What did you do with your flock today?

[PopoMyers]

Should the door swing inward or out? Or does it make no difference?

Mine open outward, if that might help. DH's choice, since he did the building. Personal preference. Anyone else?

 

[PopoMyers]

Me too! That's why I chose that breed for him to begin with. I knew that someday I would be doing a hatch from them.

Now, someone would make a lot of money if they created a breed that would mark eggs according to gender as they're laid.

 

[PopoMyers]

Sure! Not shown is that I added another 6 inches to the height of the white base board in the front. That way my 8' long 2x4s will be long enough to reach the roof rafters when I frame out the wall. The door will be between the pair of 4x4s. Total area of the run will be a little over 100 square feet. I plan to have another run out from under the roof too, connected with a tunnel, so the chickens can get fresh air and sunshine when they want it. Or are allowed. LOL

The chicken's door in the coop will be in the wall of the shorter section, directly opposite of where the nest boxes will be. The taller section of the coop will be the roosting area. Not sure if they'll use it because the run will be secure, and the chicken's little coop door will be open 24/7.

That looks like quite a spacious coop! They'll be happy!

 

[PopoMyers]

Beeeeebies!!!

You are so teasing @TropicalBabies !

 

[PopoMyers]

Worked on my run today till I couldn't work no mo'! Got all the framing in place on one of the walls, so it's now ready to hang the hardware cloth... with band aids close at hand.
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Hello, fellow Washingtonian!

 

[PopoMyers]

Remember the ongoing mole battle? The score is now Moles, 0, Cat 2. Sam left a frozen burrito sized mole behind the truck, and
The back half of a tree squirrel under the boat. He also threw up a huge fur ball that looked like an undigested owl pellet, with all kinds of assorted critter parts. No wonder he didn't eat all his food yesterday. He's been earning his keep.
Velma got to play outside again with warmer weather today, and tomorrow. I've been preoccupied with planning and making some of the food beforehand for a ladies tea this weekend, with over 100 signed up to attend. If I don't check in until next week....
Haven't had anymore poached eggs lately, so maybe the culprit quit. I hope so. Everytime I check the nesting box, Pepper is right there soon after I open it, but she won't let me touch her. Maybe afraid she's going to get treated for prolapse with a bath and other attention she'd rather not have.

 

[Gremchild74]

I gave up my garden to protect my babies. It's been warmer these days, so i take my morning coffee down to the enclosure, play some Liberace while i clean, water and feed them. I let them free range while doing my chores and they found all the dandelions before i had a chance to harvest them for tea and jelly. Love my stinkers!

 

[Gremchild74]

Hello, fellow Washingtonian!

Eastern Washington here!

 

[TropicalBabies]

I gave up my garden to protect my babies. It's been warmer these days, so i take my morning coffee down to the enclosure, play some Liberace while i clean, water and feed them. I let them free range while doing my chores and they found all the dandelions before i had a chance to harvest them for tea and jelly. Love my stinkers!

Sounds about right

 

[Shetland lover]

I crushed the pill up and fed it to her in scrambled eggs...I've forced half pill in. It doesn’t seem to help. Every few weeks she goes through a phase of soft shell eggs it seems.

I currently have a door that swings out...hate it cuz they charge the door every time I go down there and can easily escape if I'm not super careful. Really regret ever letting them free out in the yard for several reasons. So I'd recommend opening IN for that reason.

Lizzy must have a death wish! So the courtyard area is still not quite finished nor the side coop. So much going on constantly. But i did a "make do" kind of setup so they could atleast get out for a little bit when I'm out there.
Don't ya know there was a thin string that got loosened from the brand new shade cloth and somehow Lizzy managed to get hung in it and some stupid Bermuda grass that will be the death of me - hate that stuff!
So they were all on the porch for bedtime except Lizzy and 2 buffs but I'm used to having to literally tucked the buffs in.
Once I got over in the courtyard I saw her stretched out breathing really heavy all tied up in the string and grass and Hank (buff silkie roo) laying right beside her. I was super proud of him for staying with her!!! I got her untangled and she limped back to the run and coop.
Thankfully she isn't limping now!!!
Sure wish I could get all of that finished asap!

Poor Lizzie, she's certainly in the wars, isn't she? Fab roo you have there for staying alongside her ❤
It could well be the infection she had earlier in the year, some respiratory infections do cause soft shells for the rest of the hen's reproductive life, Infectious Bronchitis being one of the worst offenders. Unfortunately, there's nothing to be done about it -that I'm aware of. As long as she is managing to pass the egg and it's not leaving anything behind to propagate any infection in the reproductive tract, it shouldn't cause her major issues. Just watch out for prolapse. When she has a soft shell phase, I'd be inclined to still give her a calcium supplement - and an Epsom salt bath if she seems to be straining - as it will help her pass the soft-shelled egg by improving muscle function in the short term. You can stop the calcium when her eggs are back to normal.
Another possibility is that her eggs are not sitting in the shell gland long enough. It takes a hen approximately 26 hours to fully form an egg from releasing the yolk to it coming out fully shelled. It sits for periods in different parts of the reproductive tract for surrounding the yolk with albumin (the egg white), surrounding the yolk and white with membrane (what you see with a soft-shelled egg) and finally in the shell gland where the shell is deposited. Some hens just don't retain the egg in the shell gland for long enough for a shell to form. It can just be a temporary issue and resolves naturally once the hen has been laying for 6 months up to a year in heritage breeds. Unfortunately, some hens never get things in sync and will always lay soft shells. It also tends to happen more in older layers nearing the end of their egg laying career. Again, there isn't anything you can do to stop it other than preventing the hen laying with a contraceptive implant.

I hope Lizzy has recovered from her hanging ordeal. It sounds awful.