New to Chickens - Question(s)

[Enchanted1s]

Hi All - I gave the story of how we came to acquire our one black chicken and one rooster in my intro post. About one week ago, she started laying eggs. Since my better half does not want to eat the eggs - we decided to see if they would give us some baby chicks. Since chickens were not in the plans - we were not set up for them. I have since built them a pallet shelter area and put up some fencing so the goats can no longer access the chicken feed.

In my intro post - one of you said if I want her to lay in a specific place, to move two of her eggs there and then continue to move them as she lays until she learns to lay them in her new spot. Yesterday, I moved two of her eggs. Last night and today it is wet and rainy - I noticed that their shelter was wet. We proceeded to get another tarp and try to make it better. ALSO, she had laid another egg under the tree, one of the two I moved was still in the box and the other just outside of the box. Usually, they will both move to another part of the property when we are near their area. Today, she was sitting on the eggs under the tree almost the entire time we were working on their shelter (a few feet away). I was wondering if she was sitting? But, about the time we had finished - so had she - she laid another egg.

So - what should I do? I don't think outside, on the ground, in a shallow hole at the base of a tree is the best place for her to sit on her eggs. Hopefully their shelter is now dry. How should I proceed? How long do they continue to lay before she begins her 21 day sit (IF she will)? Thanks for you input - I will be searching here on the forum. Sorry if this has been asked and answered before -

 

[azygous]

If she began to lay not long after you got her, and if she has been laying pretty regularly for six weeks, give or take a few days, she is "qualified" to go broody if her genes predispose her to it. Not all hens go broody.

Only you can assess what level of danger you have from predators in your area. Decades ago, I had a banty hen safely sit and hatch a brood under a bush in my suburban back yard. To attempt such a feat where I now live would be sure to result in tragedy for both hen and chicks as the predators outnumber even the humans in my area.

Predators willing to go out of their way to snatch eggs or even the broody herself include snakes, rats, possums, skunks, crows, neighbor dogs, raccoons, and the notorious fox. If you have any of those for neighbors, you would do well to build a coop for your chickens with a broody nest comfortably situated on the floor.

 

[Enchanted1s]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not really sure how long she has been laying - I am guessing only a couple of weeks? So if she will continue laying for 6 weeks, she would likely have too many eggs to sit on? I guess we should start taking some of the eggs? I did build them a so/so shelter, but I can't say with any certainty that the shelter would protect them from rats, possums, crows,coons or foxes. I am guessing we likely have all of those. Back to the drawing board.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Not all chickens are created equal. Some are bred to be broody and others are bred to lay tons of eggs while others are bred to grow very fast to be dinner.

I went looking for your intro thread. It looks like your hen may be an egg layer hybrid. Can you post more pics of her so that you get a better feel if she will be likely to set eggs?

To better encourage her to lay in the nest box she and her fella may need to be closed in the coop for a few days.
Please visit the coops section to get a good feel for what she may need to feel safe in the coop.
Coops do not need to be fancy to be dry, secure from predators and protected from wind.

There are great coops people have made from free pallets. The reason I suggest a rebuild is you mentioned it got wet inside and you ended up with tarps. That may be one reason she is not laying in the coop. Tarps make a lot of noise in even a light rain and gentle wind.

 

[Enchanted1s]

This seems to be the best picture I have of them - for now. It is raining again here, and supposed to be rainy for most of the week. Not the norm for here, so we are probably fussing over the animals a bit more than necessary. Anyway - until this week both had just been roaming around freely with no area to call their own. They cannot get back into the neighbors coop. Nothing but RR tracks and fields behind us. We finally scrapped up enough money for a proper waterer and feed dish for them. Since she has been hanging around since July, and he was thrown over in August - I guess they are staying and threw them together a quick shelter. Their area shares the fence with the neighbor's chickens. So glad I found the site! Thanks for any guidance.



Edit: Just remembering - the neighbors got this black chicken (all of their 1st ones) around Easter. She flew their coop and came to be a community chicken around June. The Rooster was already pretty big when he was thrown over the fence. The neighbors got new birds after their dog massacre of the first flock - these were bigger than the tiny Easter babies that our black one was from.

