nesting boxs

[macchicken]

hello folks howdy all ,,,i'm in windham maine and new to this ,, i was just wondering if anyone had some advice ,,, i rescued 8 chickens this summer that had been abandoned ,,they are average in size,,, two are white and i think they are meat chickens ,, three are yellowish tan /buff colored ,,,and three are a dark red/brown color... i turned my kids bus stop into there coop ,,mounted it on ski's and installed a screened floor (for poop to fall through) a roosting two / four and a five stall nesting box right at floor level ,,, i kinda mimicked what i was seeing on the web .. so far they seem to be doing great ..free ranging and returning to roost at night ,but so far they are ignoring the nest boxes .. they are pretty cozy with shavings for comfort and a fake egg for inspiration ..but still no eggs ,, HELP ME!!!LOL ... i was also hoping someone here could help me with getting some hens that will lay like ,,bantem americunas or anything to start getting some eggs ...i'll take all the advice and help you folks can muster --lol-- p.s. this wbsite is cool!!!!! ..i'm also new to the forum thing i'm not sure but i may have already posted this on the intro thread ..hope thats o.k. ....hopefully i pick this stuff up quikly and thanks ahead of time for any and all help ......

 

[ChicKat]

Hi macchicken

Welcome to BYC--

You found 'chicken central' for sure.

If you rescued your chickens, and they were abandoned, it could be that the people who abandoned them did so because their laying days are overwith. Alas....chickens will slow down due to old age, and they will eventually lay eggs rather infrequently.

It could be that with your good care, they will come back into lay. It is difficult to tell the age of a chicken... one sign of an older hen is that the scales on her legs will look more rough than the scales on a pullet.

here are some signs that a hen is ready to lay an egg. The comb is very red, and large, it doesn't look small, pink and shriveled. The vent is larger and the distance between the pubic bones in the back of the hen is three fingers width. If your hens have these signs then they may be just waiting awhile to lay....if they don't then they aren't ready to give you eggs.

 

[macchicken]

awesome ,i knew when i found this site you guys would have solid answers ,, thanks for the info ,, i was kinda thinkin they might not lay due to the stress of being abandoned .. they were terribly malnurished and dehydrated when we got them ,,but they are bouncing back with corn and some of that farm animal gatoraid stuff the feed store gave me .. hopefully if i can find some hens that are laying they will catch on. anyway these guys are great my kids have tamed them right up ,, they will follow my youngest all around the yard and take cherios right out of her hand while shes' petting them .. again thanks for the in sight...

 

[ChicKat]

Wow-- once you have restored their health..... you may be in for a LOT of eggs!