The chickens started laying eggs a few weeks ago. Well, at least two of them did. I'm bringing in one or two eggs most days. I know they're not from Sunny (Color Pack, so her eggs will be in the blue-green range) or Joanne (Buff Brahma; her eggs will be a light brown) so that leaves Roberta (Brown Leghorn), Kaya (Silver Dorking) and Sassafras (Golden Campine) as the suspects. When I put more oyster shell in their calcium free-feed dish, though, they all had some.
Thing is, through, Squiddle wants a couple scrambled eggs for breakfast most days. And if Jazzy or I want some as well, the egg count in the fridge remains going backwards! I know it'll get a bit better in that regard as the other three hens continue to mature, and when spring comes, etcetera. Still, this has me thinking I might want to expand the flock next year. If I do, I'll need to build another run - I am not going to try cramming ten hens into a 8'x4' space! And in any case, the new chicks, like with cats, would need to be kept in sensing range but not attacking range until the current set got used to them.
So would I want to build the same setup again, but lighter, and have two structures to shift on every few days? Or go for an 8'x8'x2' true mobile pen without a proper coop? And, if I do do this, what breeds do I want? (Current shortlist: marans, barred rock, Rhode Island Red, and ameraucana.)
Thinky thoughts for winter.
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