I was kinda thinkin' something internal, as well. Thinking back, she hasn't laid more than a dozen eggs since spring.
I'm going to close off the garden space to the birds and till it all under, just to be sure.
The other four girls are rather subdued, and a couple have been making croakie...
This morning, I found the RIR lying dead in the garden. No signs of predation (nothing has ever gotten into the run with them except wild birds). We saw nothing unusual about her yesterday. She was lying as though sunning herself, so at first that's what I thought. Her eyes were closed, no...
We live in a suburban neighborhood, and have a lovely coop with five layers.
We have them quite secure, but on the off-chance that one or more should ever make it out of our yard, I'd like them to be returned to us!
I've been looking for legbands that we can order with markings of our choice...
Mine:
two black sex links--brown eggs
one barred rock--slightly "dustier" color of brown (I'm not sure quite how to describe it)
RIR--pinkish-tan (aka "tinted")
Plus, one white leghorn--white!
I have five girls, all laying, now. Until last week there were three daily layers, and one e/o day layer. The would all use the same next box, and ignored the second nest box.
Now that all five are laying daily, they still won't use the second nest box. But, one of them is laying elswhere...
My two Black Sex Links have laid every day for 31 days, since their first egg.
I have a Barred Rock that started about a week after them, and she's not missed a day, either. And, her eggs have gotten HUGE!
There were always two eggs in the nest, then three when the BR started, and there's...
as I was making eggs this morning, one of them had two tiny black specks in the white. They were so small they looked like pepper flecks.
Could this have been blood spots? I thought they were bigger than that.
My five hens are all five months old. I have: Barred Rock, White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red and two Black Sex-Links.
The two Sex-Links started laying at four months. They are very regular, one brown egg/day each from day one. They are now large to jumbo sized eggs.
The Barred Rock started...
I worried about offending the neighbors, too, the first time I heard it. It was sooooooo loud, I thought a racoon got into the pen, or something.
But, after a couple days of laying, they stopped doing it. They just quietly go up to their nest-box, lay the egg, rest, and come back down.
So...
Our five hens are about 4 1/2 months old. We have RR, BR, Leghorn and two black sex-links. Three are laying already, and for sure two of them are the BR and one sex-link.
Just recently, they have begun to get calmer and friendlier. When they are approached, they do this weird, new thing. They...
Thanks, gritsar.
I have no older hens... these are our first birds.
I love the idea of giving them some crickets! That'd be entertaining for us, for sure. And, in the winter when there's snow, it could give them a thrill if they're confined for a couple days.
Hey, all. Our 7 1/2 week old chicks have spent the last three nights out in their coop, and are doing great! It's a coop with attached, predator-proof run (5x9 feet) for our five standard sized hens.
My question: Do chickens get bored? Do they need some sort of "toys" or something? Every...
I have very unlikely broodies. RIR, white leghorn, barred rock, and two black stars. I wanted layers, but I want to be prepared *just in case* one of them should go broody. Since we don't have/want roosters, I think if I got a broodie, I'd just go to one of our several local organic egg...
... and I was curious.
Do they have to be completely away fromt he rest of the hens? Our coop is a totally enclosed run, huge, with the house in one top third of the run.
To separate, could a broody be put into a dog crate, and left in the run? She would be physically separated, but could...
I have a 2 1/2 x 5 foot dog crate that I have them in. I bought bird-cage wrap to put around the bottom (clear plastic, about three inches tall, that wraps around the bottom of bird cages to keep seeds inside), and have a long, shallow cardboard tray that the crage sits in. It catches 98% of the...
Well, they all calmed down by bedtime, and in the morning, were fine, too. They're all out in the pen now, and I haven't seen any tail pecking/preening, so far... but she usually only did it a lot in the cage.
Hopefully, the coop will be finished this weekend, and I won't have to worry about it...