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10:37 pm
February 10, 2009
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either block the underneath off at least temporarily, except they'll probably just find another outdoorsy place to lay, so my best advice is to keep em in lockdown for several days. Yeah, not fun, but that's the best I can suggest.
Do you have golf balls in the nest where you want them to lay? Golf balls, the heavy real kind, or wooden eggs from a craft store or someplace… sometimes feed stores have fake eggs but they're usually overpriced. If you use plastic easter eggs, put something in them to weigh them down so they're heavy.
That's all I've got! 
6:56 pm
March 26, 2010
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Does anyone know if it's possible for a hen to NOT lay eggs? The reason I ask is because I'm still getting only one egg a day from one hen.
The other two make all kinds of noise but no egg. One of them, my easter-egger has me baffled with a strange thing she does – she will come over to me and bow down in front of me. I have no idea of what she is trying to tell me! 
I rub her back when she does it and have felt all over her for any problems. She seems fine but her and my New Hampshire Red are refusing to give up the eggs.
JoJo
7:10 pm
February 10, 2009
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the hen that is squatting in front of you is doing that because you are the closest thing they have to a rooster. That is how hens behave to a rooster.
EEs take longer to lay than other breeds in my experience, no idea why. How old are they all? Usually once they start doing the 'squat' thing eggs are sure to follow pretty soon… probably in a week or three. No, I can't be more exact than that, sorry!
Their combs redden up, (hormones) and they squat, and they get all nervy and act like they are interested in the nest boxes… though they don't always use them for the first eggs. The noisiness is a good sign too. It sounds like they're about ready to start as well.
If your one hen is laying inside the nest box, the others will probably follow suit. They tend to all use the same box.
Wish I could be more exact, but chickens just aren't very consistant!
7:18 pm
March 26, 2010
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Thank you! You sure are a wealth of information and I'm glad you don't mind explaining to such a newbie. I'm so glad nothing is wrong with Chloe. That bowing thing had me baffled. LOL
8:27 pm
December 28, 2008
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Well, well, well!! Caught one of my girls squatting for the rooster today! So, we are on the right track. Yippee!! Not to say that someone else hasn't also, but perhaps been a little too bashful to do so publicly, but HURRAY!!
8:56 pm
February 22, 2010
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BuckeyeGirl said:
the hen that is squatting in front of you is doing that because you are the closest thing they have to a rooster. That is how hens behave to a rooster.
EEs take longer to lay than other breeds in my experience, no idea why. How old are they all? Usually once they start doing the 'squat' thing eggs are sure to follow pretty soon… probably in a week or three. No, I can't be more exact than that, sorry!
Their combs redden up, (hormones) and they squat, and they get all nervy and act like they are interested in the nest boxes… though they don't always use them for the first eggs. The noisiness is a good sign too. It sounds like they're about ready to start as well.
If your one hen is laying inside the nest box, the others will probably follow suit. They tend to all use the same box.
Wish I could be more exact, but chickens just aren't very consistant!
Well! I learn something new everyday. By the time I get my chickens i will know all there is to know about chickens!
9:47 pm
January 14, 2010
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I'm now getting eggs from all the hens except my 2 Americaunas. The oldest one has only laid one egg since I've had her. I think her egg laying days are behind her. And the youngest is still a little too young, I think. Every slap one of those Black Copper Marans I hatched turned out to be little roosters. I got one Cuckoo Maran hen & one roo too. So now I've got a one to one ratio going on. Curtis wants to eat the little roos. There are 4 in the new pen. I want to keep one, but the rest have got to go. So I guess it's crock pot time for them. They are about 4 months old now. At least i think they are. One day has just seemed to run right into another this summer. It just flew by.
11:32 am
December 28, 2008
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We have eggs!!! Was coming in here to tell everyone that we had TWO eggs, but before I could get that typed, there was another one!!!!
THREE fully formed, perfect little brown eggs. The first two were somehow layed by stealth, but this last one had a wonderful chorus of ALL the girls, begun by the one who layed it! What a beautiful sound!!
So, we only know for sure who is responsible for the last one, but I have suspicions about who gave us the first two.
HURRAY!!!! 
11:56 am
February 10, 2009
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Hooray! Hooray!! Hooray!!!
12:17 pm
December 28, 2008
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Yeah, I'm out there cooing at the girls, and otherwise acting REALLY stupid with them! Had gotten really excited every time one of the other first timers got their first eggs, and thought that was so wonderful. But this is even better!
WE HAVE EGGS!!! (OK, sorry about yelling, but that's what's happening around here!)
11:58 pm
March 22, 2010
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Congratulations! I'm jealous. I can't keep chickens where I live, but I have "grand-chickens," and they are just starting to lay. I enjoy them vicariously. So I appreciate y'all sharing your excitement. I just wish I could enjoy those fresh eggs, too.
