Chickens and Eggs

I have been procrastinating catching all my new hens and moving them up to the egg laying coop. I was freaked out from trying to catch the males last week, and I no longer have a houseguest, so had to do it all on my own. The younger hens have been starting to give me a few tiny little eggs of late, and are ready to start laying regularly, and I knew I wouldn't be able to procrastinate much longer. So, last night I grabbed the biggest dog crate I had, and went out with much trepidation to move the chickens. My heart was beating a million miles a minute, I was so nervous about doing this!

As it turns out, female chickens are WAY easier to deal with than the males. They just sat there while I gently picked them up and put them in the crate. I didn't even have to close the door behind each one- they just sat there while I gathered up all the hens! No flapping, no screeching, no scarieness at all! I crammed them all into the crate, then dragged them bit by bit up to the permanent coop. I put them in with the older layers from last year, but left them in the crate overnight. Early this morning, I let them all out together. I was expecting alot of fighting and screeching with the two groups, but they seem to be getting along quite well! I have noticed the odd little arguement, but nothing major. What a relief.

Three more days, and winter solstice is here. As the days start to get longer, my hens should start laying more often. I now have 24 layers, so as time goes on, I should get between 1 1/2  and 2 dozen eggs each day. More than enough more myself, and I will be able to start selling them again, and make enough money to pay for their feed. Yay! Something worked out! Can't wait to start collecting my eggs every day!