Ms Jay--

If you just have two hens, I would think they could share the box. You might see them both crammed in there at the same time, but in my opinion it's fine. If you added a second box, you'd probably discover they were both using the same one anyway.

Roosters don't really impact when the hens lay. All they do is fertilize the eggs if you want the possibility of chicks. Six months is just about predictible for starting to lay, so your girls are right on time!

They don't need a light, but if you chose to add one you could maybe keep them laying more steadily through the winter months. 14 hours a day makes a difference. It would only need to be a low wattage bulb -- maybe 40 watts?

Enjoy the eggs!

--Johanna

Here is a link that might be useful: My place: Busy Solitude Farm

Thanks Johanna,
After I read all the postings about cleaning the eggs I am kind of scared to eat them. LOL. I have chicken scratch for their food. I have about a weeks worth left. should I go ahead and switch to laying feed or is it okay to let them finish up what they have?

Hi, this is my first year with my chickens as well but I've done a lot of reading and research. First, if it were me, I wouldn't bother making another box for just 2 hens. I have 10 nesting boxes and many times I will find 4-6 eggs in a favorite box. They may end up using the same one anyway. Second, I don't believe you will find a quiet rooster. Having one should not impact the production level of your hens and would only matter if you want chicks.
I would guess the girl laying the egg is the Wyandotte but wouldn't swear to it. The Cochin isn't known for high productivity but you never know.
I keep a red heat lamp in the coop right now because we've had some pretty severely cold weather. I had made the decision not to supplement for the sake of light and production but I know other people do. If you had a lot of hens and relied on the eggs to sell I would say go for it but since you have 2, I'm not sure I would mess with it. Keep in mind that while the Wyandotte is considered fairly productive, you will probably not get an egg from her every single day even with supplemental light. From what I've read the Cochin (while sweet and beautiful) is a relatively poor producer so you may not get but an egg or two a week from her, if that. Again, I say this from reading up on it and not from experience so others may have first-hand experience that contradicts that.
I would finish up the scratch you have or go ahead and buy the layer feed and mix it up until it's gone. I give both to my hens, layer feed in the bowls and scratch for them to, well, scratch ;) I wouldn't worry over-much about being scared to eat your eggs. It took me a little while to get used to dealing with fresh eggs but of course now I absolutely prefer them to anything I could buy. I don't even wash my eggs, truth be known. I of course don't put obviously soiled eggs in the fridge but most times the eggs look fairly clean. It is my understanding that washing them takes off the "bloom," which helps to keep them fresh. It can also introduce the bacteria into the egg. I would stress that you should decide your own practice and what you feel comfortable doing. It's just smart to wash your hands after handling the eggs or chickens. You obviously know that eggs and chickens can carry some nasty bugs and problems. I'm happy for you that you got your first egg, it was very exciting for me too!! Lori

I was just worried that maybe I should make a nesting box away from where they sleep. but okay I will take the advise and leave well enough alone.

I went outside later on in the day and found another egg. I heard her squawking about 2:30PM and I figured she was getting ready to lay another egg since I never heard her make that much noise before. Sure enough I went out there and in the box was another egg! I thought they always laid in the mornings. guess not.

I am going to bake a christmas cake and include the eggs from the hens. Hopefully the first 2 eggs are okay to eat. I got the second egg out not long after she laid it so it did not get a chance to get messy. I put it in the fridge immediately. For some reason they do not feel as fragile as store eggs. Are the shells harder?

I was real excited though. My girl gave me a christmas present!!
Thanks for your advice.

Congratulations! It's so exciting to get your first eggs! I find the shells a lot thicker and harder than store bought eggs and the first eggs are very small compared to what they will be after about a month of laying. I guess it takes some practice? Sometimes, at first, they lay odd eggs too, i.e. pale shells, bumpy and misshapen eggs. I would keep the nesting box cleaned out to help keep the eggs clean, so you don't have to wash them. I have six nesting boxes for 20 hens, but two of the boxes are rarely used. I am getting about 17-19 eggs/day without supplemental lighting but I am in there early in the morning and turn the light one, so that may be keeping them laying. I can find 8 eggs in one box, whichever box they deem the favourite one for that day :-)

I am new here.
When I had laying hens I just made sure to keep clean wood chips in the nest boxes and we hardly ever had any messy eggs.

