Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[Mandy Lou]

Hi

 

I got my girls Clucky and Henny on the 4th April at 18 weeks old, they are 24 weeks old today and as yet I have no eggs - can anyone tell me if this is normal??? I placed a rubber egg in the nest box a week ago to encourage them to lay, but still I have nothing. Am I just getting ahead of myself - the anticipation of my first egg is killing me!

 

Also my girls tend to sleep in their nest box rather than on the roosting bars, which means the nest box is full of droppings in the morning - has anyone else experienced this and again is it normal?

 

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks

Mandy

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[Laura & CTB]

Hi Mandy and welcome!

 

I was quoted 24 weeks as being point of lay but there's no hard and fast rules as many people on this forum will tell you ! I had to wait until mine were 26 weeks.

 

Signs to look for are nice bright red combs and when they are crouching ( when they flatten down when you approach them) - usually indicates you have about another week to wait

 

Mine girls also love to sleep in the nest and so i have to clear out poo each day - I use aubiose in the nest topped with a little bit of straw so usually just have to remove the straw ( and the poo comes too)

 

You can put a flower pot upside down on the nest if you dont want them sleeping there - personally I think it's rather cute when they cuddle up in there together

 

Do give us the progress report - we're very nosy

[Hen Watch]

Hi. At least one of mine sleeps in the nest box too.

 

Can't help with the egg question. The breeder I got my new chook from a few days ago told me to only feed pellets until the eggs come and no treats until then. Not sure why he said that. Mind you, I've been feeding my Omlet chooks treats since they arrived last month and only 1 is laying.

[AmandaR]

I had the same problem with the chooks sleeping in the nesting box.

A tip I picked up from here was to put one of the childrens footballs in the nest box just before the chooks retired for the night and then take it out in the morning.

I did this for a few nights and since then they have been sleeping on the bars. Might be worth a try if you have a spare footie lying around.

[Mandy Lou]

Hi

Thanks very much for all your useful advice.

 

It's funny but only yesterday Clucky started to crouch when approached, so maybe i'll be lucky over the next week or so. I'll keep you updated on the egg laying......

 

I wasn't too bothered that the girls slept in the nest box as Laura said it's kinda cute and clearing out the poop everyday isn't a pain! What made me think that it wasn't normal was a farmer friend who has lots of chooks who was quite alarmed that they slept and pooped in the box. I suspect like us they don't all act the same....

 

We live and learn.... and isn't it exciting when chooks are invovled in the learning!