people with house chickens

[mg15]

Ok today was the second egg she layied but I feel like I have just given birth myself.....please help my house chicken family ideas on a nest. she had such a hard time today serched for hours crying for a place I kept offering The best options I could think of even in her place she sleeps at night because that is how she had her first one. Then finally she walked up to me like help mommy so picked her up put her on her bed petting her till she calmed then could tell she was pushing and after about 5 min she layied it. I have never seen the process is it always that difficult on them to pass it or was it just harder on me? But need help ideas please. And should I be worried she needed to be calmed by me in order for her to do this.

My girl has 2 special places for laying her eggs. the 1st one was the hamper in the hall way. She was so broody that I got some fertile eggs in the hamper with her and she hatched out 7 eggs. AND SHE IS A J.BANTAM. the fertile eggs were all big girls. Dottie did brilliantly. Her place now is a tall open wire drawers. I pull one out far enough for her to fly up into it. She starts that whining peep peep peep so I walk to the bedroom door and I hear her little feet behind me tapping the wood floor. So cute. I let her into the bedroom she jumps up onto the bed and then flies over to the tower of drawers knows her spot and lays her egg. I might add here that IF I TAKE HER Stash of eggs out of her drawer she goes bonkers. Whining and pacing, coming up to me and hopping on my shoulder "my eggs are gone" so I take her to the fridge and get one of her eggs out and put the egg into her drawer where she lays. She is then happy goes back and if broody will want to warm them up or she may just lay an egg. No one would ever guess what these free little darlings actually do.
mg

 

[spazy67]

Thanks for all the info how sweet. I love my house chickens more everyday. She did not lay today?

 

[mg15]

Thanks for all the info how sweet. I love my house chickens more everyday. She did not lay today?

I am sure someone has already told you to give extra calcium.
also a scrambled egg for her too.
mg

 

[Sylvester017]

Makes me feel so much better thank you. Wow ya I am such a over thinker I have found that out about myself since I have had these chickens freak out about everything... Now I feed scratch and they free range in back yard grass bugs , have show bird food available. And oyster shell. Once and awhile treat. What vitamins do you get and also they won't eat much anything else.

I read once that a chicken eats about 1/4 cup of their feed if they have other foods too or free-range. Gamebird or Turkey grow feed is good stuff - usually has a higher protein content than just layer feed or chick crumbles. I couldn't get our house chicken to eat for 3 days until we offered her some Turkey grow/game bird feed. Then she started eating everything else we put out.


We offer all these in different containers so they pick and choose what their body needs:

*Turkey grow/Gamebird feed usually around 21% or higher in protein content
*Layer pellets (we have one Silkie that prefers these pellets) moistened but not soaked
*Scratch and Peck brand organic layer feed 18% protein -- unpressed loose grain/fishmeal/etc
*Scratch and Peck brand organic 3-grain scratch - I believe is oat, rye, wheat whole grains
*Dry meal worms
*Wild bird seed - no corn/no soy
*Cooked organic aromatic type brown (no white) rice and add powdered Brewers' Yeast, Bee Pollen, trace bit of Selenium powder, and Rooster Booster chicken vitamin crystals (for one week each month I switch to Rooster Booster Multi-Worming vitamins, then back to regular Rooster Booster chicken vitamin crystals)
*2 to 3x per week we give children's no-iron Poly-Vi-Sol vitamin drop to each chicken (really perks them up like NutriDrench does) or squirt vitamin E capsule on wet food or a drop or two into mouth or side of chicken's beak so they have to lick it up - my 2 Silkies will drink the Poly-Vi-Sol right out of the palm of my hand or out of a plastic spoon but only let them have a drop or two at most. Some chickens have to get used to the Poly-Vi-Sol or vitamin E so meantime we dab it on their beak to lick it up until they get used to eating it on their own out of our hand or teaspoon.
*Oyster Shell and Calcium Carbonate at-will dish
*Produce leaves like spinach which has selenium naturally in it, or swiss chard, or dark greens or cucumber chopped up small so there's no long strands to impact the crop. I don't offer the Brassica veggies like cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower or kale - brassica can affect the thyroid in sensitive types; Fresh corn or canned no salt/no sugar corn and sunflowers only in the colder winter months because of high starch/high oil content
*Fruit like golden flesh cantaloupe, pumpkin, yellow zucchini, banana, grapes, raisins, no sugar cran-raisins, apple, pear (no seeds), no citrus like oranges/tangerines/grapefruit/etc. My chickens didn't eat banana for 5 yrs and then one day I offered a teeny bit to one Silkie and she went nuts for it. Now we hand-feed small bits of banana to all the chickens because they like the tiny pieces and the hand-fed attention!
*Cooked meats/fish with no seasoning and especially NO onion/onion salt/or onion powder - causes an anemic illness in dogs and chickens, in winter we serve cooked tiny shrimp (too fatty for the summer months), canned chunk light tuna is better than albacore (less mercury?), some people serve sardines in olive oil but my chickens don't happen to like that, sometimes but not often a can of Friskies Tuna w/Egg cat food (cat food is higher in protein than dog foods), hard-boiled egg pieces, or egg scrambled in real no-salt butter, occasionally a TBSP of Greek Trader Joe's plain yogurt from the spoon - they love the hand-fed attention.