Also, we had five nest boxes for 30 hens and all eggs were found in the nest boxes. YES, They will share nesting boxes.
30 Hubbard Isa Browns gave me 30 huge brown eggs per day year around. Because we treated them well we could walk into their pen any time and they would walk right to us to be picked up.

I went out there yesterday and no eggs. Then today no eggs. I was standing on my deck talking when I hear the chicken squawking and when I went out there she had laid an egg. Isn't it unusual for her to be laying at 2 in the afternoon? Anyway only the first egg was messy. I went out there today and changed the bedding. I have been using wheat straw in because the guy in the feed store said straw was better because they are birds and their instinct is to build a nest.

So far no weird looking eggs. I was expecting to see weird looking ones but they come out just perfect although they are pretty small. Like small size eggs in the store. And no mess. Maybe the first egg was a day old and I missed it and that is why it was messy.

My hens really do not want me touching them although they are very curious when I am around and come pretty close. I reached out for one and she ran so I just go out there, feed them, and talk to them. They squawk like crazy when they see me coming especially if I have something in my hand. They love treats. I have to divide the table scraps up between them and the goats.

When I walk out the door now the chickens start screaming and the goats screaming too until they all get attention from me then they quiet down. LOL gotta love it!!

I have girls who are "morning" girls then some who prefer to lay in the afternoon. I guess they are like people in that aspect. My chickens don't come up to be picked up either. They come running when I am out because they always assume I'm there to bring them treats. While they don't seem petrified of me (as the ducks are), they don't want petted and picked up, either. Lori

Thanks, I am glad it is not just me. They seem to want to get out of the coop now and I am wondering if I put a fence around the outside of the coop how high does it need to be for them not to escape. They are pretty big but their roost is about 3' high and they fly up to it with no problem. If they have been in the coop all this time it must be okay to let them out and they will find their way back to the coop at night right? They are large enough that I THINK they will be safe from other birds and so far I have not seen any foxes around. Something has been digging in the cage at night though. I filled the hole and it dug back in there the next night. I am thinking it is a mouse because the hole was pretty small. I will be fixing that with the net dug into the ground pretty soon. For the mean time I did sprinkle cayenne pepper around the perimeter of the outside cage.

I just added a post with pictures about my chickens, their eggs and treats on my farm blog. They are so spoiled!

Here is a link that might be useful: Providence Acres Farm

There are several ways to make a pen and you have to decide what level of security you want. To be as safe as possible, you must have a fully enclosed pen, sides and top. Critters can dig under the fence so you would need to bury some fencing below the ground. The holes of the fence cannot be big enough to allow weasels and other small predators to slip through. That being said, I don't have any of that. We were lucky in the fact that the people who used to own this property raised Emus at some point so we have a lovely 7' fence. I used this for several sides of the pen but used 4' fencing for the other sides. I understand that I could have losses because hawks can come from above and really, most any other determined predator could come from the sides. I hope to remedy this before tragedy strikes but so far so good, knock on wood. My coop is much better fortified so I feel fairly confident that at least they are safe when they go in. Once in a while one of the chickens will fly over the 4' fence, usually when the rooster is at them or they are in a tizzy over something. They can fly quite well for very short distances so you will want to clip one side of their wing feathers for that reason. You just have to decide what you want in the line of security. Yes, they should come back to the coop at night with no problem. Mine are like little zombies or something when dusk hits. They line up on their roosts in the coop without any effort from me. You just have to make sure to lock them up each night. Lori

My chicken pen is 7' high on all sides with heavy wire I can barely get my small hand through, but has no top now. It did have snowfencing completely covering the top but it collasped with the first heavy snowfall we had. I have now removed it all.

