4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[AussieChick]

Hi

 

Got the girls on Tuesday from Omlet and really chuffed to bits, but I've a couple of queries:-

 

The girls sit down quite a lot, I'm not worried but they didn't do this on their first day with us. Is this normal?

 

Do you take their food in at night? We are feeding them layers pellets and they are in a Grub which is great but I am worried a bit about rats. What do you all do?

 

I know I am impatient but how soon can I expect some more eggs? Hermione laid one en route to us in the back of the Sprinter van but no more so far!

 

I know these are silly questions but I guess I've got to start somewhere!

 

Thanks in advance!

[Lo]

Hi AussieChick

 

Not sure about the amount of time chickens sit down - mine seem to every now and again and have a little shut eye - I don't think that's anything to worry about.

 

Re the eggs. Well you don't say how old they are but I assume POL or that they have already been laying? Chickens get stressed quite easy and the moving from new homes will stress them a bit and delay eggs for a few days/week. That's nothing to worry about.

 

If you have POL as well - then they can start laying at all sorts of ages depending on breeds I think. However, I bought 2 of my as pol at 12 weeks - these were my first chickens and I didn't know any better. They started laying at 32 weeks! Second lot of chickens (different breed) were bought as pol at 22 weeks and they started laying at 34 weeks. So my girls were really late starters.

 

Lo

[Christian]

Hello Aussie Chick!

 

Lovely to see you on the forum.

 

They are probably taking little power naps. It is still all quite new to them, but i'm sure they will settle soon.

 

The eggs will come soon. As they are all still quite young, it will take a while for their egg laying tackle to get into the swing of things.

 

I don't take the grub feeders in at night, but it would prevent any nocturnal visitors. If you leave the eglu door open in the summer, it does mean getting up very early to put their food out though. Not a problem in the winter.

 

See you around

[Egluntyne]

The hen who laid may take a few days off because of the stress and upheaval of moving.

 

I had to wait 6 weeks for my first egg.