof Feeder

I have one in my run too . They work great IMO as long as you set them up proper . Mine lasts about a week on a hopper full of crumbles , food stays dry , no waste from billing out food , no debris/poop can get in food . Neither my run or my daughters run has any mice or rat problems , most likely due to the hardware cloth , but I like the idea of nothing but the chickens being able to get to the food anyway . Here's a video of mine when I first put it in .

 

[K0k0shka]

The Rat Proof Feeder is a treadle type feeder , here is the website

Ratproof Feeder

I have one in my run too . They work great IMO as long as you set them up proper . Mine lasts about a week on a hopper full of crumbles , food stays dry , no waste from billing out food , no debris/poop can get in food . Neither my run or my daughters run has any mice or rat problems , most likely due to the hardware cloth , but I like the idea of nothing but the chickens being able to get to the food anyway . Here's a video of mine when I first put it in .

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

 

[adirondak5]

Looks like another one is searching for a nest today .

 

[K0k0shka]

Looks like another one is searching for a nest today .

Exciting! And, nice view. I should move my camera so I can see the nests better.

 

[adirondak5]

Exciting! And, nice view. I should move my camera so I can see the nests better.

Yes , she finally layed her egg about 1 hour ago , she was in and out of the nest boxes all day , squawking all the while .

 

[K0k0shka]

Yes , she finally layed her egg about 1 hour ago , she was in and out of the nest boxes all day , squawking all the while .

Cool! Congrats.