Tyrant in the coop?

[fmk602]

Hello everyone! I am new (lurking and learning for 6months) to BYC and chickens. We have 6 pullets which we we got as chicks. 4 ( RIR, Back Sexlink, Wyandotte, and an Ameraurcana) the first week of January. We then bought 2 more (BR and Gold Sexlink) 2 weeks later. All really has gone well. If I had a question most could be answered by all of you on this site! Ok here is my question. Have any of you had this situation? And what did you do?

I thought my BR started laying ( 2 pink eggs and lots of her singing) mid May! Then I observed my GSL laying ( orangish brown). Since then all I have been getting is the orange/ brown eggs with occasional soft eggs. No more pink. Well the GSL is a voracious, highly strung bird that has become top bird and started viciously picking on my loving cuddly RIR ( drew blood on her comb)! So Following advice on this site, I got a crate and separated the GSL from the flock. She is enjoying an air conditioned house in the AZ summer, lol. The next day my little RIR went up to the nesting box and laid for the first time. And now today my BSL jumped her gate and laid a tiny first egg in the cats house (poor cat). Could a hen be that much of a tyrant that the other hens held back from laying?! She is still under lock down, with treats and I am forcing her to endure my petting and cuddling. And she gets some tv time! Any advice, words of wisdom, or shared experiences would be welcome.

Thank you!

 

[Uniontown Poultry]

Sounds to me like your girls are at point of lay & their systems are just getting into gear. It's not uncommon for pullets nearing 6 mos of age (earlier for earlier-layers, later for later-layers) to lay a few small eggs, then a few soft eggs, then no eggs, then after a week or two, start a normal lay or normal eggs. Sometimes there's just a hitch in the get up of a new layer. You'll get many eggs from your girls in the future once they get everything sorted. The cranky GSL may have chased them around and kept them tense and stressed, inhibiting ovulation, but she wouldn't have been able to stave it off forever - sooner or later, they'd be laying with or without the GSL around.

If you are ever curious as to who's laying and who's not, I suggest eyeballing their vents. I do this because my flock has a lot of retirees in it & I like to see who is still laying. I just pick 'em up and look for a moist, relaxed vent. I also feel the ends of the pubic bones (under the tail, above the vent) to see if they are close together and fused (not laying) or wider and a little springy (laying). Hope this helps!

 

[fmk602]

Thank you. At this point I have a pretty good idea of who is laying. Today the rest of the girls were in and out of the nesting boxes, so I suppose I will lose track of who is laying which is a good thing! Poor things are so anxious, calling and pacing....I will have to say one thing about my cranky GSL, she only had one day of disruption when we separated her and put her in the house in a dog crate. Now she is back to laying like clockwork. She scratches at her " puppy pad", hunkers down, lays and egg then looks at me as if to say " there you go" . She just started laying 2 wks ago!

Has anyone out there had success with separating and reintroducing a bully? She is a great egg producer and I would hate to get rid of her!

:/

 

[fmk602]

Ha ha! As for the vent check....I actually have been attempting to do that and you can tell a difference in the width of the pubic bones. I am not experienced enough to be certain yet. Unfortunately it has my DH looking at me as if he is questioning my sanity, lol!

I Also read a thread about lipsticking vents for egg ID, which I jokingly asked my youngest daughter to assist me with! She declined but I guess told her dad and his gf I was considering it. The gf was enormously discusted and announced she would "NOT be eating any eggs fresh from the chickens butt"!

For fathers day my girls and I are making ice cream with my eggs and they are bringing it to their dad and his gf for dinner!