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FaithForkell

In the Brooder
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Hey everyone! I'm new to backyard chickens and have some questions. I purchased 4 chicks back in March which are now about 21 weeks old. I've never raised chickens before so my husband built a coop for me and we just went from there. I absolutely love them and enjoy watching them in the backyard. We did run into an issue with them flying out of the fence and into a neighbor's yard so I googled how to trim their wings and it solved the issue, however, I wasnt sure if this was something that needs to be done more than once? I assume their feathers eventually grow back? Also, a friend of mine who is a teacher hatched some eggs in the classroom and ended up giving me 2 of the chickens. I have no idea what kind they are and was hoping to find out. The 2 that she gave me ended up being much smaller than mine and neither of them have a high comb. One of the white ones has had green legs since it was a chick, is that normal?
So far I've found 3 eggs, 2 of them were medium sized brown ones that I assume came from one of my original chickens, but the 3rd egg was very small and white? It didnt even look like a chicken egg. Anyways, is there anyway to teach the chickens to lay in the coop instead of under bushes in my backyard? They arent in an enclosed run and I have a massive fenced in backyard which is going to make it difficult to find eggs not laid in the coop. I'm attaching photos of the white ones if someone can tell me what kind they are.
Thanks, everyone!!
 

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Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
I had to clip my chickens wings too. However, I don't think I'll need to do it again when they molt back in this fall as they have become accustomed to their new living arrangement.
The green legged girl is an Easter Egger. The one behind her... looks like a cockerel.
The tiny white egg you got is likely a fairy egg.
You can start a new thread in the "Chicken Behaviors" forum and ask for help with your willy nilly egg layers. You will want to post pictures of your coop and your nest box arrangement for the best suggestions on how to solve your dilemma. If you haven't already, put fake eggs or golf balls in the nest boxes.
 
DobieLover said:
Hello and welcome to BYC! :frow Glad you joined.
I had to clip my chickens wings too. However, I don't think I'll need to do it again when they molt back in this fall as they have become accustomed to their new living arrangement.
The green legged girl is an Easter Egger. The one behind her... looks like a cockerel.
Click to expand...
I was worried it was going to be a rooster. I live in the city and cant have a rooster. Darn. The 2 white ones never have anything to do with the original 4 and the original ones are very mean to the white ones so I was hoping to not have to separate them.
 
FaithForkell said:
I was worried it was going to be a rooster. I live in the city and cant have a rooster. Darn. The 2 white ones never have anything to do with the original 4 and the original ones are very mean to the white ones so I was hoping to not have to separate them.
Click to expand...
It takes time for new birds to fully integrate with the original flock. That is perfectly normal. Once the younger pullets start laying, they will be in like Flynn!
 
Welcome :welcome Nice to have you here! You already got some good answers! Once chickens go through annual molt their feathers will grow back. I had 2 girls that needed their wings clipped consecutive years before they lost interest in exploring the neighbors yard. Haven’t clipped wings in years :). If your coop is big enough or has an attached run, you have a couple of nesting boxes (May put fake eggs or golf balls in to show them it’s a good place to lay eggs) you can confine them (at least for part of the day) until they learn to use the boxes. It may take a week or so but it has always worked for me. My girls will run back to the coop to lay even if the have the run of the yard
 

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