The French Black Copper Marans cockerels and F2 Easter Eggers have six new little fluff butted roommates now. We picked up three more Ameracauna pullets and three Black Astralorp pullets last night.

I ran out of J-clips while working on a 30″x24″ cage with tray slot, and had to run out for those. I did manage to keep myself from buying some more emotional support chicks — TSC has Speckled Sussex in stock, which are striking birds.

I will have to cull one of the oldest birds of the flock soon, though. I need to single out the hen having problems. I know I keep saying that, but it’s easier said than done. She laid yet another egg that smashed in the nest box today. I’m concerned that her continuing to do so will cause another hen to pick up the bad habit of eating eggs.

Back to the cages: It occurred to me that maybe I don’t have to add tray slots / supports to the existing new cages. Maybe I can just move those cages to the bottom tier, and make the top tier with tray slots from the get-go. That’s what I’m doing with the single hole cage, at least, for now. I need to review the possible engineering options involved either way, and work out what will work best under these circumstances.

The 30″x30″ drop trays are working for the two upper cages that have them on the old hutch. Perhaps a little too well — the water line was leaking, thus one of the trays had a LOT of extra water in it. They’re galvanized, so I am concerned about drilling holes in the back edge to let them drip clear. I don’t know. Need to think it through.

Moved the NZ doe down to a lower cage, back into her old cage actually. I moved the SF doe up to that cage. The SF is due this coming week, so I want her re-acclimated to the cage for now.

I will probably be re-breeding the NZ and SF mutt on Saturday, same day the other does are due to kindle. That should give sufficient grow-out time to the other litters, at least while I continue to work out how I’m going to pull rabbits for a breeding program versus pure meat breeding, etc., and how the cages are going to work out.

The rain yesterday ruined a bunch of feed. You’d THINK, with rain covers and everything else, that it wouldn’t be an issue. But it is, more often than it isn’t. Drives me crazy. I made a rain cover out of flashing for one cage yesterday. I may go through and do that for all of them, I don’t know. I’m not sure how effective the one I made will be.