Getting close to our first egg...I have some questions!

[Werforpsu]

Our lack of run has more to do with diminishing funds and time then anything. We just ran out of time and money. I told my husband that before next summer we need to fence the chickens or fence the garden because they are eating my tomatoes!

Our coop is 8x12 and like a shed so luckily when we go away, they stay in the coop and people come to feed/water them. I am fairly confident that none are laying yet. We were away for the day this past weekend and so they were in the coop from Friday night through Sunday morning. Then I have been watching them too. No song yet, though our oldest hens waddle and comb reddened and grew a bit this last week. One of our other hens, her face turned red this week too. My benchmark date was Sept 1, so I am not feeling like they are delayed, more that I am impatient.

 

[3riverschick]

Our lack of run has more to do with diminishing funds and time then anything. We just ran out of time and money. I told my husband that before next summer we need to fence the chickens or fence the garden because they are eating my tomatoes!

Our coop is 8x12 and like a shed so luckily when we go away, they stay in the coop and people come to feed/water them. I am fairly confident that none are laying yet. We were away for the day this past weekend and so they were in the coop from Friday night through Sunday morning. Then I have been watching them too. No song yet, though our oldest hens waddle and comb reddened and grew a bit this last week. One of our other hens, her face turned red this week too. My benchmark date was Sept 1, so I am not feeling like they are delayed, more that I am impatient.

Ok, so you have 11 birds. And 96 sq. ft. inside the coop. That's way more than enough to just let them stay in the coop. Put a sturdy hardware cloth door on the coop for ventilation and let them stay in there until they figure out the "where to lay" thing. You need one nest box per 5 hens. So put in another one anyway. The one you described sounds real good. Basically an adult large fowl need 4 sq. ft. in the coop, to prevent stress behavior. You have 8.7 sq. ft.
Best,
Karen

 

[Norzam]

I know that my hens will start laying @ around 5-6 month old ....So, I'm using my daughter's toy egg to lure the hens into the nesting area

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Mine is a cross breed of Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus)