Sunday, September 1, 2013

Chicken Coop Surprise

 When I went to feed the chickens today, I had a fun surprise:  Our first eggs!

 They are pretty small, but we are sure excited.

 I had read somewhere that chicks will start laying eggs anywhere from 16-20 weeks old.  Ours happen to be 20 1/2 weeks!  I am happy that they will be able to produce eggs for a while this fall before the numbers fall during the cold winter.

I found our first 2 eggs just laying on the ground, and we knew that wouldn't do.  So Lige set to work on a nesting box.  I love that he is so handy.  Using leftovers from other projects and a simple (and free) plan he found online, he was able to construct this 3-stall nesting box:

Three nesting boxes should be able to accommodate up to 12 chicken, so our brood of 8 is all set!  I have no idea how they will learn that this is where they should lay their eggs.  Some God-given instinct?  We lined each space with hay to make them more appealing, ha!


Our 8 lovely ladies enjoying the watering hole.  One adventurous brown leghorn has enjoyed some outdoor scampering.  It's gotten out several times now.  Yesterday it was missing when I fed the others.  I didn't find it after a quick search in the trees.  Today it was back in the coop, like no big deal.  Silly chicken.  It's all fun and games until somebody gets eaten. ;)


Isaac is a real workin' man.  He is ALWAYS out with dad if dad is working on a project.  The coop got cleaned out today, and Isaac was right there spreading wood shavings.  I love this about him.


Hope you've enjoyed our latest chicken update!

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