My Chickens

[canesisters]

Or, zip-ties work well. I've got 2 speckled sussex and from about 5months to a little over a year I couldn't tell who was who. I put a zip tie on one's leg - worked like a charm. Of course, now that they're all grown, their feather pattern and size has stopped changing and I could tell without the tie, but it's still on there.

 

[dewdropsinwv]

Umm, those were my chickens. Now I have to get more chickens to call my own

I did say I stole them from you Cinnamon is up-set with me because I havent been spending too much time out there with them. She usually sits on my shoulders but "avoided" me last night. Today she did sit on my foot for a few minutes. I have some apple to feed them later today. Chickie, wouldnt those leg bands hurt them??? How much longer do I have before I would need nesting boxes? Dont want to get caught off guard again like we have before.

 

[so lucky]

Most chickens will need to be at least 5 months old before they start laying. You will notice their combs getting quite red as they get ready to lay. I put my nest boxes in when their house was built, but the chickens did not pay any attention to them till they started getting ready to lay. Many people say the girls use the nest boxes to sleep in or just hang around in, and poop in them, and the advice to keep them out of the nests till they need them is good advice, in that case. But when they get ready to lay, I think you will know it. My first girl really made a spectacle of herself, and all the others were in attendance. Even the roo, who helped her make a nest and showed her how to sit in it. (cute!) But I think the biggest clue is those bright red combs.

 

[dewdropsinwv]

I have one chick that has a very bright red comb!!! She is the same age as the others but a lot bigger... her name is goldielocks MontyJ named her because she has a lot more color than the other amber links. I'll try to get a picture of her later today.

 

[so lucky]

That sounds pretty young to me, but those kind of chickens are bred to produce, so you never know!

 

[dewdropsinwv]

I'll just watch and see what happens. I told Monty she would probably be the first to lay because of her size ect.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I like to have the nests open and available before they start to lay so if they start pooping in there, sleeping in there, or scratching the bedding and fake eggs out, I can fix the problem before they start to lay, not try to fix it after. And I want them to have every opportunity to lay their first egg in a nest.

Its not all that unusual for a pullet to drop her first few eggs from the roosts or just walking around, but when they develop control they will look for a safe place to lay. They are critters of habit. Once they lay that first controlled egg, they often want to lay all their eggs there. They seem to like protected corners or dark places, but just shadows on the coop floor can make them think the place is well hidden. Its kind of surprising how many actually get it all right from the very first.

Ive had pullets start to lay at 16 weeks. Not many, but a few. With the chickens you have Id certainly be ready by then.

Put a fake egg in each nest. They like to lay where others are laying. I think it makes them think its a safe place to lay. I use a golf ball but other things work, like wooden or ceramic eggs. I even used plastic Easter eggs once, filling them with sand and gluing them shut, but they broke apart a few months later. They go through some punishment from the hens scratching to rearrange the bedding material and get the nest just right.

I dont have any choice now. I have older hens laying so I have to keep my nests open all the time. But the nests were open for my first batch when they left the brooder at 5 weeks. And when they started investigating the nests before they started to lay (18 weeks for my first one that time) I found I had a problem. They were scratching the bedding and fake eggs out so I had to raise the lip to hold that stuff in.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You do have to get the right size leg bands or zip ties on right. As long as they can easily slide up and down they are fine. It doesnt bother them at all.

Yours are still growing. I think the #10 size leg bands will stay on yours now and theyll never get tight on hens. Roosters would need a larger size. Their legs get bigger.

With the zip ties, if you put them on before they are fully grown, you do need to occasionally check them, but it sounds like you are handling your chickens enough to do that. As long as they can slide up and down it wont bother them at all. Dont use the clear ones. You cant see them at all.

 

[dewdropsinwv]

Thanks Ridgerunner! I'll have to get those nesting boxes done soon then..... with in a few weeks. ( there go the voices again ) I'll figure something out for the fake eggs too. Forgot to mention, no roos.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Forgot to mention, no roos.

You need to leave something for Monty to do!