Thinking about raising a 3 some of hens

[vr1967]

If you have children, get a docile breed and handle them a good bit when young.

Raise them in their coop for a few months before letting them out. Same with when they start laying, keep them closed up and get them used to laying in the coop. I open the door in the morning, and go close it after dark, and they go lay in the coop

I’ve got a roll out box, has a sloped bottom, so when they lay and then stand up, it rolls out from under them into a tray that is outside the coop. We shut the door to the coop at dark, then flip open the lid to the laying box beside the coop door and gather eggs.

Used to have close to 100 hens, now I have 5. Couldn’t give eggs away fast enough them

 

[Bigchillin83]

Yea my kids named them all, they swing on the swing with them and they carry them around talking to them ect lol… make sure they kid friendly lol

 

[Magdump]

Egg storage? Most folks with a flock never have any problem finding someone to take eggs off their hands, but you can easily store them for a year or better with distilled water and pickling lime. Zero refrigeration. I learned how as a boy, along with a ton of other useful things from my grandparents. All home egg farmers should practice waterglassing at least once.

 

[AustinBR]

Yup store eggs are usually 2-4 months old, that’s why they peel easy boiled.. the older eggs are they form a film around the inside that makes them easy to peel after boiled… if you ever boiled eggs and you lost 1/2 the eggs trying to peel them chances are they were fresh eggs..

My wife steams fresh yard eggs and they peel great..

On counter they last 2-3 months, fridge 3-4 months… important, if you wash eggs they MUST be refrigerated.. you are washing the natural protection off them

We've had really good luck with the organic free-range eggs that you can find at the store. The only problem is that they're not cheap

 

[LaBelle]

I’ve got a roll out box, has a sloped bottom, so when they lay and then stand up, it rolls out from under them into a tray that is outside the coop. We shut the door to the coop at dark, then flip open the lid to the laying box beside the coop door and gather eggs.

Can you take some photos of your sloped set up?

 

[Bigchillin83]

I have the same thing, I built Nesting boxs and then put big metal roller painting pans in them and glued down fake grass… when they get up from the eggs they roll down to the back where I have a little door to open and grab them

 

[Magdump]

I have the same thing, I built Nesting boxs and then put big metal roller painting pans in them and glued down fake grass… when they get up from the eggs they roll down to the back where I have a little door to open and grab them

I just built a long row of boxes and hung it on a wall inside the hen house. We like to go in and tend to them because we keep brooders as well and it’s just a better deal for adding straw/nesting material.
Many of the hens will lay their eggs in the same box, lol. My kids love to come in and tell me how many eggs they found in the “hot box” today.

 

[Bigchillin83]

I’ll get pics of mine tomm, yea we got a door to go into the coop that’s like 6ftx8ft and has 6 nesting boxs… although the smart chickens only use like 3 of them and will make all kinds of racket in there waiting on there favorite occupied nesting box to come free lol.. they are crazy lol

 

[vr1967]

Can you take some photos of your sloped set up?

I’ll try to remember to get some tomorrow when I get up as I’m working nights this weekend.

 

[Gator 45/70]

Musta been something in the air yesterday.
Both my niece and also a neighbor were attacked by roosters!
I tell them Pack a broom, Whip that roosters butt with the broom!
It's all about getting the chickens attention.

 

[Bigchillin83]

One of our home school family daughter got spurred by there rooster in the back of the knee and had to go to the hospital, thought she had sepsis, she walked with a limp for a while, got infected and all the joint/tendons right there, she’s better now, they ate rooster after that.. we don’t keep no rooster, they say they good for the flock but our flock does good with out the trouble of a shack bully lol

 

[Gator 45/70]

One of our home school family daughter got spurred by there rooster in the back of the knee and had to go to the hospital, thought she had sepsis, she walked with a limp for a while, got infected and all the joint/tendons right there, she’s better now, they ate rooster after that.. we don’t keep no rooster, they say they good for the flock but our flock does good with out the trouble of a shack bully lol

Funny how that works.
Little gal down the street prefers chicken eggs that have been fertilized vs unfertilized eggs.
Likes the taste?

 

[Bigchillin83]

Not really a good pic but you get the idea

I keep cedar chips in the coop, they cut down on the mosquitoes, had bad experience with straw and hay, got caught in a few hens crops… most of the hens have went up for the night so that’s about 1/2 my flock, prob need to freshen up the nesting fake grass lol

 

[Bigchillin83]

Like said above.. my prime for laying is 1-3 years old.. after that they slack off big time, we usually try to get a doz or so every other year to keep them going.. we have a few that are 7-8 years old.. I don’t think they laying but they living a good life lol… we getting about 16 eggs a day our or 27 hens.. but a few just got done molting also.. should pick up soon

 

[Magdump]

One of our home school family daughter got spurred by there rooster in the back of the knee and had to go to the hospital, thought she had sepsis, she walked with a limp for a while, got infected and all the joint/tendons right there, she’s better now, they ate rooster after that.. we don’t keep no rooster, they say they good for the flock but our flock does good with out the trouble of a shack bully lol

I like Ruby’s take on a floggin’ rooster…

 

[Magdump]

Like said above.. my prime for laying is 1-3 years old.. after that they slack off big time, we usually try to get a doz or so every other year to keep them going.. we have a few that are 7-8 years old.. I don’t think they laying but they living a good life lol… we getting about 16 eggs a day our or 27 hens.. but a few just got done molting also.. should pick up soon

I see Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Buff Brahma, maybe Sex link? If you throw a R I Red rooster in with your Barred Rock hens, you’ll get the world record layers on the hatch.

 

[vr1967]

I apologize for the late reply, FIL had surgery yesterday and is in ICU

It’s been in the barn for 4-5 years now, as I had one built 4 feet long to replace this on (2 feet long)

It is built so the bottom can be unbolted and turned around so the eggs roll to the front instead of the rear (like it is set up now) and can be hung on a wall.

Also, I haven’t had a rooster in about 5 years, as I got tired of the crowing, and him harassing the hens. The hen at the top of the pecking order will guard the rest if you let them free range.

 

[gwpercle]

And when they get older and stop / slow down egg production ... Chicken and Dumplings ,
Chicken Gumbo , Chicken Stew ...
the possibilities are endless !!!
Gary

 

[shrxfn]

I have had a flock since Covid started. We had the first batch for 2.5 years then had a mink get in the coop and kill them all. Just started a new flock this year and got smarter and bought a light activated roll up door for the coop so it opens at dawn and goes down at dusk to keep them in and predators out. I think we have about 14 hens now and are down to one rooster for all of them. If I get low on chickens as we did once when my neighbors dog kept getting in my pen I let the chickens sit on the eggs and we get some chicks for free and have some very interesting crossbreeds. I give a ton of eggs away and one gentlemen will bring me a sack of scratch every few weeks as a thank you.

 

[Scrape]

I built a tractor coop for 4 white leghorn hens. They’ll lay an egg a day each, pretty prolific layers. Leghorns are pretty spooky and ain’t much to eat when they quit laying. The roll around coop comes in handy for mobile type housing. Down to 2 hens now. Need to get a few more poults soon.