Does she have access to free feed on calcium? Either crushed oyster shells or their own eggshells will do. Some chickens need more than others and they self regulate.
I've found this helpful to figuring out eggshell issues: https://www.poultryproducer.com/common-egg-quality-problems/
My buff's "sister" buff who I got at the same time is still laying one egg every other day. So I guess they are individuals just like us. This one in question has still only laid 2 eggs so far this year. It's a very quick drop off from her usual 3 eggs per week. I thought it might be a gradual...
Okay, great. She didn't do this last year post-molt, but she also didn't go broody last year either. Thanks for your response! I'll continue to be patient with her. She'll be safe with me anyway for the rest of her natural life. I'm trying to gauge whether or not I'll be able to sell eggs this...
Wow! My Chickie Corea (my BO with the current infrequent egg laying) was never that productive! I was also thinking I would get a solid 3 years or more of egg laying with my BOs.
Thanks so much! At this point, 1 egg a week would be nice. :) Her sister, a BO hatched on the same date, is not showing any of these signs. However, this girl has never been a prolific egg layer.
One of my Buffs has been infrequent in her egg laying since this past winter's molt. She laid her first post-molt egg on February 6 and it was very rough/bumpy. But the shell was strong and in good condition otherwise. Then she seemed to go broody (first time for her) shortly after that and...
Entry #2 for me. We had another little snow storm in Chapel Hill a couple of days ago. The chickens were already in the henhouse for the night for this photo.
Okay, thanks. I didn't know if it was their natural instinct to huddle together during colder nights. Thanks for the suggestions for the temporary roosting bars. I'll look into building something.
I could potentially do that, but below the access door is a drop down door for cleaning out the litter and everything is lined in about 1/8" plastic which I don't want to screw into. I could make a free standing support that would get buried in the litter though. I would need to get new...
Thanks for the advice! Yes, I'm trying not to be a helicopter chicken mom and I did let things unfold on their own today. Though it took a few hours, the other pullet did eventually come out of the henhouse and was scratching around with the others and seemed very comfortable. I was initially...
So, I have an update or maybe more of a revelation. I realized that the pullets went into the henhouse yesterday after I added a whole lot of leaves and spread them out throughout the run. I think that they are a bit freaked out by the leaves and not the other hens! Especially because they...
Thanks! Good to know! I'll keep a pulse on the roosting bar situation and will add the second bar if they don't move up to the current bar in a couple of weeks.
Thanks Debbie! Okay, it's good to know that this will work out. I do have an upside-down Chewy box in there (added after the photos were taken) with a hole cut out to give extra hiding spaces and there is a perch too, but I may add another perch if I can figure out the best place for it. I do...
Hi! I'm Dina and I'm new to BYC! I've had backyard chickens since March 2022. I started with 4 pullets: 1 Easter Egger, 1 Olive Egger, and 2 Buff Orpingtons. (Now I have 1 new Easter Egger pullet, 1 Black Copper Marans pullet, and the 2 original Buffs.) As a NYC kid who had no access to pets...
I've been introducing 2 new pullets (4 month old Easter Egger and 5 month old Black Copper Marans at the time of start of introduction) to my 2- 2.5 year old hens over the last 3+ weeks following the advice in many threads on this topic. (This is my first time introducing pullets.) I've had all...