Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[okallthis4eggs]

Half an hour ago I checked on Baby, and checked over the mini coop I was going to put her in tomorrow. I was too tired to do it tonight. I no sooner climbed into bed, than I decided not to let them hatch. Now I must ask. Would you eat an egg that was incubated less than a day?

Yes I would eat a egg that was incubated less than a day.

 

[cheeka]

MC, x 2, I would eat them

 

[SullyD]

I am stumped! 3 weeks ago, 3 hens started laying. I was getting 1-2 eggs a day, (twice I got 3) and that went on for two weeks. It has now been a whole week with not one egg! I have kept the chickens in the coop, for over a week now, until 4pm. Then most of them (at least those that were laying), would go into the run, (that now has 3 nest boxes), until 7-7:30 pm, then back to the coop for the night. There is no chance they are laying someplace other than the coop or the run. I am banging my head trying to figure out what I am doing wrong!

I think I messed up on their food. I had switched them to layer about the same time they started laying, but I think I dumped the bag of grower in the layer bin by mistake, but I am not sure! Could that make a difference? The only other things I can think of that changed are, I changed out the curtains on the nest box area, and I removed the bug infested hay from the outside nest boxes.

Any suggestions/insight would be most appreciated! And thanks again for all the help!

 

[lindz8504]

Lost another 6 today.

 

[chirpingcricket]

Lost another 6 today.

Oh no Lindz!!!! Now what? Chirp

 

[SullyD]

Oh No!! Same dogs again?

 

[lindz8504]

Oh No!! Same dogs again?

Oh no Lindz!!!! Now what?

Chirp

Yes it was the same dogs. It is so hot here today though that I can't leave them in the coop all day, and we don't have a run built because we were just going to free-range. We went and let them out this morning and did some outside work until it was too hot to be out. Then came in for about an hour or so, and went back out to check on them and they were all gone except for Broody Clarabelle. As I walked in behind the coop I saw the carnage. Feathers everywhere, and carcasses. There were 5 that I found and buried. They just kill them and leave them. All my other chickens were MIA. After about 2 hours they came back to the coop, not sure where they were. All 7 of my Golden comets are accounted for, my 2 brooder babies, and Rogue all came back. There is still 1 unaccounted for, but they got all of my black cochin bantams.

There will be some dead dogs if I can ever catch them on my property! The problem is that they run whenever they see you. I wish Hubby would have had the gun the other day. I am going to try my best to find out who they belong to, and make them pay for the damages. Now I am desperate for Clarabelle to hatch all of her eggs! A friend is going to talk to her mom about getting some more hens, but we will have to wait and see. I guess when Hubby gets paid this week, we will be making a run to Tractor supply for fencing materials.

 

[cheeka]

lindz

you've got to kill them. seems they lie in wait for you to go inside. they're not far. and it's now a game for them.

 

[lindz8504]

lindz

you've got to kill them. seems they lie in wait for you to go inside. they're not far. and it's now a game for them.

Yea, tomorrow the girls aren't getting out until Hubby gets home! I think I am going to make him sit in the coop and wait for them! Today within 100 yards of the coop is where I found the feathers and birds.... I have no idea where the others went and hid, but they seem ok except for being very shook up and skittish.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Sorry about your loss lindz. I like your idea about building a run. You can't be with them all the time. Free range is a great thing but it has the ugly side you just experienced. I don't free range. I would love to be able to do that. My chickens live at the back of my property at the edge of the woods. The predators are unlimited. Without a doubt I will lose them if I let them out. Maybe not today but sooner or later. The odds are too great. So I try to provide them with everything inside the run that they might find outside the run. My mower has a bagger so I give them the grass clippings. I give them leaves in the fall and winter to scratch around in. I hang a bug zapper inside my run and they absolutely love rushing out of the coop in the morning to snatch up the zapped bugs under it. I raise meal worms for treats. Pumpkins in the fall. Leftovers from my garden. Honestly they can't eat everything I put in there. So they are not hungry. They have a pretty good life. But most of all they are safe and if they stay healthy they will have a long life. I have never lost a chicken to a predator. You might take out those two dogs but next time it will be something else. You will never rid the world of predators. I see people get mad when coons kill their chickens and start trapping coons. If that worked rats would be on the endangered species list. I really like cheeka's approach to having it both ways. She lets her birds out in the evening when she gets home so they can free range before dark. She stays out in the yard with them and they automatically return to the coop to roost at dark. However even with that there is some risk. cheeka does lose one every now and then. But nothing like what you just experienced. It has to be what works best for you.