When a pullet begins to lay her first eggs, they will be small. You will notice that with each progressive egg laid, they gradually increase in size. Finally, after a few months of regular egg laying, the pullet’s eggs will reach their full size.

D. Consistent egg production is a sign of happy, healthy hens. Most hens will lay their first egg around 18 weeks of age and then lay an egg almost daily thereafter.

Freshly laid eggs can be left out at room temperature for at least a month before your need to start thinking about moving them into the fridge. We like to make sure we eat ours in under two weeks (because they tend to taste better), but so long as the egg is eaten within one month of it being laid, you will be fine.

There are several ways you can encourage your hens to lay in their nest boxes, ensuring that you get the maximum number of fresh, clean eggs.

1. Provide the Right Number of Nest Boxes.
2. Make the Nest Boxes Appealing.
3. Collect the Eggs Regularly.
4. Provide Enough Roosting Spots.
5. Train Your Chickens With a “Nest Egg”

Quality Feed You don’t have to go crazy with some cutting-edge feed that’s guaranteed to make your chickens produce eggs the size of a garden gnome. It’s recommended that you use a diet of premium laying mash or pellet, along with occasional fresh fruit. vegetables, meal worms and other healthy treats.

However, there are plenty of poultry supply companies that sell nest boxes and the answer they should give you is approximately one nest box for every 5 – 6 hens.

a 2×4 is fine, just place it so the 4″ side of the wood is in the horizontal position so they can cover their feet when they sleep, i have my roosts setup at 4 feet off the ground, 3-4 feet should be fine, and you can put a small roost in the run, so they can roost during the day if they want.

Nesting boxes can be purchased. Nests should be 18 to 20 inches off he ground.

4-5 nest boxes

Great question, how many nest boxes do your hens need?

Number of hens	Nest boxes suggested
4-5	1
8-10	2
12-15	3
16-20	4

When the chickens approach approximately 17 weeks of age, the nest boxes can be opened for business. Roosts should always be higher than the nest boxes. Chickens like to sleep as high up as possible- if the nest boxes are higher than the roost, they will sleep in or on the nest boxes.

How many boxes do I need? Most folks use one nest box for every 3-4 birds and this is the figure I always recommend. If you have a lot of chickens you can get away with one for every 6 or 8. Personally, I’d rather have one too many than one too few.

It is recommended to place your roosts higher than the nest boxes. Otherwise, you may have hens seeking out the nest box instead. While sleeping in the nest box is not a huge problem as far as the birds go, it is more work for you – you will have to ‘muck out’ the box every morning.

Elevate a chicken coop off the ground at least 1 foot for many reasons. An elevated coop ensures air can circulate around the coop, can prevent flooding in flood-prone areas, and prevents rats and mice from nesting. Make sure it doesn’t have any holes for mice and other rodents to get in.

Your nesting boxes should be at least 12″ square – and closer to 14″ square if you have larger breeds such as buffs, australorps or Sussex. If your boxes are too large, hens will be more likely to try to squeeze into a box while another hen is laying, which can lead to broken eggs – not a good thing.

A standard nest box for regular chickens such as Leghorns, Sussex, Plymouth Rocks, and hybrid layers needs to be a 12-inch cube, 12 inches tall, wide and deep. This will fit the average hen quite nicely. Larger birds such as Jersey Giants will need 12 inches deep, 14 inches wide, and 12 inches tall.

12″

To build a chicken coop properly insulating the walls is very important. The walls of the chicken coop need to have good insulation installed. This will help keep the chickens warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Insulating the walls will also help to keep the chickens dry.

Chickens are quite hardy and can tolerate temperatures below freezing, but they prefer a warmer climate. The ideal temperature for chickens is about 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Insulate the coop A dry coop is a happy coop! You can use any number of methods to add insulation to the chicken coop. Spray foam insulation is ideal, though expensive, as you’ll need to hire someone to install it. Fiberglass insulation will work just as well and can be a great DIY solution.

Simply add enough shavings to keep the floor composting nicely, and the chickens do the aeration for you with their scratching behavior. Scattering corn on the coop floor encourages them. The litter has beneficial microbes, think of it as probiotics for your hens. Once or twice a year or less, you clean the coop out.

A clean coop is a healthy coop! If possible, you should clean out your coop/s weekly. Waterers and feeders should be cleaned with bleach (no more than a 5% solution) weekly as well. However, duck waterers and feeders will need to be cleaned daily.

The Best Ground Cover for a Chicken Coop

• Grass and Vegetation. Grass and other types of vegetation are ideal ground covers for movable chicken coops, called chicken tractors or chicken arks.
• Concrete is Easy to Clean. Concrete is the ideal surface for a permanent chicken coop.
• Sand is Simple.
• Deep Litter Method.

Do Chickens attract rats? Rats are not attracted to chickens. However, they are attracted to chicken feed, and love stealing a freshly laid egg. A well-designed coop, good food storage, and rat-proof feeders can all make your chickens home a place that is not attractive to rats.

“Remove feeders and waterers each night and replace them in the morning. While your chickens won’t want to eat or drink at night, rats will, so make sure they are not attracted to your area by seed from wild bird feeders, or cat or dog food left out overnight. And if you spill food, clean it up.

Absolutely. Standard chicken wire is nowhere near strong enough to prevent rats from chewing through it. It’s also worth pointing out that chicken wire won’t stop common predators like foxes and snakes.

Below: Rats will eat eggs, chicks and kill chickens, even full grown ones. Rats they tend to defecate and urinate wherever they are and that contaminates every surface they touch. The best way to deal with rats is to treat the problem with a multi pronged attack long before it becomes an infestation.

Onions can only kill rats if you trick them into eating raw ones. Rats and mice hate the strong onion smell and they will run away from it. However, onions will not kill rats instantly because it takes time to affect their system.

But organic, free-range eggs command a premium. If you spend $7 weekly for a dozen farmers market eggs, then yes, raising chickens probably will save you money, says Sarah Cook, founder of Sustainable Cooks. Cook estimates that it costs her $3.50 per dozen eggs to feed and care for her admittedly “spoiled” chickens.

Signs of lead poisoning in chickens are:

1. Emaciation.
2. Depression.
3. Inappetence.
4. Thirst.
5. Weakness.
6. Greenish droppings commonly seen within 36 hours.
7. As poisoning progresses, the wings may be extended downward.
8. Young birds may die within 36 hours of ingestion.