The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[SallyinIndiana]

On the topic of criss cut paper in the nesting or bedding: We tried it in just the bedding first, it did not do great with deep litter. It just never really dried out and the chickens did not care for it as much as pine wood chips and dirt.
As for the boxes, it would stick to the eggs while the bloom was still wet and even after washing the eggs any ink would still be there if the wet bloom happened to land on a printed shred of paper. It got to the point that I was sick of paper bits on the eggs and all paper was moved to just the bedding. Still it would stick to the feet and end up in the box and back on the eggs. Dh and I decided against using paper in bedding or boxes. We get tree trimmings instead for free. Takes time to spread them out and move them around the run / coop. Still I was spending time each day shredding paper for the chickens. Now it is Dh that moves the pine chips where they need to go.

 

[lazy gardener]

If you didn't throw it away, or if you get any more rubber eggs, you can cook them up and feed them back to the girls. Might as well let them get some enjoyment out of them.

 

[armorfirelady]

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Chaos I agree with what everyone else said. The first time my EE laid an egg it was outside the coop the first couple days. They are a little out of sorts when that first egg comes. I think I would be to if an egg suddenly popped out of me

I love bargain shopping & the day after Christmas is one of my favorites. I picked up some new lights for outside the coop, a new dust bath container

Aka a wreath holder

And a ribbon holder aka hen first aid kit I love finding ways to use something for something else

 

[Jewelwing]

Thanks, everyone, I do feel better.

I went out and fed them some yogurt today, and a new one (a speckled sussex) squatted for me. They all enjoyed the cooked "almost egg."

Then when I went to tuck them in (make sure they all got in before the pop door closed), I found this under the nest boxes, resting snugly on the wood chips. My first "real egg"!




What a roller-coaster day! This egg was really cold, so it may well have been there when I found the first squashed egg, and I was just too stunned by that find to look further. This egg has been sitting in the house for a while now, and I'm going to try to blow it out. It is a little mis-shapen, like maybe more shell was put down in one spot. I don't know if you can tell or not, but that is a shadow showing kind of a bump on the top part:



What a cute little egg! I'm so proud of whoever laid it. She's trying hard. I hope I fixed the trail camera so maybe I can see who lays the next one!

 

[lindz8504]

Thanks, everyone, I do feel better.

I went out and fed them some yogurt today, and a new one (a speckled sussex) squatted for me. They all enjoyed the cooked "almost egg."

Then when I went to tuck them in (make sure they all got in before the pop door closed), I found this under the nest boxes, resting snugly on the wood chips. My first "real egg"!




What a roller-coaster day! It was really cold, so it may well have been there when I found the first squashed egg, and I was just too stunned by the find to look further. It's been sitting in the house for a while now, and I'm going to try to blow it out. It is a little mis-shapen, like maybe more shell was put down in one spot. I don't know if you can tell or not, but that is a shadow showing kind of a bump on the top part:



What a cute little egg! I'm so proud of whoever laid it. She's trying hard. I hope I fixed the trail camera so maybe I can see who lays the next one!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

you can check vents to see who is laying. Might not be able to match the hen to the egg if you have quite a few layers but only one or two and it would not be a hard matching game.

 

[Jewelwing]

On the topic of criss cut paper in the nesting or bedding: We tried it in just the bedding first, it did not do great with deep litter. It just never really dried out and the chickens did not care for it as much as pine wood chips and dirt.
As for the boxes, it would stick to the eggs while the bloom was still wet and even after washing the eggs any ink would still be there if the wet bloom happened to land on a printed shred of paper. It got to the point that I was sick of paper bits on the eggs and all paper was moved to just the bedding. Still it would stick to the feet and end up in the box and back on the eggs. Dh and I decided against using paper in bedding or boxes. We get tree trimmings instead for free. Takes time to spread them out and move them around the run / coop. Still I was spending time each day shredding paper for the chickens. Now it is Dh that moves the pine chips where they need to go.

Hmmm. Interesting. I'm using plain brown paper (that comes as packing material in boxes - I order a lot of stuff online!), so ink's not an issue. I never thought about it sticking to the eggs.

I use leaves we raked up in the fall for the run, and pine chips in the coop for my deep litter. I didn't really want to use the pine chips in the nest boxes because I don't know what chemicals might have been used on them - I just buy them at Rural King. Of course, I don't know what's been used on the brown paper either. I guess I was hoping that by using different material in the nest boxes than I use for the deep litter that I would help the chickens figure out that the nest boxes are different than the coop floor. Obviously that isn't working as planned....

If you didn't throw it away, or if you get any more rubber eggs, you can cook them up and feed them back to the girls. Might as well let them get some enjoyment out of them.

Yes, I did cook it and feed it back to them. They loved it, of course!

 

[Jewelwing]

you can check vents to see who is laying. Might not be able to match the hen to the egg if you have quite a few layers but only one or two and it would not be a hard matching game.

Really?!? What do I look for? I think I only have one layer so far. Two, tops, since I've gotten two eggs.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks, everyone, I do feel better.

I went out and fed them some yogurt today, and a new one (a speckled sussex) squatted for me. They all enjoyed the cooked "almost egg."

Then when I went to tuck them in (make sure they all got in before the pop door closed), I found this under the nest boxes, resting snugly on the wood chips. My first "real egg"!



What a cute little egg! I'm so proud of whoever laid it. She's trying hard. I hope I fixed the trail camera so maybe I can see who lays the next one!

Yay!!!

 

[armorfirelady]

A laying hens vent will be larger and not stiff while a non laying hens will be small and stiff. But I've found its hard to tell who's just started laying since it take a little while for the vent to enlarge as their eggs become larger. But I did finally figure it out lol. I also have laying hens I could compare vents to. Poor girls were not impressed I was lifting tail feathers as they were roosting but having a comparison certainly helped !