2 old biddies, one spring chicken

[grandmachicken]

This is the greatest site! I'm new to chickens but completely IN LOVE! I am a veterinarian and can talk endlessly about dogs and cats but we learn nothing in vet school about chicken behavior - I adopted 4 chickens from our local Animal Control (why they were there I have no clue), they were so beautiful, I couldn't resist. I have bought some property in the country and knew I wanted to raise chickens for eggs but we won't be moving for about a year - I had to have them anyway! So I've made a makeshift coop out of our shed, and they seem pretty happy. One rooster, 2 pretty big hens, one smaller hen. The animal control officers had been finding a light brown egg or two in their pen (a very small dog pen with a tarp over the top, no roost, no nest) 2 or 3 times a week.

I've had them about 3 weeks, and I had my 1st egg a week ago, yaaaaaaay! I've discovered it's only the smaller hen that's laying, I've seen her in the nest, always the same one, and the eggs are a beautiful cream color. This hen seems to be the favorite of the rooster at present, I allow them to free range in the yard and the two of them are inseparable! The other 2 hens are about the same size, they are definitely lower in pecking order than the younger one (of course the rooster prefers her! there's no justice).

Anyway all this preamble just to say that the 2 older ones are not laying. Will older hens not lay if the rooster obviously prefers another???

 

[Year of the Rooster]

To answer your question: No, hens do not need a rooster to lay. The smaller one must be an older Bantam hen while the two larger ones are younger Standard hens. Give them time, they will lay eventually. They could not be laying because they are either too young or they have not gotten use to their surroundings yet. It's possible that the larger ones are old hens. The best thing is to wait and see

 

[redhen]

hi!!...welcome!...isnt it awesome to find your first egg in the nest??!..i just did today!..

....you will soon be an addict like the rest of us...

...again, welcome!...

.Wendy

 

[grandmachicken]

I'm already an addict! I spend every free minute watching the chickens! I check for eggs every 4 hours! I'm so proud of my 6 eggs you'd think I laid them myself!

 

[redhen]

LOL...

...i hear ya!!..i am actually mad at my husband right now...

..'cause HE found my first chicken egg!!...well..i'll tell you, it wont happen again!...i'm gonna be the one out there..day and night..lol...I'M gonna find the next one......AND noone can eat it either!...un....

.., Wendy

 

[grandmachicken]

<<<and no one can eat it either>>> Absolutely! I have now collected 7 eggs, in about 8 days, and I can't bear to open them up. I'm just storing them up in the fridge so that I can admire them every time I open the door. My husband thinks I'm crazy. I don't care.

The big news is: the little chicken (named "Littler" by my 8 year old - for obvious reasons) laid an egg yesterday in the middle box (she has been consistently laying in the 3rd box - I have 3 in a row), AND . . . one of the big ones (Black Beauty, nicknamed Blackie) actually laid for a little while in the 3rd box. No egg though. Maybe this means she is going to copy Littler's behavior and start laying. What do you think?

 

[omelette'smom]

Your older girls going through molt? I can't tell who's laying and who's not in my coop! all i know is i have my 3 bantums and another girl laying eggs in the same box! I can't catch who it is! then later in the day i find 3-4 more in various boxes! so maybe your girl IS copying and moving on into that particaular box because A-the box is broken in (ha-ha), B-darker, or C-trying to move herself up the pecking order by bullying the younger girl out of her favorite box!

I hope you get an egg soon either way! They are fun