Doodle2U...

[MerlinsBeard]

cannot believe i am posting in the chicken section!

Did you get your chickens? how ar ethey doing?

Blimey - just popped in here to start a thread to say "THEY'RE HERE!!!" and found this!

YES!!!! They arrived yesterday - (Monday) and so far, so good.

The dog keeps prowling around and barks when they fluff out their wings but otherwise, we're OK.

Made a right feckin' racket last night, at about 8.30pm. DH legged it back in the house shouting "What's wrong with them? Do something" - because I'm a bloody poultry expert all of a sudden . Anyway, I crammed me big, fat arse into the small, chicken sized door in the run, grabbed each bird and pushed them up the ladder. They were quiet after that. Mind, I had chicken shit all over me knees, so I wasn't exactly crowing meself.

Got the door open at 7.30am this morning and one by one, they all hopped/fell down the ladder and they've been mooching about ever since.

Names = Nora, Beattie & Dora.

arf at you pushing them up the ladder.

Couldn't they get up on their own? If not, they'll soon get the hang of it.

So how old are they/are they laying?

I don't think they understood that up the ladder meant 'bedroom' to be honest. I think they just have to learn it, yes? I repeated last night's performance again tonight but this time, I put them all on the bottom of the ladder, so they had to make their way up to the coop. They all did it with much slipping and sliding

They are 20 weeks old and the man who bought them (with the Cube), said they would probably start laying in about 2 to 3 weeks. My chicken book says this too. Does it sound about right to you DofNB?

Yes, 20 weeks onwards is the usual for laying, some of mine have been very late - 26 weeks or more. Though I once bought a 20wk speckledy and she laid an egg in the box I bought her home in!

Egg laying will probably be quite irregular to start with, maybe just 1 or 2 eggs per week per hen. And some of the first eggs may not have a shell or the shell is so thin that it collapses when you pick it up, all quite normal for young hens and it will sort itself out.

Enjoy your flock!