Chicken Update
Chicken Update. Our First Eggs. Out chickens are finally laying eggs. They were a bit behind the anticipated schedule. We think that was do to the cold weather.
Peggy
12/19/2023
Our Chickens' First Eggs
We found our first chicken egg in the dust bath on Saturday December 16th, when our chickens were 24 weeks old. We figure that they were on the slow side to produce because it is winter.
When we went out to install our nest box in the coop, we found a second egg on the ground inside the coop. We installed our nest box and put an egg in each side. We are total newbies with this, so we are doing our best to decipher what the best approach is with chickens by reading up on what others have done and suggested. We waited to put in the nest box because we didn't want the chickens to think it was their place to perch and sleep. We put the eggs in the nest because we had read this would encourage them to know where to lay their eggs. Unfortunately, one of the chickens decided to clean house and broke one of the eggs. So, we decided to use plastic Easter Eggs instead as that is another idea we had read.
Our third egg was found in the nest box, filling us with hope our chickens would do "the right thing." Our fourth egg was found on the ground in the coop, filling us with uncertainty. We have had four more eggs since then, and I believe 3 or the 4 were in the nest box. Time will tell if they all learn to use the nest box appropriately and consistently.
Eggs
Nest Box
We decided to purchase some mats for our nest box because of the one chicken cleaning house and removing a lot of the shavings. I am not sure if it was the same chicken or not, but when we were outside working on the rabbit tractor, a chicken knocked a plastic egg and a mat onto the ground. When we went to replace them, we found our 8th egg. It was kind of fun to hold a freshly laid egg that was still warm.
On a side note, Martin was able to shoot a few more rats, so for now, we are not having rat problems. However lots of other wildlife enjoy visiting our backyard, unfortunately. Thankfully so far our animals have been safe even on the occasion that they escape. Hopefully it will stay that way!
Rabbits
Fox
Raccoon