Edit: Better pictures of her.

chickenView attachment 1146825View attachment 1146826

 

[Enchanted1s]

A little break in the rain this morning so I got some better pictures. I feel really bad for them. My attempt at shelter has failed again. They seem to be getting more use to us being around, and like the fenced area I put up to keep the goats out. Six eggs in total this morning. Since the 2 I had placed in the nest box were wet like everything else - I put them back in her hole with the other 4. She has been laying one a day for the past 6 days. I really did not plan to have chickens... I know, I should have started learning more about them when she first came over the fence - but I really didn't think she would stay.

I will figure something out so that they can at least get out of the rain before sun down! Most of the coops I see here are quite impressive. I don't have the budget for that. I asked about feeding them at the Tractor Supply and the sold us a 50# bag of Scratch Corn. After reading here, I see that was not the best choice The first of the month is coming - I will find a way to get them some better feed soon, but we are too broke to even have a budget on this 'fixed income' that I keep telling everyone is 'broke income'.

 

[NNYchick]

Hi welcome. I second the recommendation to look through the articles on coops. There are a lot of DIY coop ideas on this site and creative use of recycled item you find. Until you are able to get the housing set up safe from predators and weather proof I would not let your hen hatch eggs, if you do this you will have more chickens to house and mouths to feed and chicks need grower crumble (more money to spend). I see you do not want to eat the eggs (know they are good and just as healthy for you as store bought) but if you do not eat them you can always cook them scrambled feed them back to your 2 chickens to supplement the scratch feed till you can get them proper pellet feed. Also mash up the egg shells and leave out in a bowl for your hen to supplement her calcium as she needs extra calcium from laying.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Good suggestions!

The coops section has tons of pallet coops that are dry and safe. Please look through them more.

If you want to sell eggs you will need to get her laying in a dry area. Eggs that have been wet are compromised for human consumption. I would scramble them and feed them back to the chickens.

As you have learned cracked corn is not adequate feed. You can give them the eggs, unsalted table scraps, some veggie scraps and such to help.

With money tight I too caution against hatching anything. It is a bad time of year for hatching too.

Oh and with just 2 birds you won't be able to use a 50# bag of feed before it starts to spoil.

Can you perhaps go in on feed with the neighbor that "gifted" you these mouths to feed?

Get creative for a nest box.
A tote with a hole cut in one side and screwed down to a pallet will be dry and unable to tip and trap her inside.

Where in the country are you located? There are some places near me where people drop off construction scraps and others can get pieces they need from there.
My DH cleaned my workshop and took ALL my lumber there.
There may be places like that near you too.

 

[Enchanted1s]

Thanks for the tips. We got them some plastic crates out there until I can get them something better built. I am still working on convincing my better half that we can eat the eggs. I am game!

All great info here - and much appreciated! We are in the Land of Enchantment - NM. With further thought, I don't think we really have to worry much about feed. The neighbors are feeding them well - every day - when they feed their flock, they throw ours some thru the fence. She laid 2 eggs today The birds & eggs appear healthy.

Should I take all of her eggs at once? They are just starting to trust me a little. So much to learn - thanks for your patience.

 

[TexasSam]

Hi All - I gave the story of how we came to acquire our one black chicken and one rooster in my intro post. About one week ago, she started laying eggs. Since my better half does not want to eat the eggs - we decided to see if they would give us some baby chicks. Since chickens were not in the plans - we were not set up for them. I have since built them a pallet shelter area and put up some fencing so the goats can no longer access the chicken feed.

In my intro post - one of you said if I want her to lay in a specific place, to move two of her eggs there and then continue to move them as she lays until she learns to lay them in her new spot. Yesterday, I moved two of her eggs. Last night and today it is wet and rainy - I noticed that their shelter was wet. We proceeded to get another tarp and try to make it better. ALSO, she had laid another egg under the tree, one of the two I moved was still in the box and the other just outside of the box. Usually, they will both move to another part of the property when we are near their area. Today, she was sitting on the eggs under the tree almost the entire time we were working on their shelter (a few feet away). I was wondering if she was sitting? But, about the time we had finished - so had she - she laid another egg.

So - what should I do? I don't think outside, on the ground, in a shallow hole at the base of a tree is the best place for her to sit on her eggs. Hopefully their shelter is now dry. How should I proceed? How long do they continue to lay before she begins her 21 day sit (IF she will)? Thanks for you input - I will be searching here on the forum. Sorry if this has been asked and answered before -

I had this problem before I filled in the spot they were laying in and covered it up so it looked just like everything else. Then kept moving the eggs to the laying box new egg every day. By the way your eggs are so much better than store eggs