Care: Feed and water as needed. They become stressed out if the food or water runs out and may stop laying as a result. Keeping the coop clean keeps down the chance of disease and illness. They need a cool breeze in the summer. If it snows in your area in the winter, they may need additional heat. Water may freeze in winter. If it doesn’t thaw out during the day, they may not be happy. You can buy a water heater unit. I just made sure to break up the ice the few days that it was that cold. Behaviors: The first egg: They will most likely be shocked when they lay their first egg. It is often not laid in the nest. I found the first egg in the garden bed outside my door. This must be where the idea of an Easter egg hunt came from! One had been laid previously on the hard cement floor of the barn and the shell was not intact. This sometimes is the case for the first eggs as their bodies get used to the idea. Don’t worry. This usually clears up within an egg or two. If it doesn’t it may mean they need extra calcium, which is the main component in eggs. Some recommend supplementing with oyster shell calcium, but I think it may be too contaminated with hazardous wastes. Another source of calcium is vegetable matter – kale, broccoli bits and grass clippings. (Just think about how much grass a cow eats to get that calcium in the milk). I just recently had to add the oyster shell calcium to their diet as they were eating the eggs in the coop and the shells were really thin. To encourage them to lay their eggs in the nest, you may have to place an egg in the nest or another egg like object like a golf ball. They actually have fake eggs for this purpose, but I don’t think they are necessary.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 00:30:31 +0000
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