Hi everyone,
I have a situation here and I don't have all the facts yet, but I want to get started with some detective work and crisis management.
A while ago, I gave my two Wyandottes to a new neighbor who bought a house from a former chicken owner, complete with the coop. The new neighbor wanted to start keeping chickens and I wanted to get rid of my two slightly jerky Wyandottes. I felt like they should have more than two hens though, so I kept my eye out for new ladies to add to their flock. Finally, a friend wanted to get rid of her chickens and coop, so I, being in the market for a coop, took the coop and added the chickens to the Wyandotte-only flock.
I probably should have known better than to do this, but I was hoping for the best. Well, the story I got after coming back from vacation is that the gold-laced wyandotte killed the little Hamburg while the chickens were roosting. Now only one of the four remaining hens is laying and the two new ones aren't roosting with the Wyandottes.
What should I do? Take back the jerky Wyandottes and turn them into stew? Take back just the supposed culprit and turn her into stew? Calm down and turn nobody into stew? How can I ameliorate the situation? How long might it take for everybody to start laying eggs again? Is there anything that can be done to get the flock to co-exist and roost together?
Honestly, I gave the Wyandottes away as a last resort to eating them, which my husband wanted to do because they were pecky, especially the gold-laced one. We didn't want them around the kids, but I just didn't want the hassle of plucking so I thought it was better to give them to someone else. Now this dear little Hamburg paid the price and I'm angry enough to do the deed I was too cowardly to do before.
I have a situation here and I don't have all the facts yet, but I want to get started with some detective work and crisis management.
A while ago, I gave my two Wyandottes to a new neighbor who bought a house from a former chicken owner, complete with the coop. The new neighbor wanted to start keeping chickens and I wanted to get rid of my two slightly jerky Wyandottes. I felt like they should have more than two hens though, so I kept my eye out for new ladies to add to their flock. Finally, a friend wanted to get rid of her chickens and coop, so I, being in the market for a coop, took the coop and added the chickens to the Wyandotte-only flock.
I probably should have known better than to do this, but I was hoping for the best. Well, the story I got after coming back from vacation is that the gold-laced wyandotte killed the little Hamburg while the chickens were roosting. Now only one of the four remaining hens is laying and the two new ones aren't roosting with the Wyandottes.
What should I do? Take back the jerky Wyandottes and turn them into stew? Take back just the supposed culprit and turn her into stew? Calm down and turn nobody into stew? How can I ameliorate the situation? How long might it take for everybody to start laying eggs again? Is there anything that can be done to get the flock to co-exist and roost together?
Honestly, I gave the Wyandottes away as a last resort to eating them, which my husband wanted to do because they were pecky, especially the gold-laced one. We didn't want them around the kids, but I just didn't want the hassle of plucking so I thought it was better to give them to someone else. Now this dear little Hamburg paid the price and I'm angry enough to do the deed I was too cowardly to do before.
