[ricardodba]

Hi,

we got our 1st egg yesterday  ...a white egg, so must have come from our white star...egg was laid in run not nest box...hope that they learn to lay in the nest box...a daily egg hunt is not what i had in mind!

We've built the new run too now so yesterday late afternoon they got to stroll around 

Cheers.

[Eve]

Congratulations 


Do you have any of those beige rubber eggs? If so (or if not, maybe buy some, they're cheap), leave some in the nest box to show the girls where to lay. When they first start laying they get caught out but soon they'll learn to 'feel it coming'   


Eggciting, isn't it? 

[ricardodba]

Congratulations 


Do you have any of those beige rubber eggs? If so (or if not, maybe buy some, they're cheap), leave some in the nest box to show the girls where to lay. When they first start laying they get caught out but soon they'll learn to 'feel it coming'   


Eggciting, isn't it? 

I have a plastic brown egg which kids use for making 'music'...bit like maracas!!...i have put this in the nest box, along with another load of straw...wait and see now.

Are there any birds of prey that will take a chicken in the UK...think we have a few kestrels, owls and harrier hawks up on the moor...im just wondering if they pose a threat?

Cheers.

[Kimbo]

well done on your egg!... or rather, well done to your hen! Its great isn't it? Collecting eggs produces a disproportionately joyful feeling!
Many more to come I hope

[kelly58]

We have birds of prey, never had any bother with them and the chucks. Enjoy your egg !
Nothing like a free range egg 

[devonlad]

  first of many. I remember our first egg and the cuckoo maran "Hen" who laid it. We took a photo, posted it on Facebook and were terribly excited. Only dampener was that I decided to poach it so as not to compromise any flavour. I dropped it in to the swirling boiling water and it disintegrated into a million pieces. Several years and several hundred eggs later my egg poaching skills have improved . many congrats

[Clansman]

Are there any birds of prey that will take a chicken in the UK...think we have a few kestrels, owls and harrier hawks up on the moor...im just wondering if they pose a threat?

Cheers.

Generally no although if they are hungry enough they'll have a go at virtually anything.

Kestrels, sparrowhawks etc won't touch chickens, Buzzards, Red Kite, etc may take younger or smaller birds but they prefer carrion.

Quite a rare thing for a bird of prey to take chickens but it happens.

I had a friend lose a lot of birds to an escaped Eagle owl a few years back, just a few feathers  left to show where it had caught them.

[Thyme]

I've just lost three ducks and a hen (full grown Marans) to a young female goshawk.  All in a covered pen now, and I'm even trying to keep the cats in for late afternoon which seems to be when it comes around.  Really hoping it moves on up into Snowdonia, surely it would prefer a more forested area!

[Clansman]

Yeah you really don't want a Goshawk around, they are pretty much the ultimate predator as far as chicken sized things are concerned!

[Thyme]

With luck it'll eat all the local crows and grey squirrels and then move on and settle far away

[darkbrowneggs]

Whoo Hoo  first egg.  Well done, Its always exciting

[Rupert the bear]

Hi,

we got our 1st egg yesterday  ...a white egg, so must have come from our white star...egg was laid in run not nest box...hope that they learn to lay in the nest box...a daily egg hunt is not what i had in mind!

We've built the new run too now so yesterday late afternoon they got to stroll around 

Cheers.

Its the one that tastes the best

[ricardodba]

Hi,

Got my 2nd egg today - another white one!...this time the egg was in the coop but not in the nest box.

The nest box is full of poop and i have noticed the hens using it to sleep in. There are 2 perches for them and i have seen them using the perch. How do i get them to stop using the nest box as a toilet/bed?

Thanks.

[Jukes Mum]

At bed time, remove them from the nest box and put them on the perches. If its dark they'll stay there. You'll need to do this for around 4 consecutive nights then they'll get it.

[ricardodba]

At bed time, remove them from the nest box and put them on the perches. If its dark they'll stay there. You'll need to do this for around 4 consecutive nights then they'll get it.

im not sure they are tame enough for this..they'll be flapping all over.

Im hoping that leaving the egg in the nest box will help them understand nest box is for laying eggs in!!