11:59 am
February 10, 2009
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Hey Whaledancer, are you POSITIVE you can't have chickens? A lot of places are changing their laws so people can have at least a few hens. Some places are very strict, but others have opened things up quite a bit and others just never said one way or another and it's wide open.
I have a bookmark for a couple sites that shows codes and regulations for many many cities. It's a bit confusing, because you have to track in several places within a city's codes and statutes etc. Animals, Livestock, health regulations, zoning, etc etc. There are some places that make you think it's legal to have chickens, it's just illegal to build a coop! crazy crazy!!
I'll post the link for people to look up, and I can help sometimes because I was doing some research for another site, but anything we find on that site of course needs to be confirmed in case there have been changes or something gets missed. (I am NOT a lawyer and don't pretend to be an expert on law at all!!!! I'm a computer geek who likes to do research!!!)
I'll post them in the 'links' section.
6:38 pm
When I go out to the chicken house early in the morning, I hear the hen's chattering to one another, they are not laying, just chattering, then when I let them out they get their treats and that is when the laying begins, they are loud and they all do sing with they lay. I love it!!! It is music to my ear's, we have had chickens for a year now, I will never get tired of hearing their music. I love them soooooooo
7:47 pm
October 17, 2008
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This morning, my lab (Sadie) was outside and was doing a type of bark/whine that means she wants something. She was by the chicken house. All sorts of noise going on in there…..the egg had been laid in the chicken house in the nesting box!! Must be Sadie just wanted me to get out there to see it right away!
10:57 am
March 30, 2009
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Yay for eggs being layed in the nest box. Good Sadie, for knowing what's going on.
Our eggs are finally starting to increase in number. The last week or two we could only find two a day. The chickens had decided they no longer liked laying in the nest boxes and started to follow the whiteys to their hidden nests. So, this past weekend I finally got around to clearing out underneath half of the porch. We put a animal carrier underneath with some straw. Guess where we got four eggs yesterday? One chicken still comes up on the porch and lays in the cat cube bed.
Love our chickens (and their eggs)
11:27 am
October 17, 2008
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Nice to see you, SarahGrace!!
I'M GETTING 3 EGGS A DAY NOW!! (for 2 days now) WooHoo! The last 2 girls are catching up! I'm still only getting 1 large egg a day, but they're different every other day. So my guess is I have 2 that lay every other day and 2 that are laying every day (new ones).
1:51 pm
March 30, 2009
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Thanks, CindyP. It's nice to be back. Forgive me if you have already posted it as that I have not caught completely up on reading in the forum yet. How many chickens do you have?
We have nine that could be laying right now. Some are molting. It's funny to see them losing their feathers. The two whiteys keep laying up in the bushes so it's rare if we get one of their eggs. We have twelve birds that should start laying within the next couple of months. I'm already dreaming of what chicks I'm going to order next spring. Oh, and we have a rooster now. Mattie Rose came in one day excited that we may chick eggs soon because the rooster was "kissing" a chicken. You should of heard her explanation of the "kissing". hehehehe
1:55 pm
October 17, 2008
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I started out with 6 chicks, but the barred rocks ended up being roosters…so they went home with my grandson to begin his flock! So I'm left with 4 hens, which is just wonderful for here in town!
2:38 pm
March 30, 2009
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I just saw a barred rock rooster at a neighbors the other day. He was a young'un, but he was gorgeous.
Four is a good amount for town. Still gives you a bit more room to add a couple/few next year in order to keep rotation a coming.
Aren't they fun? I love hearing them cluck and love to see them come running when I have treats for them. We are up to three eggs thus far today. Hopeully we'll have a ocuple more. We have a couple who like to lay late in the day.
9:00 pm
I started out with 10 hens: a Buff Orpington, RIR, 2 Australorps, 2 Jersey Giants (I think), a light Brahma, a white Cornish, a black Star (I think that's what its called) and a beautiful, gabby brown hen that I don't know what it is.
My one Giant hatched six chicks this spring: 4 barred rocks, and 2 ameracanas. Now I have an Australorp hatching out 12 eggs.
All in all, I have 10 girls who are producing egga at the moment. Some days I get as many as 8 and the next day maybe only 3. It's feast one day; famine the next. I noticed it's been that way since they started laying. I don't think I've ever had a day (maybe once???) that they all layed. I think they draw straw to see who lays for the day!
Lately, since the extreme heat of summer came, they have really backed off laying. Some days I was lucky to get three or four and some days, only one or two. BUT, they layed eggs through the winter so I'm not complaining. With the barred rocks and the easter-eggers coming on in November, my tally should up.
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