Many of the chicken find their own spots to lay eggs outside of the nesting boxes. Luis knows better than anyone where many of their hiding spots are. Last season, whenever he would find a warm egg, he would place it underneath our white hen (above). Before you knew it she was hatching every color chicken we had on the farm.
Sometimes the hen will be so sneaky, we won’t even know she’s sitting on eggs, until they hatch. That’s what happened with the ones above.
We built a chicken tractor, that houses all the chickens. The best tip we got: install an automatic door. Since the coop is on wheels, we are able to move it to different spots all over the farm. This allows the chickens to forage for bugs and treats, while leaving behind incredible chicken fertilizer for the soil.
And the best part of the chicken tractor is that it has chicken wire for the floor. This allows the chicken droppings to go directly to the ground, and we spend a lot less time cleaning the chicken coop.