I like these websites for poultry food references:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5766772_backyard-chicken-feed_-not-safe_.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20160313051928/http://poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html
https://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/poisonous-plants-chickens/
http://www.grit.com/animals/common-foods-and-plants-toxic-to-dogs-cats-and-chickens#axzz3KpE7wOXl

This is what they are offered but hardly touch it when they are able to free run backyard. Someone gave me great advice to make it mush because I was having a hard time finding anything they would eat.

This Turkey/game feed usually gets the appetite going in younger/juvenile chickens.

Thanks for all the info how sweet. I love my house chickens more everyday. She did not lay today?

My pullet Silkies would lay about 4 to 6 eggs/weekly -- expect some missed days w/Silkies. Once they lay for a few weeks then they go intensely broody. I let my Silkies brood an "empty" nest to give their bodies a rest to replenish nutrition after so many weeks of laying such big Silkie eggs. After 2 or 3 weeks on an empty nest, they go back to normal again. Make sure they get off the nest a couple times daily to go eat/drink/dust-bathe/exercise before they go running back to their "empty" nest.

 

[spazy67]

Now are your in the house? So when they have them in hamper or in a drawer they will stay? I ask because the first was next to Spazy in their bed and second was in the bed again but I had to help her along she had no idea what she wanted and had gave her tons of options. Then yesterday nothing, but then at 4:08 am today she had me up because she was restless so put her on her favorite pillow on MY BED and as I was settling in pleading with her for more sleep I then see her pushing uggg sure enough. Now I am freaking out planning on going out of town for Christmas and we usually set up a makeshift safe place in garage, so will need to figure something out for a couple days.

 

[Jimmybeam01]

Her name is ruby! And she cuddles. She's weird corky and goofy. It's -31 outside so when I got her she was too young to be with the girls so she will be inside probably till spring! So she's my room mate. At night she will hang in this tote till like 6 then start freaking out. So I put her on the edge of the tote to perch and bring her next to my bed cause she can't handle not being in pecking distance lol. She's a doll

 

[mg15]

So Nice.

 

[summerb123]

 

[Sylvester017]

Her name is ruby! And she cuddles. She's weird corky and goofy. It's -31 outside so when I got her she was too young to be with the girls so she will be inside probably till spring! So she's my room mate. At night she will hang in this tote till like 6 then start freaking out. So I put her on the edge of the tote to perch and bring her next to my bed cause she can't handle not being in pecking distance lol. She's a doll

Chickens have flock mentality and don't like being alone so you're her "flock" until Spring! I had a week-old chick that would scream if I left her room so had to put her on the floor to "follow" me around or she'd go hoarse screaming.

 

[Jimmybeam01]

Haha man this makes sense. She gets so quiet when she's by me. Love it. Little personalities