My senior hen is the same way. She stopped laying for a good 6 weeks, then started up again, but not she rarely lays. Maybe one a week.
I don't get it either.
TWG
Howdy All,
Within the last year my hens are laying eggs with much thinner shells than prior. The eggs used to be so hard I had to wack them to crack. Now some of them might break in my hand when carrying them.
These hens are in the 2-3 year old range. They are getting a high quality egg...
I think storing 24 hours would suffice, as I am very involved with the Girls on a daily basis.
Also, talked to the neighbor - yep, his 3-year old grandchild snuck in the coop and took the eggs. Told him no problem as long as I know the who and why.
TWG
Howdy All,
Today when I let the girls out to Free Range in the nest box was one blue egg and one brown artificial egg.
For some reason, the girls went in the coop an entire hour early = something is wrong. When I went out to close them up, both of the eggs on the nest box were GONE (one...
Good news. This afternoon I let the hens and the "kids" out. The hens went one direction and the kids tended to stay close to the coop.
A couple of minutes ago - everybody was back in the coop! Success!
Looking forward to being able to let all of them Free Range each day.
TWG
Howdy All,
I'm down to 2 full grown hens so about a month ago I bought a couple ~2 month old pullets. Did the slow into thing now all 4 birds are together in the coop and run. No issues at all.
I still let the 2 hens out to Free Range about 4-5 hours each day, but I have been keeping the...
Integration is going very well! I left the "kids" in the crate, with the exception of when I let the big girls out to free range. Then the kids have the free run of the coop (8 X 10' tool shed converted) and the Run (16 x 8'). I did this for 3 weeks, then a few days ago I wired the crate door...
Following this thread. I'm now in the same boat: 3 weeks ago I got 2 pullets, about 3 months old and began the process. I have the pullets in a large dog crate inside the coop itself. Not sure how long to keep them in here before letting them out with the full size hens (2).
Thoughts?
TWG
April 15th, still no eggs.
Still in normal range?
Started molt in early December. Seems a bit lethargic when I let them out to free-range the property.
?
TWG
Howdy All,
One of my hens, about 2.5 years old started her molt with the others in early December. She has yet to start laying again while the others have.
Is this typical? Anything to be concerned about?
TWG
Success. Note: the kitchen sink's dish nozzle hose thingy with warm water works well.
The wife can NEVER know we cleaned the chicken's a$$ in the kitchen sink . . . . .
TWG
Odd question I know . . . .
One of my hens has always had a rather sloppy rear end. Recently feces is now caked all over her butt/vent. So, um, how do I go about getting this cleaned up?
Pull filthy feathers out?
Some type of bath/rinse?
Thoughts?
TWG
I have too many trees to fertilize by adding compost or manure. I have to go with a targeted granules IF I can do so without killing the chickens.
How about fertilizing one tree at a time, then using a locally placed sprinkler to soak in the granules? Would that work, as far as the chickens...
U-S,
Excellent response, as well as your questions.
I have used 13-13-13 for decades to fertilize my trees, not really for the grass. Pre-chickens, I used a fertilizer spreader to spread the fertilizer around the tree, in a diameter that matched the circumference of the tree canopy. It's a...