MightyThor
Chirping
- Aug 15, 2016
- 19
- 0
- 57
I have 6 girls: 1 RIR, 1 Red Sex Link, 2 easter eggers, and 2 wyandottes. They are about six months old.
I have three nesting boxes and a couple of weeks before I expected eggs I added bedding and golf balls to them.
The RIR and RSL started laying a few weeks ago, and started right away using the nesting boxes. Their eggs have been good since the start. The other four haven't showed any interest in the boxes, but I figured they just weren't ready to lay yet. It's been a cold and rough winter here.
Yesterday morning I went out to the coop and found two shell-less eggs on the poop board beneath the roost. This morning I found one more shell-less egg on the poop board and a very thin shelled egg on the coop floor below the roost.
I'm not sure which chickens they came from, but I figure I can rule out the RIR and RSL since they've been chugging along just fine in the nesting boxes and the eggs have been good quality. I'm not so concerned about the shelless/thin shelled eggs, I know that it can take a few tries before a chicken gets it right. I switched the flock to layer feed when the first two started laying and they have access to oyster shell.
I'm more concerned about the fact that they seem to be ignoring the nesting boxes.
Will they figure that out as well? The RIR and RSL took to it so naturally that I expected the other chickens to pick it up from them. Can I do anything else to help them along and figure out that egg laying on the roost isn't a good idea? I do have a rooster that likes to strut around in the coop by the nesting boxes, he seems to be telling the ladies that's the spot. The roost is higher than and next to the nesting boxes. Pic below taken before the chicks moved in - you can see the edge of the nesting box row to the left of the roost.
I have three nesting boxes and a couple of weeks before I expected eggs I added bedding and golf balls to them.
The RIR and RSL started laying a few weeks ago, and started right away using the nesting boxes. Their eggs have been good since the start. The other four haven't showed any interest in the boxes, but I figured they just weren't ready to lay yet. It's been a cold and rough winter here.
Yesterday morning I went out to the coop and found two shell-less eggs on the poop board beneath the roost. This morning I found one more shell-less egg on the poop board and a very thin shelled egg on the coop floor below the roost.
I'm not sure which chickens they came from, but I figure I can rule out the RIR and RSL since they've been chugging along just fine in the nesting boxes and the eggs have been good quality. I'm not so concerned about the shelless/thin shelled eggs, I know that it can take a few tries before a chicken gets it right. I switched the flock to layer feed when the first two started laying and they have access to oyster shell.
I'm more concerned about the fact that they seem to be ignoring the nesting boxes.
Will they figure that out as well? The RIR and RSL took to it so naturally that I expected the other chickens to pick it up from them. Can I do anything else to help them along and figure out that egg laying on the roost isn't a good idea? I do have a rooster that likes to strut around in the coop by the nesting boxes, he seems to be telling the ladies that's the spot. The roost is higher than and next to the nesting boxes. Pic below taken before the chicks moved in - you can see the edge of the nesting box row to the left of the roost.
