Fargo ND Chicken Mom

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fargochick

fargochick

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5 Years
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Hi all! My family and I are city chicken owners who all grew up on farms. We currently have four hens... Two young buff orphingtons, one copper laced Wyandotte, one black orphington cross. Our Wyandotte is an egg eater and our black orphington is a bit aggressive. Looking for some gentle egg layers but having trouble finding any in my area. Willing to travel some. Any advice?
 
Welcome to BYC! Sorry you are having trouble with an egg eating Wyandotte. You might want to check out the threads on dealing with egg eating hens at https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=breaking+an+egg+eating+hen As far as gentle egg layers, Orpingtons are normally very gentle hens. I have had them for years and have never had an aggressive one. Another breed that is an excellent layer (best layer of the standard brown egg laying breeds) and has a reputation for gentleness is the Black Australorp. Australorps are another breed I have had for years and never had a problem with an aggressive hen. One important question is: Are your chickens free ranged or or they kept in runs? If they are kept in runs, it's important to avoid overcrowding as it can lead to aggressive behavior. The same thing goes for the size of your coop. Good luck in correcting the problems with your hens.
 
Egg eaters are bad especially because the other hens will end up watching and doing the same thing. You could try making a roll away nest box - the idea is the eggs when laid, roll away to the far end of the nest and out of her sight. You could also try putting some golf balls in her nest box and remove her real eggs as soon as possible once they are laid. If they sit in the nest for some time, it's tempting to her. After she pecks a few hard as rock golf balls, she may give up.
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Egg eaters can be trouble. I have a hen that is older and lays a lot of yolks with no shell or membrane. So of course the egg eating started in my flock as well. I seemed to have cured it with curtains over the nest boxes. The hens can't go cruising for eggs from the outside of the boxes and they don't mess with the eggs in the dark boxes. I have not had an egg eating episode in the boxes since. They will get used to going thru curtains. You can peel open the center at first so they can see in and learn how to slip thru the fabric. Here is my set up...



You might check your state thread and chat with your chicken neighbors in hopes of finding some hens locally...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/645650/north-dakota

Good luck with your egg eaters. Give the curtains a try...it just might work for you. :-)
 
fargochick said:
Hi all! My family and I are city chicken owners who all grew up on farms. We currently have four hens... Two young buff orphingtons, one copper laced Wyandotte, one black orphington cross. Our Wyandotte is an egg eater and our black orphington is a bit aggressive. Looking for some gentle egg layers but having trouble finding any in my area. Willing to travel some. Any advice?
Click to expand...

You might try a local county fair this summer.....or a poultry show. There are breeders associations on line that are breed specific!
Sometimes word of mouth if you know some people or post a note at the feed store. I drove 3 hours for my first 3 till I discovered a farm 40 minutes away that has every kind of chicken you can think of.!
Hope it works out!
And by the way....
Welcome to BYC!:cd
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some good suggestions /links above. For more hens also try places like Craigslist and your feed store etc bulletin boards. You might also do a search on your town/city etc and pm people in your area to see if they have any ideas.
 
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Hope you are finding all the info you need from BYC
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