We had tunnels dug under the chicken house, storage sheds, front porch and shop/garage when we moved in last year, but have since found that it is a family of groundhogs. They are back and forth between buildings all the time and quite brazen about it. He comes out and chatters at me when I am in his way and they like to sun themselves on the wood pile in the summer. We have filled in the holes into the chicken pen and under their house with rocks but have left the rest. Groundhogs are 100% vegetarian and quite large. We are hoping they will discourage any other tunnellers (who do eat chickens) from their territory and so have left them alone. They have not bothered the vegetable garden this year, although they did eat the nikkies and four o'clocks in the flowerbed.

We do have hawks but, so far, we have had no trouble from them. I have roosts down the center of the pen now and will cover them with a tarp set up like a small tent in the summer to provide shade. Hopefully this will help prevent hawk attacks too. Right now the chickens are let out to free range on nice days, but don't stray far from their house. They don't actually come out at all unless there is bare ground showing when the snow melts a little. They just sit inside the door looking out.

I have read that fencing laid flat on the ground outside the pen will prevent digging under. It needs to be about 3' wide and connected along the way to the pen fence. I have considered doing this all the way around the pen but have not yet. Our hen house is secure at night.

it has been a while since I been on here. Congrads on getting your site up runningtrails!! It looks good.

okay I got some tips from my boss today. I was not sure which chicken was laying the eggs. He said for sure it is the one with the comb. According to him chickens who do not develop their comb do not lay eggs. I think he called it a culled chicken. So looking at the photo the Cochin has the comb so maybe she is the layer?

{{gwi:49218}}

I am going to put just a 3' fence around the coop to see how they do with that. I will only allow them out in the day time when I am home. Otherwise they will have to stay inside. Something has tunneled into the cage and I filled the hole up with rocks. the next day it was there again but much smaller. I noticed the chickens put a huge pile of straw over the hole on the inside of the cage. LOL.

I am going to fill it with cement this weekend.

I doubt that is true. Chickens with out combs or with tiny combs tend to be younger, and will not lay as soon; I would even buy that there are a few genetic conditions that cause lack of a comb and lack of eggs, but I think there are more reliable ways to figure out if a chicken is laying, like isolation.

Thank you misjay2u! Some chickens just take longer to start laying and developing. I bought 8 ready to lay hens, supposedly all the same age, in Sept but some took until Nov or even early Dec to start laying eggs. Except for one chicken, their comb developed equally the same but they're all the same breed. If you have two different breeds, their comb and wattles might be completely different as adults anyway.

I use shredded paper in my nesting boxes and they seem to like it. They all lay in the same four boxes. Twenty hens in four boxes. They have six but two are rarely used. Sometimes there are two hens in a box at the same time. I can pick up 6-7 eggs in one box. They are usually finished laying by about 11 am, but hens who are just starting to lay were leaving their eggs in the afternoon too and all over the place. I guess it takes awhile for them to control it enough to deposit it in the nest every day? I'm still getting the odd new egg on the floor about once a week. I think one of the hens I bought in Sept just starting laying a couple of weeks ago. I use shredded paper because it is free and I have an unlimited supply of it.

how long can an egg stay outside? I am asking because if I read correctly when you let them free range they might start laying other places besides their nest box. Mines are in the coop and will be for 9 months total before I start letting them out. So they will be good and used to laying in their nest boxes. But there is the possibility when they get out they start laying all over the place. So should I go on a hunt every single day or what?

Also I been using straw in my nest box because the guy in the feed store made it sound rediculous that I would consider anything but straw because he said they are birds and build nests with straw. I read an article today that said to use pine chips to keep the smell down, which I have not experienced yet. What are your opinions on this?

Runningtrails isn't newspaper kind of messy to clean up?

How long an egg can survive outside depends on weather and on temperature. If it's below freezing they can't make it long at all, if its really hot and humid two weeks is probably the most you can trust. The best bet is to use safe cracking methods, get your self a few small (4-8oz) custard cups and when ever you use eggs crack them one at a time into the cup, then if they are good move them from the cup to where ever you need them before cracking the next egg. You should hunt every few days at the most, if you have eggs laying around it might attract the attention of ovapredators (other egg hunters) which could turn into a problem for you.

