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It’s been way too long since we’ve had chicks around here.

 
Well my egg saga keeps getting more complicated!
I thought they weren't laying well, so I tried to specifically give them extra protein to help with any molting. I then realized that some eggs were being eaten. :barnie I kept finding the wet spots in the nesting boxes AND dried yolk on other eggs.
My first line of defense was to open the coop door for free ranging first thing in the morning, hoping that getting out and about would keep them from pecking the eggs. The following two days I got 1 egg a day from 15 layers...yep 1 a day.:he:he Both days, I found wet spots in the boxes. To be clear, I checked the boxes every hour or so.
Things then got drastic in my mind. I am feeding all these chickens for NOTHING! I added golf balls to the boxes, and I blew out an egg and filled it with mustard. it was a trick I read about. my chickens ate the egg shell and the mustard...yep.:he:he
Then, I had a moment where I decided that maybe, just maybe, they were laying somewhere else. They never have before, but well...it was worth the look around. I looked under bushes and in the vegetable garden. And then I found it. :fl A nest under the deck with 11 eggs in it. It still didn't seem like enough, but I figured, I was now closer to figuring it all out. Yesterday, I let them out and in the afternoon went under the deck, finding 3 eggs. 1 in the nesting boxes, plus my daily wet spot meant I got just 4 for the day....something is STILL not right.:th
So hubby is out in the shed building a goat hut today and one of the hens in the shed starts to sing the egg song. :fl We go look, and sure enough, there are 3 eggs there. Of course the 11 eggs under the deck and the eggs that weren't hot and freshly laid in the shed, I have no idea the age of them, so they are garbage:hit, but I guess I am closer!

Hope all is well with you all. Our baby goats got named: Murphy is a wethered Pygmy and his brother Abraham is a billy.
 
Werforpsu said:
Well my egg saga keeps getting more complicated!
I thought they weren't laying well, so I tried to specifically give them extra protein to help with any molting. I then realized that some eggs were being eaten. :barnie I kept finding the wet spots in the nesting boxes AND dried yolk on other eggs.
My first line of defense was to open the coop door for free ranging first thing in the morning, hoping that getting out and about would keep them from pecking the eggs. The following two days I got 1 egg a day from 15 layers...yep 1 a day.:he:he Both days, I found wet spots in the boxes. To be clear, I checked the boxes every hour or so.
Things then got drastic in my mind. I am feeding all these chickens for NOTHING! I added golf balls to the boxes, and I blew out an egg and filled it with mustard. it was a trick I read about. my chickens ate the egg shell and the mustard...yep.:he:he
Then, I had a moment where I decided that maybe, just maybe, they were laying somewhere else. They never have before, but well...it was worth the look around. I looked under bushes and in the vegetable garden. And then I found it. :fl A nest under the deck with 11 eggs in it. It still didn't seem like enough, but I figured, I was now closer to figuring it all out. Yesterday, I let them out and in the afternoon went under the deck, finding 3 eggs. 1 in the nesting boxes, plus my daily wet spot meant I got just 4 for the day....something is STILL not right.:th
So hubby is out in the shed building a goat hut today and one of the hens in the shed starts to sing the egg song. :fl We go look, and sure enough, there are 3 eggs there. Of course the 11 eggs under the deck and the eggs that weren't hot and freshly laid in the shed, I have no idea the age of them, so they are garbage:hit, but I guess I am closer!

Hope all is well with you all. Our baby goats got named: Murphy is a wethered Pygmy and his brother Abraham is a billy.
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Ugh! Egg eaters. I’ve tried porcelain eggs and a ‘roll away’ nest box and still have issues. You can test the eggs you found for freshness. Candling for aircell size is probably the most accurate way, but we just ‘float test’ them when we find a clutch laid outside of the coop. Put the eggs in a bowl of water, if they lay flat on the bottom, they’re fresh (good for eating). If they rotate, air cell side up then they’re older -(good for hard boiling or feed to pets), if they float, they are rotten (good ammunition for pesky neighbors)
 
