bad layer --> dog and cat feed!

[smilingcat]

We've been trying to figure out if our suspected bad layer is indeed a bad layer. We think we've figured it out that she has not laid an egg in several month. She has also been bullying my good layers, hogging the nest boxes and not let the other hens into the box to lay their eggs, attacking them, not allowing them to get near the feed and water, not letting them near the sand box and she's also been really loud making all that "I've laid an egg" sound without the egg...

So not only does she eat lots and lots of feed, she's messin' with my other chicken. I'll have some time this coming week to cull her. My dog and cats will get a nice cooked treat. Compost pile will have something new in it.

A mean cranky brahma. Who would have figured? a mean brahma.

 

[speckledhen]

She may be ill. Did you think of that? Going in the nests without laying over and over again usually signals a problem like Egg Yolk Peritonitis and/or Internal Laying. If that is the case, culling her is a kindness.

 

[smilingcat]

Oh I can't possibly imagine she is sick. she looks healthy, she is bullying other chicken and just plain mean. She actually chases other chicken and when she's satisfied with her bullying she'll look for another victim. She'll chase other birds out of the sandbox where the chicken can take a dust bath. If another is ready to lay, she'll go up in the nestbox and chases the layer out. If they are at the waterer, she'll be there to peck anyone who tries to get water and on and on... Her priority of aggression is fist and foremost is not letting other chicken use the nest box. Second on the list is not let other chicken use the sandbox for dust bath. She'll sleep in the sand box to "guard" HER box.

Add to this aggressive behavior, we are adding new young flock (pullets) in about a week or so. Even with the "get acquainted" period, she'll kill the new pullets. So she will be culled. But thanks for checking about possible illness. If she was ill, I don't think she would have the energy to be fighting all day long. She's like a roo but not nice to the girls.

 

[speckledhen]

Trust me, she can be laying internally or have EYP and you won't see a sick chicken on the outside. Been there many, many times. They act normally until they are close to death, which can take many months, even up to a year. Not saying for sure she is ill, but she very certainly could be. I've lost about 13 hens to that and they are fully themselves on the outside right up until a couple of weeks before death.

In any case, if she has that, she wouldn't survive it anyway. And if she is being a huge problem, you have to do what you have to do.

 

[smilingcat]

Thank you for the info. just to be on the safe side, I will cook the meat a bit longer and higher temp to kill off any bacterial infection before I feed it to the dog and cats. I'll just assume she has a secondary infection from EYP and I'll post if anything odd when we butcher her.

We don't want our dog to learn that a live chicken he is guarding is good eats. So when we feed chicken to him, it doesn't look anything like a live chicken. We have a lab-Pyrenees mix. He is great with the flock and doing the perimeter check. Totally ignores the chicken. And a great family pet!!

 

[smilingcat]

We finally cooked the tough mean brahama today.

The old saying "bad to the bone", well she was a tough mean bird and even in death and cooked, she was tough and mean. I mean I've had stewing hens before but good grief she was tough. Like chewing on a piece of leather. Definitelty qualified her as bad to the bone.

Dog and cat food it is.

And no she wasn't internally laying from what I could tell when I culled her. Peace back in the coop and quiet in the morning so I can sleep in till about 6:00AM.

Gotta start thinking about placing my order for meat birds. And bit concerned about cost of feed going through the roof for next year with more than 50% of corn crop devasted with the drought. Do I buy extra and put more in freezer now so that when the poultry price go up come next year, I can depend more on my own supply in the deep freezer? Tough call. I've had a year old meat from my deep freezer and its been perfectly fine. So I'm not sure when the government tells me its only good for 3 month or 6 month ???? How did they come up with that figure anyway.

I'm just rambling.

 

[Chambertin]

They came up with it when the large AG companies paid them to say it.

Same people who convinced a nation that fresh eggs are bad for you...