I think everyone knows I work full time and want so much to be home on the farm full time. I know my time will come soon and in the meantime I cherish every minute I can get outside. Since I’ve had the “crud” (what hubby calls congestion), I haven’t been able to go out for fear of getting pneumonia which I’m prone to. BUT, one afternoon this week I went to the henhouse to talk to the girls and see how everything was going.
Hubby has been taking care of them for me and making sure they have plenty of feed and water and gathering the eggs. He is so good too me!! Man was I shockedwhen I walked into the henhouse!! Their roost needs a major cleaning underneath and someone has been sleeping in the nests at night. I know now why the eggs needed extra care at cleaning each evening before going in the cartons.
Hens greeting me as I enter the henhouse.
I’m so hoping this weekend proves to be a little warmer and sunny so I can get out for an hour or so. I have a door under the roost on the back of the henhouse for cleaning and it doesn’t take long to clean it out. My walnut and pecan trees will get some good fertilizer from that as well as the rhubarb patch. The nesting material will have to come out and be replaced and I’ll have to time it just right so as not to interrupt any laying that may occur.
Elvis fussing at me for disturbing his time with the girls.
Nesting boxes that need a good cleaning.
My girls have been doing quite well the last two weeks and I’m getting 12-16 eggs a day. The neighbors are real happy the “Fresh Eggs for Sale” sign is back up and hubby is tickled he’s getting fresh pound cakes again.
Fresh eggs straight from the henhouse but they need cleaning.
I love my weekends on the farm!!
Filed under: Chickens Tagged: | eggs, Elvis, hens, nesting boxes, roost
I know what you mean about working full time and wanting to be home and outside with your animals etc. Its hard to be away. I enjoyed your chicken update. Hubby and I are going to build our girls some new pearches similer to yours this spring. I will have to show him that first picture.
They seem to like the extra room and height. The older hens don’t bother the younger ones as much. I have a small room off the main roosting room and I would love to move the nesting boxes in there but it would not only spook them about the change, it would also make me without a brooding room for broody hens or babes I buy or hatch myself.
That is our concern too that with the chnage they may stop laying so we are going to leave the old nesting boxes and rosts in the run for a while
Adding the roosting poles to the hen house actually inspired ours to lay again I think. The young pullets were so stressed by the dominant hens that they stayed huddled together when I kept them pinned up in the henhouse. I usually don’t let them out when there’s snow or ice on the ground. Anyway, when we put up the additional roosting poles the green eggs started coming. I have about 30 chickens and the henhouse section they are all in is about 18 x 48 feet which is large but not when they’re all in there at one time eating, drinking, dusting, or waiting for an available nest. I have 16 nesting boxes but they only use about six of them. I found if I put fake eggs in the unused ones they start laying in all of them and that’s one thing I need to do this weekend when I clean out the henhouse.
We use the fake eggs too and it seems to work sometimes. I will have to post this spring once we make the rost poles and thanks for the info
Can’t wait to see what you do. We’re not rich by any means and make the farm work for us as much as we work the farm. I just want to be there more to do more. My time will come!
I don’t think anyone but the ‘rich’ are rich anymore and they are not lving… they are taking and moving though life more worried about their money then anything. I want to be home each time I go to work and coming home is great… seeing the animals, working on your own thing,… nothing beats that
So I can relate to your coment on wanting to be home to do more 
Good to know I have a kindred spirit!! Isn’t it funny/amazing that the people with money are rarely happy!!