FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[chickrunfun]

You may want to try BYC's sister site, http://www.theeasygarden.com/

Sister site?? Huh, learn something new about this site just about every day.

 

[HenKeepers]

So what you are saying is wash your hands,got it.

Yup. Hand washing can prevent 99% of these "outbreaks". "Outbreaks" are generally the result of bad habits coming home to roost. My brother worked for the CDC. We could all save money on insurance and medical bills just by getting more people to wash their hands.

 

[Brookhavens]

KHAKI CAMPBELL HATCHING EGGS - $25

12+ hatching eggs. These ducks are prolific layers, laying 300-325 eggs per year. Pictured are some of the parent birds. My birds are not hatchery stock. I originally purchased eggs from 2 separate breeders for diversity in my flock. Please PM me if interested.

 

[hbeam21]

Wait...we're suppose to wash our hands? hehe Henkeeper, I'm just funning. We talk like that when we're working to get a point nailed into our kids. Recon if we repeat the important part enough, they'll get it.
That's weird. Was the walk in open? Like, we leave our girls barn open during the day so's to air out Maybe if you got one, set up a trail cam? All your girls not laying like that, sudden like, is weird.

It is weird. I close my babies in, but they have a lot of room to fly and run around in. The coop door was closed and the clip was the same way I had it on the door. I think, I should put a lock on the door. Right now, I have a metal clip on the door. The next couple of day, they laid 6-7 eggs each day. I have great hens and I let them know how good they are. I wonder, if a snake could eat 5-7 eggs in a couple of hours? I need to put new batteries in the trail cams I have outside.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
They are good at finding a place to lay their eggs and if one does often times the others will too. There have been times (though few) I didn't get my usual amount of eggs in a coop. I did eventually find the spot. I have 40# feeders in my coops and in the Leghorn coop I didn't get any eggs for a few days which was very unusual. When I went to fill the feeder I found the eggs. I had to put a lid on it.

 

[cmom]

Today

 

[hbeam21]

They are good at finding a place to lay their eggs and if one does often times the others will too. There have been times (though few) I didn't get my usual amount of eggs in a coop. I did eventually find the spot. I have 40# feeders in my coops and in the Leghorn coop I didn't get any eggs for a few days which was very unusual. When I went to fill the feeder I found the eggs. I had to put a lid on it.

Wow, they laid in the feeder!!! You must have a lot of fun hunting for your eggs everyday. My hens always put their eggs in the nest box, except for one time. I think the egg was so big, that she finally got out of the nest and started walking around. I found a jumbo egg on the ground. Non of my chickens went after the egg. I let my hens out for a couple of hours a day and I stay with them. I have so many animals walking and flying around my land, so I can't let them out without me.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
The lay in the nest boxes. When I set up some of the coops and pens for the breeders, I move birds around. That is usually when they want to play hide and seek with the eggs at first. They will get used to the nest boxes. I do put golf balls in the nest boxes. I think they are rebelling getting moved to another coop. Some of the coops have 4 nest boxes, some 8 and one 12 boxes. 4 coops I'm using for grow-out but eventually I will set up the coops for breeding. 2 coops don't have nest boxes so If I need to use them I will put milk crates in the coops with hay in them, but I'll probably use those as bachelor coops and pens where I don't need the nest boxes.

I don't let all of the coops out at once. I let one coop out at a time. With the heat they actually prefer to stay in their pens either under their shade/rain table of the trees I planted in all of the pens. I also have sprinklers in the pens that I turn on for awhile most days. The birds like to lay especially under the shade trees in the cool damp sand. I encourage the crows to hang around and if a hawk comes around the crows will usually chase them off. I keep treats out for them in different places so they are always checking in to see if there are any treats. I have seen hawks but not very often. They are weary of the crows.

The bird baths. The one on the right is deeper and the crows love it. This was just after I put my new one out. It used to be a fountain but I chiseled the center out and filled it with concrete. That was where the fountain was. I put a small tube in and have it set up so both bird baths will auto fill twice a day. In the one on the right the tube is sticking up in the middle, this was before I cut it down and filled the bird bath. I put some round pavers under it too to make it as high as the other bird bath. Sorry I got so carried away.

 

[hbeam21]

The lay in the nest boxes. When I set up some of the coops and pens for the breeders, I move birds around. That is usually when they want to play hide and seek with the eggs at first. They will get used to the nest boxes. I do put golf balls in the nest boxes. I think they are rebelling getting moved to another coop. Some of the coops have 4 nest boxes, some 8 and one 12 boxes. 4 coops I'm using for grow-out but eventually I will set up the coops for breeding. 2 coops don't have nest boxes so If I need to use them I will put milk crates in the coops with hay in them, but I'll probably use those as bachelor coops and pens where I don't need the nest boxes.

I don't let all of the coops out at once. I let one coop out at a time. With the heat they actually prefer to stay in their pens either under their shade/rain table of the trees I planted in all of the pens. I also have sprinklers in the pens that I turn on for awhile most days. The birds like to lay especially under the shade trees in the cool damp sand. I encourage the crows to hang around and if a hawk comes around the crows will usually chase them off. I keep treats out for them in different places so they are always checking in to see if there are any treats. I have seen hawks but not very often. They are weary of the crows.

The bird baths. The one on the right is deeper and the crows love it. This was just after I put my new one out. It used to be a fountain but I chiseled the center out and filled it with concrete. That was where the fountain was. I put a small tube in and have it set up so both bird baths will auto fill twice a day. In the one on the right the tube is sticking up in the middle, this was before I cut it down and filled the bird bath. I put some round pavers under it too to make it as high as the other bird bath. Sorry I got so carried away.

You gave me a lot of good ideas. Thank you for letting me know about the hens. I only have one coop and didn't know about what could happen, if you move them to a different coop.

 

[cmom]

Quote: My point was that there are times when I might find an egg on the floor of a coop or out in a pen, but it usually happens when I move the birds around as they have plenty of nest boxes, and usually when all of a sudden in one of the coops there are no eggs they are usually somewhere and when one finds a secret spot it doesn't take long for the other to find the spot and lay their eggs there too. The are other posts on BYC about this.