Hi there -
Our easter egger, Pearl, is a bit off of her normal these days. She is about 14 months old, had been regularly laying light green eggs. We brought 4 new chicks into the flock. They were separated from our 2 older hens but Pearl knows about them because she can see them across the yard. When the chicks arrived about 2 months ago, Pearl laid one very dark green egg and only one more regular-looking one about 30 days later. We did add the chickens together after one month and she does bully them when they cross paths. She seems very angry, will peck at us when in the past she has been very docile. Now her voice is sounding gravely and hoarse. She doesn't seem very interested in her pellets, and I've seen her picking at bits of mulch and pulling grass up but not eating it. She will eat cucumbers and watermelon if I give that to her though. Her behavior just seems very weird and off to me. I originally chalked it up to being angry about the new chicks, but now her voice and the weird picking and continuing aggression toward us is making me wonder if there is something else up with her. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!
Our easter egger, Pearl, is a bit off of her normal these days. She is about 14 months old, had been regularly laying light green eggs. We brought 4 new chicks into the flock. They were separated from our 2 older hens but Pearl knows about them because she can see them across the yard. When the chicks arrived about 2 months ago, Pearl laid one very dark green egg and only one more regular-looking one about 30 days later. We did add the chickens together after one month and she does bully them when they cross paths. She seems very angry, will peck at us when in the past she has been very docile. Now her voice is sounding gravely and hoarse. She doesn't seem very interested in her pellets, and I've seen her picking at bits of mulch and pulling grass up but not eating it. She will eat cucumbers and watermelon if I give that to her though. Her behavior just seems very weird and off to me. I originally chalked it up to being angry about the new chicks, but now her voice and the weird picking and continuing aggression toward us is making me wonder if there is something else up with her. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!
Hard to guess what is going on with her- perhaps pre broody behavior? She should have gotten over the flock addition by now.