Birds build nests out of everything from straw to twigs to spider webs to lichen to rocks to compost. Use something soft and nest like, and they will do fine, they are very adaptable animals.

A simple solution is not to let them out to range before 11am. Most lay their eggs before that time, but there will be times when they will go broody and might try to find a good hiding place to lay and sit. Keep track of how many eggs your get a day and when you start getting fewer that will be a good indicator that someone playing hide and seek with you.

I have 2 hens setting on eggs, one in a 19" plastic pot that is 1/2 full of peat moss, the other is setting in a 2 gallon black plastic pot liner setting on it's side with nothing in it.

They like most anything you want to use--shredded paper--saw dust--peat moss--this list can get very long...

Mines lay at 2:30 in the afternoon like clockwork. I do not plan to let them out till I come home from work anyway. I have to keep my eyes on my babies!

If I let my chickens out to free range, it's not until after work, usually, which gives them a couple of hours before they all go home to roost for the night. If I am home, I have been letting them out in the afternoon. I was letting them out in the snow for awhile, when it was a bit warmer, but its too cold now. If someone laid an egg under the deck while they were out, I'm not going to worry about it. I have enough wildlife around here to take care of any stray eggs. I toss the frozen and cracked ones into the wild field to feed the wildlife.

I collect the eggs every day, some not until after work, and they are fine then. All in the nesting boxes now, usually, but that's fairly new. I did still had one or two on the floor until a couple of weeks ago from the new "ready-to-lay" hens I bought in Sept. If I leave the eggs overnight, they are frozen solid the next morning and cracked.

I use shredded computer paper. It's all finely shredded and works just like the wood shavings I had been using (but ran out of). It all works about the same, I think. I have also used old hay. I like the shredded computer paper. It's very absorbant. I keep their litter from 4-6" deep most of the time. I continually add more on top almost daily and fork it all over about once a week. I clean it all out down to the wood floor about once every 6 weeks and start over. It doesn't take long to get deep again.

I do find the floor litter wetter this winter than it was in the summer. I think that's the snow from my boots and their feet. It slightly clumpy at the doorway area but totally dry at the back. I try to keep it mixed up but sometimes the damp stuff is frozen hard. I turned it all over yesterday as we had a mild enough day to thaw it out some. I also think the waterer at the front might leak a bit when its refilling the tray. I'll have to fix that.

I use the shredded computer paper in the nests too. The chickens seem to like it and it's soft.

The only drawback to shredded computer paper is that it's white and looks funny as mulch on the garden when it's new. After I take it out of the chicken house, it's brown, of course, and fine, but I am always looking for sources of good garden mulch and it's just too white to look good when it's new, although I might do it anyway when my old hay and bags of leaves are gone. This reminds me, I'm getting low on shredded paper. I'll have to make another drive through the office area on recycle collection day. ;-)

I have been burning the straw when I clean the coop. I thought the hay might introduce weeds in my gardens and I am constantly fighting weeds. They are like the devil, hiding in spaces realy slickly, not visible until it is too late. but anyway... I am going to try to add some pine to the cage the next time. I had brought some cedar but I found out that is not good for them so it is waiting for me to use it in the spring in my garden. I also have found that the chickens eat the straw just like the goats do. I put it in the cage and slowly but surely it starts disappearing. LOL

google 'how to make mulch' the heat generated by mulching kills most seeds, and as you know mulch is great for the garden no matter how thick you put it on (won't burn like fresh chicken droppings).

Here is a link that might be useful: How to make mulch

If the mulch is thick enough on the garden or you have some kind of barrier under it like newspaper layers or cardboard, it will keep the weeds from coming up. I am slowly trying to cover most of my open garden space with cardboard, especially where I am going to grow the vines like squash, etc and can't till between rows.

That's a beautiful golden Wyandotte you have there. :) As for combs, since you have two different breeds with different combs--one standard, the other a pea comb shape--you aren't going to be able to tell who is laying without spying on them. Both of the girls look old enough and capable, and if one isn't laying yet she will soon, anyway. :)

And my weirdo hens like to lay at all different times of the day, sometimes just before dark. They change at will and I've given up trying to second guess them. :) But most of my girls lay between 10AM to 2PM.

