Dominant vs lower chicken laying

[ecwdavis]

I have 2 Black Sexlink and one Australorp, purchased in June. The Sexlinks were a month old, the Australorp 2 weeks.

I have a light into the coop at night until 8 pm, to encourage them to lay, (started at the end of November.)

The low rank Sexlink started laying first, at the beginning of December, (she laid an egg every day, until the dominant chicken began laying,) then the Australorp was next, and, finally the dominant Sexlink laid her first egg on Christmas Eve.

I would like to know if the advent of the dominant chicken laying, could put the lower rank chicken off? She has stopped squatting too. The other two squat at the slightest thing...

They all seem healthy, and eating well.

Thank you in advance.

 

[NikkiW17]

Hmm interesting. I have several chickens who think they’re the “dominate” lady of the coop. They aren’t. They all seem to lay on their own schedule. My ladies are taking a break on their laying of eggs right now. Also, what type of feed if any are they on? They do need to up protein once they start laying...I’m sure some have an exact science for it...but from what I know of chickens...they do what they want, when they want. It also takes about 26 hours for a chicken to lay an egg. Do you have one nest box? I’m curious...

 

[ecwdavis]

Hmm interesting. I have several chickens who think they’re the “dominate” lady of the coop. They aren’t. They all seem to lay on their own schedule. My ladies are taking a break on their laying of eggs right now. Also, what type of feed if any are they on? They do need to up protein once they start laying...I’m sure some have an exact science for it...but from what I know of chickens...they do what they want, when they want. It also takes about 26 hours for a chicken to lay an egg. Do you have one nest box? I’m curious...

I have them on layer feed, give kitchen scraps when available, and the calcium grit... I have also just started giving them a treat ball with oat and mealworms inside at mid day.

They are in the coop all day, as we have hawks and no trees/bushes as cover for the chickens.

I started out with three nest boxes, but they like to sleep together and kept pulling the partitions out, so now they have one nest area with the fine shavings, they seem to prefer that.

When my family had chickens when I was young, the chickens laid every second day (those chickens were free range so were on different feeds, and were Rhode Island Reds), so it surprised me when the less dominant chicken produced one almost every day. I did not know it was a 26 hour schedule.

I have the light on in the nesting area at night until 8 pm so they get more 'day', seems to be working just fine with the other two.

I will just keep an eye on the lower rank chicken and see how she goes.

 

[NikkiW17]

It sounds like they have a good setup! It could be the winter season making it slightly harder for them to be on a good laying schedule..or it just could be they will do what they want when they want lol I had several nest boxes once upon a time but my younger ladies were sleeping in there too...my older chickens can sometimes be turds at night...so we have the one nest box as well. But, I will say it took my laying girls a couple of weeks to get used to the new box...chickens do not like change! Lol check to see if your girls are laying elsewhere. They may do this if the dominate lady is taking up the nest box when the others want to lay. It’s hard to eliminate corners in a coop but it’s something to keep an eye on. Good luck!

 

[ecwdavis]

Thank you! Yes, I will check the area under the nesting boxes in the run, just in case - we turned the coop into a chicken tractor, so once a week they get a new bit of the paddock to investigate - we have baffles on the cage to stop the wind, so you cannot see into that area without leaning in through the entry door - I will start doing that regularly just in case. : )

 

[Criticalicious]

Calcium and grit are two different things. Calcium builds stronger egg shells and grit breaks up and digests food in the gizzard. The squat motion you described is something hens do for a rooster or towards other hens to show submissiveness. Although they do it less often during time periods when they aren't laying eggs (like when molting or broody), they will still lay eggs even if they don't squat for you. More likely, your pullets are slowing down production a bit because of the shorter days. Giving them extra light has very little effect on speeding up egg production but it can make them cranky.
In terms of dominance, it is possible for a dominant hen to chase less dominant ones off the nest boxes, and you'll hear the complaining loud and clear. Eventually the less dominant hen will get tired of waiting to lay the egg and then you either get eggs in the run or a hen with a pecked at head.

 

[ecwdavis]

Thank you!

I was surprised the light worked, I have seen quite a few articles saying increasing the light can fool them into thinking it isn't winter.

The other two chickens seem to have fallen for it... the lower ranked chicken was falling for it until the dominant chicken started laying... I just wondered if the dominance thing was a factor.

I have not noticed any extra aggression from them - infact, since they all stated laying, they have become much more amenable... I have not been pecked by the dominant hen, since the eggs started appearing : )

We are over the shortest day now, so I anticipate the egg production becoming more even in the next few weeks.

 

[aart]

I was surprised the light worked, I have seen quite a few articles saying increasing the light can fool them into thinking it isn't winter.

Maybe have been coincidental...pullets will often lay thru their first winter anyway.
Even with lights, my 31wo pullets still haven't laid...couple hens came back in to lay this week tho.

Dominance doesn't have much to do with who lays when,
tho onset of lay can sometimes change the pecking order.

 

[ecwdavis]

Thank you.

I was not notified of your reply, hence the tardyness. I will look at my settings make sure I have notifications on.