The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Bert on March 06, 2012, 10:23:08 am
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Just wondering if anyone has found there hens laying in odd places? One of my black rocks came to me named Cheryl Cole because she would only ever lay her eggs in the coal shed. :chook: ;D
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Hi Bert
Most of my hens are very good and even though they free range all day they dash dutifully to their nest boxes to lay.
However........not so my Friesian Fowl!!!! They are really good layers who seem to live on fresh air but you have to search for hours to find their eggs. Their favourite place to lay is about 5ft up in the conifer hedge!!!! If you dont find their nest sites they then go broody and of cause risk being gobbled by Mr. Fox because they stay out at night. One girl hatched her eggs in the hedge last year but in the end I had to move her and the eggs down because she started to move around as they were pipping and they were in danger of rolling out of her nest.I never thought that they would hatch because we timed her and she was sometimes off the nest for a couple of hours and the eggs were stone cold before she returned and yet out they popped. Just goes to show that mother knows best!
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We found all these at the weekend. Sneaky eh? ;D
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thats a lot of sneaky eggs there womble!!!
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Do I see sun light in that photo?!!! I remember that stuff just about ;) .
Chickens are little sods but I love them :chook:
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Yup! 2 dozen in total! ;D Oh, and come on Bert, the photo was only taken on Saturday!
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I never thought that they would hatch because we timed her and she was sometimes off the nest for a couple of hours and the eggs were stone cold before she returned and yet out they popped. Just goes to show that mother knows best!
Kind of puts all the fretting we do about incubators in perspective :)
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Goblin, one of my Cornish Game hens insists on laying hers in a black plastic dustbin. How she thinks any chicks would get out I don't know ;D
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one of mine insisted on laying hers where she was born - in the eglu we still keep for broodies or poorlies. She was keen on privacy I reckon as it took her ages to lay her enormous eggs. After her first moult she went back to the nesting boxes and her eggs are smaller now ;D :chook:
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we found where "beldie" was laying hers, 3 large round bales high......on top!! only found them when husband went to move the bales and they came crashing down!
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In the hat/gloves/scarf basket if we leave the porch door open. Just found a rather old one half buried in a square wooden planter which has a rose growing in it, with bark around the base. I'm always searching for them as the Cream Legbars are definitely laying elsewhere, naughty girls. I also found some on top of a round hay bale last year.
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now that explains it - just found those in an old tapaulin in a wood pile! ::) :chook: :&>
now the family has to play guess how many ....I'll tell you - 27!