Velvet ~:>

thank you. Both girls are laying now. I went in the fridge the other day and wow I had a whole dozen eggs from my coop!! Now thats what I am talking about. That was such a good feeling. And yes I have been eating the eggs so I was suprised they are still piling up. I think the weyondette was the one laying because I noticed that the Cochin's comb is now a bright red as well. One is laying large brown eggs the other is laying medium brown eggs. One of the eggs (I forgot which) is always speckled with white spots.

I switched from straw to pine bedding in the pen and it is so much easier to clean than the straw. the straw is bulky and the bedding is so much easier to scoop up with the dust pan I use to clean their pen. LOL yes a dustpan. When this pine bedding runs out I am going to try the shredded paper. we have the shredder that minces the paper up vs strip shredder so it might work and hey free always works for me. My manager always complains about the hassle of recycling the shredded paper so he said I can have all I can bear to take with me.

seramas my composting project failed terribly. It has been almost a year now and the freaking thing is just as I left it. I might try it again, when it warms up some. The poop is piling up though. I been putting it at the base of the tress. you think that is going to kill the trees?

Are you layering your pile, a layer of chicken poo some greens, saw dust, shredded paper. then start again. It is referred to as a layer of green and a layer of brown-keeping it slightly moist and turning it weekly. It is important to turn it over once a week or so. The big thing is greens (live clipping or trimmings from live plants). They help speed the process. I have tumblers (10 bushel size) they are so easy to use. I think they were made by Mantis, if you get one be sure to buy the optional screen so you can continuously sift out the finished compost. Going to get more of them in the spring to keep up with the chickens.

Fresh poo if not thickly use is good for lawns and flower gardens. Use caution when using fresh on vegie gardens due to the possibility of consuming Escherichia coli that exists in fresh poo and getting sick.

Try building a worm pit and adding some Red Worms (some times called Manure Worms) they will turn your chicken poo into what is called worm castings. It is the best organic compost to use on all gardens and lawns, it is great to replace some of potted plants soil with-so full of all those 'little goodies' (without the smell) that plants need.

well actually I started my composting before I even had chickens. I got a rubbermaid bucket put in a seperate bucket inside it that was full of holes (I believe a dish drain pan), put in fruit peels, dirt from outside, worms, grass, leaves and water. Over a weeks time also added other food (rice, and such but no meat). First off all the worms got out the air holes, and secondly nothing happened. I later added corn cob shuckings and chicken poo still nothing. I finally gave up! it is still sitting out there and no sign of progress.

I checked out the link you sent and it reminded me of my bags of leaves and such I started. It has been sitting outside for over a year. I guess this spring I will open it up and see if anything happened in there. I read in an article to take all your raked leaves plus a scoopful of dirt, put in a black plastic bag and leave it out for a year and the next year you will have compost. the bags are considerably smaller. I had 3 trash bags full.

If the leaves are dry you can run them over with the lawnmower and use as chicken litter, but if you have all the shredded computer paper you want and it's free, that's all you'll ever need. I love it! I use the double shredded stuff too, although I have used the single shred paper and it works ok too. Lots of uses for the leaves elsewhere. I, too, have bags of fall leaves saved to mulch the garden to keep the weeds down.

As far as nesting boxes go, I have 6 good nesting boxes just the right size for a hen, or two close together. I keep them clean and dry and they are dark and secluded. They have been used very well by the hens. Yesterday, I found six eggs in the bag of extra shredded computer paper I had stored in the hen house. I was sitting open with a little left in it, out in the open. I dunno, I guess they were bored with the usual nests? lol! I have noticed that they all seem to copy one another. If one does it they all have to give it a try. Silly girls! They're so intertaining! So, I wouldn't worry too much about nesting boxes, they seem to pick their own place to lay eggs. This is ok with me, as long as its clean and I know the eggs are there. These were just laid yesterday as I use the paper out of the bag daily. You may be able to just put a pile of shredded paper in the corner and they might use it as a nest.

I moved the bad so they couldn't use it again. One hen tried and was quite put out that it was no longer available.