Wyoming Unite!!!!

[N F C]

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Here are my Asian Blacks. Realized I hadn't taken any pics of them since the were chicks.

They grow up fast, don't they? Thanks for sharing a picture!

 

[N F C]

Are you all getting snow this morning? It's coming down pretty good here!

 

[red horse ranch]

Thick fog here in Buffalo this morning. No snow but everything covered with heavy frost. 19 degrees so the poultry will stay confined for a while.

 

[R2elk]

Are you all getting snow this morning? It's coming down pretty good here!

No snow at this time. Overcast and calm. It rained yesterday.

 

[Blooie]

Clear, dry, and sunny here again today. 34 degrees. This is getting old! We have no snow on the ground.

 

[CuCulain42]

Been spitting snow all day. I have a dusting of accumulation right now.

 

[R2elk]

The youngsters this morning.

 

[N F C]

Nice pictures Bob!

A little snow isn't going to stop those WY kids

 

[TWINMOM9201]

I need help! I have been lurking when my schedule allows it. My girls recently started laying, I have 6 barred rocks. OK so I am not sure exactly which ones are laying. But I recently noticed that a couple of my eggs had been pecked, one of the shells was just cracked and the other actually has a little hole in it. First, what would be the best way to identify the culprit doing this? Second, how would I get her to stop?
Next, I have 1 hen especially that is stubborn about sleeping on the roost, I go in the coop everynight and take her out of the nesting box and place her on the roost, any suggestions as to how to get her to sleep on the roost? Also I have noticed that at least 1 of the other girls has decided that her nest is underneath the nesting boxes, is this normal or should I do something to change this behavior also?
I am getting more chicks this spring and don't want them to learn these bad behaviors as well.
BTW, I am in Cheyenne and decided last year to build my coop and get some chickens. I saw an ad in our Trader's for someone selling "chicks" what I found out after I got there to get them was that they were ducks. Well I fell in love with my ducks also, my 2 girls ducks are good layers already.
Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions.

 

[R2elk]

I need help! I have been lurking when my schedule allows it. My girls recently started laying, I have 6 barred rocks. OK so I am not sure exactly which ones are laying. But I recently noticed that a couple of my eggs had been pecked, one of the shells was just cracked and the other actually has a little hole in it. First, what would be the best way to identify the culprit doing this? Second, how would I get her to stop?
Next, I have 1 hen especially that is stubborn about sleeping on the roost, I go in the coop every night and take her out of the nesting box and place her on the roost, any suggestions as to how to get her to sleep on the roost? Also I have noticed that at least 1 of the other girls has decided that her nest is underneath the nesting boxes, is this normal or should I do something to change this behavior also?
I am getting more chicks this spring and don't want them to learn these bad behaviors as well.
BTW, I am in Cheyenne and decided last year to build my coop and get some chickens. I saw an ad in our Trader's for someone selling "chicks" what I found out after I got there to get them was that they were ducks. Well I fell in love with my ducks also, my 2 girls ducks are good layers already.
Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions.

Welcome to the thread.

Are you sure the eggs are pecked? Where is the "peck" located on the egg? When the chips in my nest boxes get too thin, I sometimes get eggs that look like they may have been pecked. The location of the "peck" is always on the pointy end of the egg and occurs when the egg drops and hits the floor of the nest box too hard. Putting more bedding in the nest boxes solves this problem for me.

The rare occasions when the "peck" is somewhere else on the egg happens a hen in the nest box decides she has to get out of the nest box in a hurry and ends up pushing off of the egg really hard as she tries to jump out.

If you actually have an egg eater, standing by and watching or putting up a camera to record what is going on is the only way to figure out which one it is. Leaving fake eggs such as the ceramic eggs in the nest boxes and keeping the eggs collected often can help alleviate the problem.

The way that I got my chickens to not roost in the nest boxes was to provide desirable roosts for them.

My nest boxes have two levels. The first level is at the floor level with a second level above them. Some of the hens prefer to use the ground level nests and some prefer to use the higher ones. I had to block off sills under the ceiling joists because some were accessible from the roosts and a few hens decided that is where they should lay.