ready to lay?

[wildorchid053]

i saw a post that said her hens which are the same age as mine and exactly the same looking from the same area of ny.. started to lay.. so i grabbed dh and had him open the nest boxes and put in bedding.. we put each hen into them and all jumped out but two.. have 6 hens.. they each made a circle and sat.. well the roo jumped up there and sat in one of the circles and has been cooing to them both and making all sorts of purr and other soft noises... the hens are responding with little chirps and standing next to him.. are they ready to lay or is this a practice run? he has been in the little circle for about 40 min.. i know he is a roo... and my other roo saw this and dug a cirlce in the shavings under the roosting bar but they are even looking at him.. poor fella...

 

[trilyn]

Hi again! It sounds like they're just checking it out-you can tell when they're getting close by the color and size of their comb. It will get a really dark pink, almost red and the comb gets pretty big and fat. Also, when you touch their backs they'll start to squat. If they start to squat to the point of touching the ground or nearly, they're getting pretty darn close.

Meanwhile, make sure they do not sleep in the boxes. I booted mine out a couple of times and they seem to have gotten the hint. In fact, the only box that is mussed up is the one they've used! The other boxes are the same as before. I know, the waiting game blows!! Hang in there, and if you forget about it, odds are that's when they're gonna start laying. Mine did!

Oh, don't forget the golf balls-weird but they really work!

 

[wildorchid053]

ty for the info in both places neighbor lol