Hens are Laying!
Our heritage breed chickens are dual purpose, that means they have a good amount of meat on them (so good for eating) and each hen will lay 2-3 eggs a week (which is an average amount). These hens also have a tendency to go “broody”. While in commercial settings this is seen as a negative trait and the hens could be culled, we are hoping our hens go broody.
The way we see it, “broody” hens are good mothers. These are hens that will sit on a clutch (a bunch) of eggs and hatch them out. FANTASTIC! Sometimes these hens can also get protective of their nest, and peck at your if you try and take their eggs. Again, we say GREAT! This means she will also be protective of her chicks and do her best to keep them safe!
Our hens started laying before we got their “Coop ” done. So they made their own nests! It was really affirming to see that these ladies have great instincts and don’t need much input from us. They made a few different nests, some just layed their eggs in the dirt, others found a nice thorny “cave” in the old hay we had thrown and layed there. This nest was right on the edge of our hedgerow, in the tall grass and had a trampled “U” for an entrance and exit walkway.
The “Coop de Ville”
It took us (my dad & I, sometimes just me and helper Drew) about 2 months of intermittent working to get this sweet ride done. It has 8 nesting boxes on the inside, 2 roosting bars and a hatch at the bottom to help with cleaning. After checking out their new digs, the ladies (& gents) wanted an after market upgrade on ventilation. So I added a cut-out at the front that allows for air flow thru the bottom as well.