Hey! New chicken keeper in Wales GB!

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cantraig

cantraig

In the Brooder
5 Years
May 19, 2014
10
0
24
Wrexham, Wales GB
Hi everyone my names Antony we got our first chickens yesterday! We got 7 in total 3 commercial hens, 2 Sussex stars, 2 polish.

They are all just about at POL although the seller said none have yet laid their 1st egg but are about to.
Within 20 mins of being in there new home I found an egg by the wall! It was a polish as it is pure white and small. We haven't had any others since, I am going to try to teach them to lay in the nest boxes if they don't on their own, as this was just in the run against a wall but they hadn't even been in there coop at this point. All my new hens are pictured in my avatar album. If you don't mind taking a look do you think based on the size of any of then they are as young as I was told? Just I expected them to be much smaller for chickens that haven't started laying yet.
700

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Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on that first egg, even if it was unexpected! Most chickens are pretty close to adult size by POL so they could very well be young, they will tend to put on more weight as they get older, but the frame and a lot of the feathering is there... the ones in your pictures all look to be in nice shape and none look like they are spent hens.
You might want to keep them locked in the coop for a few days to get them used to it (especially if they are not going in or you are finding more eggs in the yard). Make sure your nest boxes are attractive to them, easy to get into, have fake eggs in there, dark and secluded etc.
A great place you might like to check out is the BYC Learning Center, lots of nice articles on all aspects of poultry keeping you'll find helpful https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center
 
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Hi thanks for your reply!! The only one we have seen go in and out on her own is the red polish. We had to put the others in ourselves last night (a lot of fun that was) but they came out straight away this AM (well both polish stayed in for around 20 mins then came out, but the red polish often pops inside. So fake eggs would be best yes, I thought of moving any eggs we find into the best boxes and leave them for a day or two.
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
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If you want to eat the eggs, best to collect them daily, and just put a couple fake eggs or a few golf balls in the nests. I would also leave them closed in the coop for several days so that they learn where they sleep.

Your hens look like younger pullets to me, close to lay but maybe not quite ready yet.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

Good luck with your new hens!! How egg-citing on your first egg! The birds will get the hang of using the nest boxes if you train them to do so. I use real looking clay eggs and leave them in the boxes all the time. Keeps the hens using all of the boxes instead of just one box.

Enjoy this new adventure you are on and welcome to our flock!
 
Thanks everyone! Very greatful for the advice. One other question I do have which Is bugging me -
We had a small storm earlier today, (it has been hot for a few days today was slightly cooler around 25c) it poored down realy heavy so I went to check on them, they had all gone in except the two polish, so I put them in myself, it brightened up so I let them out of the coop again, but then later on we had hail large lumps so I checked them again all where in but the two polish, they where literally running around like headless chickens trying to get from the hail. I am going to build a shelter over part of the run so it will be better for them but why on earth do they not go inside when it rains or hails?? They go in when they get hot?
 

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