Someone laid an egg!

[Appalachickens]

I’ve started doing more of an overnight mash, too. Once summer really hit, fermentation would just take off and become too sour, I guess.

I've been keeping a gallon jar in the garage and every morning I scoop out the wet mash with a slotted spoon to put in their bowl, add more water as needed, and then more feed. So much of the liquid is more than a day old, but it seems to be staying in good shape.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I've been keeping a gallon jar in the garage and every morning I scoop out the wet mash with a slotted spoon to put in their bowl, add more water as needed, and then more feed. So much of the liquid is more than a day old, but it seems to be staying in good shape.

It works, as long as I remember to get it off the windowsill and into the fridge. A bit too long out in the warm, and oof.

 

[Airyaman]

Weird. So after my first blue egg, nothing. Looked in the nesting boxes and one spot in the run where the SS would likes to lay eggs (where I found the first blue egg).

My guess is the one who was laying found somewhere to lay the egg while free ranging and I have not seen it. My suspicions were somewhat confirmed when I came back from a HD run and spotted a blue egg in the middle of their free range area! Just out in in the open. Luckily the others don't seem to want to eat it.

Now I hope I spot the other(s) before I start to smell them.

What can you do to encourage they use the nesting boxes instead of the ground?

 

[matheny00]

Lol, that 50# of OS should last you a good long time! You'll think they aren't taking any ... but they will. Just tiny amounts.

I bought a 12 lb bag of oyster shells and the girls tossed it all over. It was almost empty on the ground the next morning. I guess they like eating it off the ground. Lol

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I keep mine in a cat food gravity feeder they can't dump over. Goofballs!

 

[Appalachickens]

I bought a 12 lb bag of oyster shells and the girls tossed it all over. It was almost empty on the ground the next morning. I guess they like eating it off the ground. Lol

I had one of those plexiglass birdfeeders that would not stay stuck to the window, so I attached it to the wall in the run and put the ouster shell in that. They cant tip it over. I already had another one with grit so there are two side by side now, but this is the one with grit in it.

 

[Airyaman]

My CCL who was laying is very flaky about just laying her eggs where ever. None of them use the nesting boxes! So I've been trying to search the woods for them but no luck.

However, another CCL is laying now. I know it's a different CCL because I found her egg in a random place as well, but it was almost twice as big as her "sister's" egg!

I know which one it is too because I saw her acting funny in the woods, and even picked her up to look at her vent to see if she had any issues. About 1/2 hour later, I found her egg just next to their run in the grass. Her "sister" (they're from the same set of eggs) is already in the run with the door closed, but sometimes I leave the stragglers out when they aren't cooperative. For whatever reason, they don't seem to get into it when I let the other flocks out, so I don't make a big deal of it. In fact, I know at least one of the CCLs will back up any younger cockerel so I don't have to worry about her.

 

[Airyaman]

I bought a 12 lb bag of oyster shells and the girls tossed it all over. It was almost empty on the ground the next morning. I guess they like eating it off the ground. Lol

Mine do the same thing, just knock it out of the container.

 

[Airyaman]

Believe it or not, I had not eaten a single egg from my hens until this morning! I had actually fed some to sick chicks and chickens, and even my dog, but none myself. So this morning I had my usual weekend egg sandwich for breakfast using three of my SS's peewee eggs (I typically eat two large or extra larges).

Yes, they were much better than the eggs I buy at the store.

Oh, on a side note, I cracked open one of the eggs earlier this week to feed a chick and there was a decent sized red lump in one of them. Best guess is a developing chick! Yuck...but now I crack all of my eggs into a cup first before preparing them.

 

[Airyaman]

My chickens have a fenced-in area and most of them stay in it. But I know for sure one hen violates the fence area because I found an egg just around the corner where they always see me coming. A gift for the giver of food!