The New Hampshire Ladies are laying! We are so excited!
This is the most beautiful dozen eggs I have ever seen!!!
We finally get to start using all the egg cartons we've been saving since June!
Technically, they should have started the end of October, but there was a slight problem with lighting that wasn't figured out until late October (Thanks for the guidance, Country Sister-In-Law's husband). It was slow going at first, but we are up to 6-7 per day. For 8 hens, that's not too bad, right? Plus, our Aruca hens laid those beautiful pastel green eggs, so our dozens will be extra pretty!
We go out to check the coop a few times per day and have been finding that they are laying outside the roosting bins quite a bit. The Arucas especially. They will probably find their way into the bins at some point (hopefully). Maybe if we stick more hay in there to make it more comfortable?!?!
Although we have really been enjoying fresh eggs, we have run into a problem that we are trying to figure out. They are squishing and eating the eggs. Only two or three of them that I know of, but it's still a problem. A problem that is most likely accidental, but needs fixing before it becomes intentional. The other day, I went out and saw a piece of broken egg shell in the run. My initial thought was "man... I need to remind J not to put egg shells in the chicken scrap bin." When I went out the next day, I saw a similar shell inside the roosting bin, and another egg that had been cracked and most likely on its way to being eaten. I removed all evidence and quickly ran inside to research. We picked a solution that uses something we had on hand. Lady Fairway golf balls (Country and City Sister-In-Law, we must remember to replenish before July's LCP Open)! The point is to trick them into thinking the golf balls are eggs, and when they don't get anything out of them, they will give up and won't continue. We only had enough to stick one in each roosting bin, but it should still work nonetheless.
Stay tuned to see if that works out!
The golf balls in the laying boxes will also help them realize that they are supposed to be laying there- so it's a win-win!
ReplyDeleteReally? That is great news! I went in this morning and two of the four golf balls were out of the bins and in the house. Silly ladies! BUT, no eggs have been cracked, thank goodness!
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