I'm trying to change my free ranging chickens to run chickens but I have questions. My chickens are: 8 Ameraucana Hens, 1 - Blue Fleck Maran hen and 2- Dominique Hens - Mostly laying (Ameracuanas are). Every morning I would open the door on the inside of the barn to their coop and the flock would stroll out of the coop, run through the barn to the outside and free range all day - roaming wherever. Gardens, throughout the barn, around the house and property - mainly staying on property - but would get some distance between them and the coop. I always propped the coop door (my inside barn coop door - not their much smaller run door) open so if they "wanted" to get back into the coop - lay and egg or drink some water - they could.
The problem I was having is I started finding eggs in obscure places - in the yard, behind stuff in the barn, in the goat stall under their platform. My hens are producing enough eggs for our household that we are now selling our eggs - but finding them in obscure places is leaving me unsure to the quality of the eggs. I'm pretty sure I have found all in a days time every day - they had specific locations they would go to - but the ones in the yard or woods are just lost eggs in my book.
So I set out to build a fully mesh enclosed outdoor run to their coop on the backside of the barn. It's 16'x13'x6'5. I used heavy 2"x4" wire mesh sides and roof covering to deter any hawks (my biggest daytime predator. At night they are securely locked in the coop from all other predators) Well within the generic given 10sq feet outdoor run space per bird.
I'm concerned to the nutritional content they are getting. I feed them 16% layer feed daily, and throw in a cup of whole corn and often BOSS (black oil sun flower seeds). They seem to really like the BOSS as a treat. And plenty of fresh water daily checked.
The run has been utilized for the last 2 weeks now. A few days I will give them the freedom of pasture free range but I try to keep them in the run.
My egg production is considerably down. Prior to the run I was averaging 7-8 eggs a day. Now I'm down to 2-5. It's been roughly 2 weeks. I'm starting to give them a few days/hours a day pasture ranging and they love that! I'm worried as the summer comes in and the heat of the day increases - finding the eggs before they go bad.
Any recommendations?
The problem I was having is I started finding eggs in obscure places - in the yard, behind stuff in the barn, in the goat stall under their platform. My hens are producing enough eggs for our household that we are now selling our eggs - but finding them in obscure places is leaving me unsure to the quality of the eggs. I'm pretty sure I have found all in a days time every day - they had specific locations they would go to - but the ones in the yard or woods are just lost eggs in my book.
So I set out to build a fully mesh enclosed outdoor run to their coop on the backside of the barn. It's 16'x13'x6'5. I used heavy 2"x4" wire mesh sides and roof covering to deter any hawks (my biggest daytime predator. At night they are securely locked in the coop from all other predators) Well within the generic given 10sq feet outdoor run space per bird.
I'm concerned to the nutritional content they are getting. I feed them 16% layer feed daily, and throw in a cup of whole corn and often BOSS (black oil sun flower seeds). They seem to really like the BOSS as a treat. And plenty of fresh water daily checked.
The run has been utilized for the last 2 weeks now. A few days I will give them the freedom of pasture free range but I try to keep them in the run.
My egg production is considerably down. Prior to the run I was averaging 7-8 eggs a day. Now I'm down to 2-5. It's been roughly 2 weeks. I'm starting to give them a few days/hours a day pasture ranging and they love that! I'm worried as the summer comes in and the heat of the day increases - finding the eggs before they go bad.
Any recommendations?
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