I just joined BYC a few minutes ago for the express purpose of saying thank you to everyone who posts info on here.
I just got my first chickens in March and have been enjoying keeping up with them through the spring and summer, but have been wondering when they would start to lay. A couple of days ago I noticed that one of my 5 or 6 month old hens started crouching down when I went to reach for her, though usually they all just run away. I was a little concerned thinking, "why is she so scared of me all the sudden"? When she did it again today I did a little Google research which brought me to this forum where I learned about squatting, and that it was a sign that the hen would soon lay.
I've been keeping my 5 chickens temporarily in a fenced off area of my yard during the day, which means that they're separated from their coop until I let them out into the wider yard during the evening. So given the info that they would soon lay I went ahead and let them out of the fenced off area and found a 5 gallon bucket to serve as the nest box that I've been putting off making. I settled the bucket in, stabilized it, put some hay in it and within a minute of its completion the squatting hen was in there rearranging things. She sat in that bucket for about 1.5 hours and at the end I got a nice brown egg!
Seems like I got everything arranged just in time!
I hope she continues laying in the coop so I can avoid doing egg hunts, and I hope the other gals soon follow her good example.
I just got my first chickens in March and have been enjoying keeping up with them through the spring and summer, but have been wondering when they would start to lay. A couple of days ago I noticed that one of my 5 or 6 month old hens started crouching down when I went to reach for her, though usually they all just run away. I was a little concerned thinking, "why is she so scared of me all the sudden"? When she did it again today I did a little Google research which brought me to this forum where I learned about squatting, and that it was a sign that the hen would soon lay.
I've been keeping my 5 chickens temporarily in a fenced off area of my yard during the day, which means that they're separated from their coop until I let them out into the wider yard during the evening. So given the info that they would soon lay I went ahead and let them out of the fenced off area and found a 5 gallon bucket to serve as the nest box that I've been putting off making. I settled the bucket in, stabilized it, put some hay in it and within a minute of its completion the squatting hen was in there rearranging things. She sat in that bucket for about 1.5 hours and at the end I got a nice brown egg!
Seems like I got everything arranged just in time!
I hope she continues laying in the coop so I can avoid doing egg hunts, and I hope the other gals soon follow her good example.
