Washingtonians

[Nikki99]

Itsren and dawng, here's some pics of our set up as far as the inside of the chicken house. I included a pic of the nesting boxes and the roosts so you can get an idea of their locations/proximity to one another.


We have 5 LF hens of laying age and 2 bantie girls not ready to lay yet. We put in 7 boxes because we plan on getting more LF in the spring and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of spots for them to choose from. And when it comes to chicken math, who knows how many we may end up with. Lol




Here's the roosts, and you can see the nesting boxes in the lower right corner. I read that you need to make sure the nesting boxes are lower then the lowest roost bar so they don't roost on the nesting boxes. Today, I've gotten 2 eggs so far. I didn't let them out until after 11, hoping everyone would be done laying by then. I found 1 egg in a box and 1 egg on the floor in a little dug out spot in the shavings. Sometimes when they lay on the floor they don't even make a little nest, they just drop it where they stand!


I hope this helps you help me!! Thanks everyone!!

 

[itsren]

Good heavens, that looks like a chicken castle! Wow! Such a cool coop!

So, are those egg mats inside the nesting boxes? Could you try some straw, or something softer?

My chickens love their nesting area, and it has a roof over the top. You could add a board to the top of the nesting boxes to make them a little more private. It would make the box darker and more cozy.

Those are my thoughts. I'm curious what suggestions others have.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Woohoo!!!! First dark brown egg from my brand new Marans. Figured it would be a couple of days for her to adjust but apparently she's quite at home already!

 

[FlyRobinFly]

I need/want to go blackberry picking. I know a couple of great spots in undeveloped county parks. I just don't know how I could do anything more than eat them fresh. The real kitchen remolding starts tomorrow.

You can freeze the berries until you have a kitchen again, and make all the pies, cobblers, etc. your heart desires!

I would love to go blackberry picking with you, let me know and maybe we can go together.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Nikki: you have such a big coop, I wouldn't hesitate for one more day to shut them all in for a week and force them to learn to like the nest setup you already have. It's fabulous and they just need to be forced to use it is all. Mine were the same way and it only took them 2 days of taking away their rabbit hutch before they all started liking the nest boxes in the coop better anyway.

ETA: just read that they're laying in the shavings. I would put dummy eggs in the best boxes and still lock them all in the coop for 3-5 days straight. When they lay eggs in bad spots, move the egg to the nest box and leave it there all day.

 

[FirewifeJess]

I think after the library tonight I'm going over to Soos Creek Trailhead at 256th st to pick blackberries.

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Oh, yum! Shoot! I had blueberries, too, that I could have mixed in. I already baked a blackberry pie before I got back on here and saw this. Guess I'll have to go pick some more blackberries, eh?

Maybe the 2nd time around, I'll manage to back it without the top getting so dark.

I dunno, looks like a perfectly golden brown crust goodness to me!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Oh, yum!  Shoot!  I had blueberries, too, that I could have mixed in.  I already baked a blackberry pie before I got back on here and saw this.  Guess I'll have to go pick some more blackberries, eh?    Maybe the 2nd time around, I'll manage to back it without the top getting so dark.

I dunno, looks like a perfectly golden brown crust goodness to me!

Me too! She's lucky I was busy with new birds today or I. Might have dropped by for a slice!

 

[itsren]

A while back I bought a sewing machine off of ebay for my mom. I paid with pay Pay Pal. I never got the sewing machine, but I did get my money back from Pay Pal.

Today I got a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice that I have been identified as one of the victims in a criminal case against a guy who sold vacuum cleaners and sewing machines on ebay. They've asked me to verify if the guy ever used my credit card # for making purchases. Lovely, I get to do some paper trail work. I'm pretty confident he didn't have my CC info because I paid via Pay Pal, but you never know.

Just what I need. More paperwork.

 

[FlyRobinFly]

You just may have a fellow BYC'er in University Place who has a nearly foolproof Brinsea Eco incubator that they would be willing to loan you so that you too could have the pleasure of hatching your very own beautiful chicks from hatching eggs provided from some of your very friendly local BYC breeders. Your children would get to experience the amazing process of hatching baby chicks and WATCH them as they pipped and zipped and finally broke out of the egg.

Nothing like hatching your own babies at home! It's addicting.

And this is how it begins...

I can attest to SadieSue's generosity and enabling abilities, as well as the reliability and ease of use of her Brinsea bator. My very first hatch ever resulted in 11 chicks from 18 shipped eggs!