This is not a one day collection of eggs. These are eggs that we found in a pot holding a gardenia plant. It was sitting on top of one of our nursery cages. We thought it was high enough that the chickens wouldn't use it. We were wrong.
We marked the eggs with a pencil and put them under a broody hen. Two of these "eggs" are actually ceramic balls that put the thought of laying in their minds and kill snakes that swallow them. I do not recall things turning out really well. We had them trained to lay where a lazy person would have no problem collecting them. The occasional snake and/or raccoon changes that.
We marked the eggs with a pencil and put them under a broody hen. Two of these "eggs" are actually ceramic balls that put the thought of laying in their minds and kill snakes that swallow them. I do not recall things turning out really well. We had them trained to lay where a lazy person would have no problem collecting them. The occasional snake and/or raccoon changes that.
Yesterday four pre-teens belonging to our neighbor visited and they found about a dozen eggs just because they are curious youngsters. To someone who raises chickens this is sort of like a guest suddenly telling you how they dust and vacuum. This is what the porch looked like when today started. Doesn't look like the sort of conditions in which I would like to lay an egg (or search for one). My chickens don't appear to think so either.
Not very Conroe like.
Not very Conroe like.
By midday things had started to get better. Here we have wild birds and guineas on the ground, and a squirrel in the sink. Still very cold. I wasn't intending to look here anyway. Just wanted to show that they are eating so they will be laying. I am faced with a choice of giving them a place where they want to lay eggs or looking for them as they go willy nilly.
When birds become expert at hiding them on you sometimes the eggs wind up looking like these duck eggs. These were found in a planter.
The kids found most of the eggs in this bag of pine chips. That meant they were pretty clean but who knows how long they were there.
We buy those chips to put in milk cartons for the hens to lay in.
We buy those chips to put in milk cartons for the hens to lay in.
I checked the laying boxes and thanks to the holes the chips had all spilled out. The chickens don't like to sit on hard surfaces. I needed to make the boxes more leak proof.
Had a cardboard box for the trash today. Used it to line the laying boxes instead.
Filled with chips they just might represent a place the chickens want for a home. We have a dark spot that is undercover set aside for them but they have minds of their own. They have discovered my shop. The weather makes that seem relatively unattractive to me but they like it. These boxes should look like a mansion to a chicken with laying on her mind.
If you have to walk all over the place to find your eggs it's hardly worth the effort. I closed the bag of chips and turned it upside down. Hopefully, the chickens won't think it's attractive any more.
If you have to walk all over the place to find your eggs it's hardly worth the effort. I closed the bag of chips and turned it upside down. Hopefully, the chickens won't think it's attractive any more.
EDIT: These three eggs may not mean much to you but they do to me. Six by day's end makes me happy.
The first three appeared about an hour after the cages were lined. Now to buy some more ceramic eggs to seed the other boxes. I think we are on our way.
I was told once that if I wanted to learn how to do something I should watch a lazy man work. Possibly I have come to represent that.
The first three appeared about an hour after the cages were lined. Now to buy some more ceramic eggs to seed the other boxes. I think we are on our way.
I was told once that if I wanted to learn how to do something I should watch a lazy man work. Possibly I have come to represent that.
These custom ice cubes represent a weather change. The hose still wouldn't squirt water thru the nozzle. Took the nozzle off and these came clattering out.
I will probably feel more like searching when the weather warms. With it cool like this there isn't so much of a time crunch. The egg thinks a planter is a refrigerator for a while longer. I moved to Conroe, not Duluth
I will probably feel more like searching when the weather warms. With it cool like this there isn't so much of a time crunch. The egg thinks a planter is a refrigerator for a while longer. I moved to Conroe, not Duluth
RSS Feed