dheltzel said:
Unless you add lighting to make the days longer, they may not lay until spring, all my birds are slowing the laying now, many are molting. Yesterday I got about 15 eggs, total. A few months back, 120 was the norm for a day. I have gotten rid of some of the laying age hens since then, but pens that were producing 20+ eggs are now down to 2 or less.
All of them are old enough to start laying soon, but the shorter days are working against that. I don't start lighting until December, then increase gradually, so they think spring is starting early and should start laying in January or February. If you choose not to add light, it might be March or even April before they start.
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Thanks, @dheltzel , that's what I'm afraid of. :) I wasn't planning to add light, so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that they decide to start very soon. They have all filled out nicely (even more than the pics show--some of those pics are several weeks old) and have red combs, but none are squatting yet. If I have to wait, I'll wait, of course, but I'm looking forward to seeing those egg colors! :) Not to mention I'm in the same boat with eggs--out of 15 hens I am generally getting 2-4 eggs/day, down from 8-12 at peak, what with all the molting. My BLRW is particularly pitiful this year--she looks about 75% plucked. I figured if the young girls did start laying soon, they might lay pretty well through winter, and get us through the older girls' slow period.
 
Speak of the devil! I just went out and found this:
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Based on the size and color, I'm pretty sure that's the first egg from the legbar! It's a pretty dark blue with a hint of green. My adult blue and green egg layers are all molting, and their eggs are bigger, so I don't think it's them--and I'm guessing the sexlink's egg would be lighter and bluer, but maybe @dheltzel will correct me if I'm wrong. Happy day!! :)
 

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hyzenthlay said:
Speak of the devil! I just went out and found this:
View attachment 1154943

Based on the size and color, I'm pretty sure that's the first egg from the legbar! It's a pretty dark blue with a hint of green. My adult blue and green egg layers are all molting, and their eggs are bigger, so I don't think it's them--and I'm guessing the sexlink's egg would be lighter and bluer, but maybe @dheltzel will correct me if I'm wrong. Happy day!! :)
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Jealous!! Waiting for my first pullet egg. On the plus side my hens are still going strong. I have 11 hens. Subtract the EE who has decided to be broody again. So from ten hens I get about 6-8 eggs a day. I think my lowest day was 4. But I have 5 red stars and they are producers!! It's the others that slack off.
 
We found a 3rd nest this morning! this one was in the fire pit...the 5 eggs are covered in soot!

The hubby put brand new hay in the coop nesting boxes and added in a set of make shift cubbies (cinder blocks standing on end, spaced about 12 inches apart with a large board on top.) For today, I have them out, but I might keep them in for several days to retrain anyone who is deciding not to lay in the coop.

If I knew where all they are laying I wouldn't mind as much. But even with the found eggs (18 in total now) we still aren't getting as many eggs as I feel we should be. Still each day, I see egg eating evidence in one of the nests....so maybe it is better that they are laying elsewhere!
 
Hi everyone! I am new to the site, and new to chickens as well. I posted in the New Member section but wanted to say hello to my fellow Pennsylvanians.

I live in Adams county, and am hoping to start a small flock for eggs/pets in the spring. Currently my favorite breed is Speckled Sussex, but really interested in Australorps and Buff Orps, too. I love vegetable gardening, and growing some of my own food led me to the prospect of having my own eggs, too! :) I had dairy goats in my teens, and still LOVE me some goats, but prefer a smaller livestock this time around.

My biggest challenge will be getting a coop and run ready and predator proof, as I have very poor knowledge and skills with construction and carpentry. There are some people who post coops on Craigslist periodically. I am in a rural/agricultural area and have plenty of room, fortunately. I have a pole building/shed but I think it would be too much work to make it secure for just 4-6 hens. But the possibility is open for the future of the "chicken math" thing happens. ;)
 
PugNut said:
Hi everyone! I am new to the site, and new to chickens as well. I posted in the New Member section but wanted to say hello to my fellow Pennsylvanians.

I live in Adams county, and am hoping to start a small flock for eggs/pets in the spring. Currently my favorite breed is Speckled Sussex, but really interested in Australorps and Buff Orps, too. I love vegetable gardening, and growing some of my own food led me to the prospect of having my own eggs, too! :) I had dairy goats in my teens, and still LOVE me some goats, but prefer a smaller livestock this time around.

My biggest challenge will be getting a coop and run ready and predator proof, as I have very poor knowledge and skills with construction and carpentry. There are some people who post coops on Craigslist periodically. I am in a rural/agricultural area and have plenty of room, fortunately. I have a pole building/shed but I think it would be too much work to make it secure for just 4-6 hens. But the possibility is open for the future of the "chicken math" thing happens. ;)
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Welcome from Cambria county! I think you should definitely use the shed and just mostly worry about making a predator proof run attached to it. Chicken math will hit hard, no matter how prepared for it you think you may be lol
 

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