Adult chickens

You chickens will start laying around 6 months old depending on the type of chickens you have. Once they start laying we move ours to the big chicken house.
Don't be surprised if you find an odd shaped egg. Or an egg with no shell in the nest.
Just like with medium chickens they may peck at each other for a little while. giving them scratch or a chicken toy will help prevent this.

Like a snake sheds its skin a chicken molts to grow new feathers. This happens around 18 months and lasts for 2-4 months. They might stop producing eggs during this time. Molting looks like this...

Remember keep 1 rooster in a house per 10-20 hens.



We gather eggs in the evenings. lots of people gather in the early mornings.
Ours however lay throughout the day. We gather eggs and then feed them
some Scratch each day.Be sure and wash the eggs with mild soap and water.
Some people used a dish scrubber by itself.

Chickens love a dust bath. They bathe in loose dirt which keeps them from getting parasites. This hen was just getting ready for her dust bath when i took her picture.