This is our first time raising chickens...and man I feel like everything you don't want them to do they have done!
We had a batch from March, with only one female. She is 26 weeks old now and is NOT laying, or at least not in the nest box
I have 10 other pullets that were hatched in June; they are around 14 weeks old now.
I opened up the nest boxes when my March hen was 19 weeks. The younger ones started sleeping in there so a few weeks ago I started blocking them in the evening and opening them back up in the morning. I was keepin everyone in the coop until after lunch time and then I'd let them out of the coop/run to free range until dusk. When I still wasn't seeing any eggs I started keeping everyone in the coop/run 24/7. This has only been the last few days and since I started doing this my birds are staying in the coop all day??? They don't even come down to the run! They all stay up in the coop and dig through the bedding in the nest boxes and move the golf balls around like it's a game.
Is this normal that they are spending all of their time in the coop? Not even coming down into the run? It's still 90 degrees in NC so I know its toasty in there!
Also, any ideas on why my 26 week hen isn't laying? She has layer feed, water, oyster shells...my only thought is that she probably eats chick feed as well (and vice versa) so maybe she isn't getting enough protein?
Anyway, just can't figure out why they want to stay in the coop all day messing up the nesting boxes!
We had a batch from March, with only one female. She is 26 weeks old now and is NOT laying, or at least not in the nest box
I have 10 other pullets that were hatched in June; they are around 14 weeks old now.
I opened up the nest boxes when my March hen was 19 weeks. The younger ones started sleeping in there so a few weeks ago I started blocking them in the evening and opening them back up in the morning. I was keepin everyone in the coop until after lunch time and then I'd let them out of the coop/run to free range until dusk. When I still wasn't seeing any eggs I started keeping everyone in the coop/run 24/7. This has only been the last few days and since I started doing this my birds are staying in the coop all day??? They don't even come down to the run! They all stay up in the coop and dig through the bedding in the nest boxes and move the golf balls around like it's a game.
Is this normal that they are spending all of their time in the coop? Not even coming down into the run? It's still 90 degrees in NC so I know its toasty in there!
Also, any ideas on why my 26 week hen isn't laying? She has layer feed, water, oyster shells...my only thought is that she probably eats chick feed as well (and vice versa) so maybe she isn't getting enough protein?
Anyway, just can't figure out why they want to stay in the coop all day messing up the nesting boxes!