My First EGGS!!!

[sourland]

Your nest boxes are very open. Chickens like a bit of privacy when they lay. Try adding 'curtains' around the nest boxes and leave the hens in the coop/pen until they lay.

 

[Sally PB]

Congratulations on first eggs! They are magical!

 

[jwsmith1959]

Your nest boxes are very open. Chickens like a bit of privacy when they lay. Try adding 'curtains' around the nest boxes and leave the hens in the coop/pen until they lay.

Thanks sourland. My wife dug out some pillow cases that I plan on cutting up to staple up and give them a bit more privacy. The well house is very enclosed and they go through a broken board to access it.

I have a couple of other questions? I wished I had kept a notebook, so going from memory. My first eggs were (4, 4, 2, 2) and pretty much 3 everyday since then. Have only gotten 4 once since they started laying on the 26th of May.

I had to have my right Carotid cleaned out last Tuesday (June 1st) and my wife was leaving the chickens in the coop for a good bit of the day while I was in the Hospital and as they had always laid in the morning, they were pretty much forced to lay in the coop.

I got home on Saturday and it has been 3 eggs per day since I have been home. I like to let them out early, so they have started laying in the well house again. I really do not have a problem with that as it is close to the house as the coop is about 50 yards away.

These are Production Reds...and my questions are, am I expecting too many eggs too soon...possibly all are laying, just a little off schedule? I am feeding Grow food, Layena and some scratch treats (no more than a handful) for coming when called). I like to let them free range during the day with access to water, oyster shell and grit.

After I collected their eggs at around noon, I changed out their water a little bit ago and gave them a little scratch and tossed out some Layena and Oyster shell. Some really gobbled up the Oyster shell and some the scratch. They all pretty much ignored the Layena, but they have it available inside the coop all the time. It is possible that some got damp (I keep it in 20 gallon garbage cans...but not air-tight). If they are laying outside of the places I know, what can I do to figure out where they are laying? I am about ready to stake them out and just watch for several hours if I need too. They tend to stay in the front couple of acres and rarely venture beyond that.

They like to hang out under my truck on the driveway about 1/2 the day instead of foraging, but will wander around about half the other times.

I have been an outdoorsman and a noticer of things all my life, but for the life of me, I am having a hard time distinguishing between my five girls. I did notice today thought that three of the hens are red all the way to their tail feathers, while two still have a bit of white at the base of their back where their tail feathers start.

Thanks for letting me type out my thoughts. I may have answered some of my own questions, but would still appreciate any advice. "D

My recent surgery...hope I don't gross anyone out.

 

[sourland]

Looks like a good excuse to grow a beard to me. Not all hens lay daily. 5 eggs/week/hen is probably a fairly realistic number for your birds.

 

[jwsmith1959]

Found this on the floor of the coop this morning. Normal for young hens to lay unformed eggs? Should I be worried? They get plenty of Calcium in their food and I supply oyster shell both inside and outside the coop.