My chickens

[greenmulberry]

I just got five chickens this week. They are all mixed breed chickens that a friend hatched out, dad was a big easter egger roo, and the moms were all kinds of chickens. One of my chickens is clearly half silky because she is fuzzy and I know there was a silkie hen at one time.

This one I have been calling "fluffy head"

This is the plain white one and the silkie mix.

Here is my brown girl with fluffy head in the back. I think the brown girls mother was a buff bramha?

I have one more chicken another white one, but she was busy trying to lay an egg in the nest boxes when I took these photos. She has twisted toes that she apparently inherited from her dad (so I am told) and they look terrible, but she has no problem roosting or walking about.

I posted a picture of my coop and run in the "Can you see your chickens from the house thread" but here is a shot of the back with the external nest boxes my husband built. And their nice window. The window is covered with hardware cloth, last night I checked on the chickens, and my two favorites were roosting snuggled together looking out of the window.

Here is a shot inside. Note the egg that someone kicked out of the nestbox on the first day!!! I was worried about that, but it hasn't happened again. There are two roosts, if you look through the lid of the feeder, you can see the support for the high roost. When I check on the chickens at night, they are all on the roosts. I am so pleased that we were able to figure out what chickens like and do it right, because they lay in the nest boxes, roost on the roosts, and go right in at night.

I noticed last spring that the feed store had buff orpingtons, I really would like to add a few of them come spring, they are my favorite chicken just from reading posts and books about them.

 

[Motherhenandflock]

Looks good!

The hens and their house!

Hey, I would put up a board or something to keep the eggs in the box. Just an inch or so would keep them from falling out. If they fall and break the hens will start eating the egg. You don't want that habit to get started!

 

[greenmulberry]

Well, there is a two by four on it's side, at the entrance. So that is over an inch, do you think I need something even higher? I posted about it on "the coop" and they said I should have straw or hay in the nestboxes, so I am trying to get my paws on some, and then maybe they will make a nice nest. I have this one hen that goes in the nest box and just flings all the pine shavings out like a maniac, clucking and scratching. Here is photo of the nest box. I know it looks real huge but I think part of that is the angle of the photo. We built them following the reccomendations from the "story's guide to chickens" book for heavy breed nestboxes.

 

[Motherhenandflock]

On that last picture where the egg is on the floor, your nest boxes don't look like they have any edge. Is that where there is a 2x4? If she is kicking the egg out over a 2x4, then I'd go higher, maybe another 2x4. And if it's on it's side, that's only about an inch high. Or turn it so it's up 2 inches.
She could still get into the box.
Don't mean to be nit-picky, I'd also add a lot more bedding to the nest boxes. The hens can snuggle down nice and comfy to lay their eggs.

 

[ozark hen]

Green, get some straw and put it in those nest boxes and they will shape them up quite nicely. I agree with the others, you need a higher lip especially when you pile some straw in there. Just enough to keep the straw and eggs in there. Your coop is awesome for a beginner you outdid yourselves! It is so very nice!! I love the chicken photos, too. They are so pretty. Mixed with the silkie and brahma they turned out really nice now didn't they?

 

[greenmulberry]

Thanks for the advice all. I am still trying to get some straw, but we have been having these ridiculous storms whenever I plan to go get some after work, so I don't have any yet. All this rain and tornado warnings are wearing thin on me!!!! I did take more pine shavings and filled the nest boxes real deep, and pushed the shaving up the side to make a nice nest shape. But I will for sure get some hay or straw because I agree that seems like it would make better nests.

I woke up to some sad news, one of the chickens was dead in the coop, the fluffy headed one. I have only had these chickens since Sunday. I think she was too stressed from the move maybe and I didn't know enough to help her adjust. I got them Sunday morning and they all seemed active and alert and were eating the grass in their run, then come dusk, this one freaked out and was trying to escape, it seemed to me that she really wanted to go to her old home to roost. Flying into the top of the run over and over and over. She would then run at the fence, and then fly into the top again. I thought about going in and getting her and locking her in the coop, but they seemed pretty scared of me that first day, so I didn't want to freak her out more by handling her. I talked to some other chicken people about this and they said she would settle down and be just fine. Well, I think she may have either stressed herself, or injured herself, because she just seemed a bit "down" after that. When I fed the chickens apples or tomatoes from the garden she wasn't all excited and greedy like the others, and I had noticed a few times that she would be sitting down in the run when the others were scratching and being active. Sigh, I feel sooooo bad about this. I guess I should have gone in and caught her and put her in the coop when I saw she was freaking out so she wouldn't exhaust herself.

 

[ozark hen]

Oh, so sorry.

 

[RioLindoAz]

I like fluffy head!!!!

 

[wendy]

oh i am so sorry! i read that the vitamin and electrolytes are good for hens adjusting to new homes. i learned that after our move with the new hens was over

 

[kaylakala]

That's so sad.