mrsz052210
In the Brooder
So, a little history of my past experience and how I got here...
as a young kid, my grandmother had chickens, ducks, and geese and it was my job to feed them and collect the eggs, and to help pluck feathers when it was culling time. Unfortunately, after my mother relocated us when I was in middle school, due to one cause or another, we no longer had any chickens around. Skip forward to young adulthood, and one of my sisters marries a rancher, and eventually begins raising chickens... first about 10... then 25.... then 40... and currently around 60+... I jokingly mention snagging a few of her chickens when I get a place only to receive a very definite "get your own". LOL ... sisterly love. Skip forward to this past spring. We bought our first home, with 1 acre of land. I take my 4 year old daughter (Lil Miss) to visit previously mentioned sister and Lil Miss' cousins. We are sitting on her front porch swing holding some of sisters' 8 week old chicks. When I tell Lil Miss to stay with her aunt while I step inside, she replies with "ok mama, I'll stay here with auntie and my chicken"... uh oh. So I go in for a couple minutes, and when I return, Lil Miss has a huge smile on her face and exclaims "MAMA, AUNTIE SAYS WE CAN TAKE ALL THE CHICKS HOME!!" So, of course, we load all 6 chicks into a large metal dog crate... and bring them home (much to my husbands dismay). Luckily, there was a small A-frame coop (4'wide x 8'long x 3' tall) on the property when we bought the house. So the chicks stay in there while I commence researching, designing, and building a more permanent and accessible coop. We soon discover that we have 3 roosters and 3 hens.... crosses between Barred Rock and Light Brahma. We named one of the hens Little Gray because she is the smallest of the three hens and has more white feathers on her head. The roosters are Trump (because his comb fell over), Thing 1 and Thing 2 (because they look almost identical with the exception that T1 has a few feathers on his feet and T2 doesn't). Little Gray laid her first egg on Halloween! It was so tiny!! She immediately followed it with another egg each day for the next 4 days, then took a day off... then laid an egg a day for the next 5 days and then a day off... then laid an egg a day for 4 days... then a red tailed hawk invaded the yard and killed Thing 2.
Which brings me to finally joining this site (I've read so many threads on here while researching other aspects of caring for my birds... just never needed to post). Little Gray has not laid an egg in 5 days now. I try not to fall into an anthropomorphic mindset, but I know that different stresses can cause them to decrease egg production, and rightfully so. I am just curious if Little Gray will lay again. Is there something I can do to help sooth her back into laying (my other two hadn't even started laying yet and still haven't)? Are there any health concerns I need to watch for that can result from not laying her eggs?
as a young kid, my grandmother had chickens, ducks, and geese and it was my job to feed them and collect the eggs, and to help pluck feathers when it was culling time. Unfortunately, after my mother relocated us when I was in middle school, due to one cause or another, we no longer had any chickens around. Skip forward to young adulthood, and one of my sisters marries a rancher, and eventually begins raising chickens... first about 10... then 25.... then 40... and currently around 60+... I jokingly mention snagging a few of her chickens when I get a place only to receive a very definite "get your own". LOL ... sisterly love. Skip forward to this past spring. We bought our first home, with 1 acre of land. I take my 4 year old daughter (Lil Miss) to visit previously mentioned sister and Lil Miss' cousins. We are sitting on her front porch swing holding some of sisters' 8 week old chicks. When I tell Lil Miss to stay with her aunt while I step inside, she replies with "ok mama, I'll stay here with auntie and my chicken"... uh oh. So I go in for a couple minutes, and when I return, Lil Miss has a huge smile on her face and exclaims "MAMA, AUNTIE SAYS WE CAN TAKE ALL THE CHICKS HOME!!" So, of course, we load all 6 chicks into a large metal dog crate... and bring them home (much to my husbands dismay). Luckily, there was a small A-frame coop (4'wide x 8'long x 3' tall) on the property when we bought the house. So the chicks stay in there while I commence researching, designing, and building a more permanent and accessible coop. We soon discover that we have 3 roosters and 3 hens.... crosses between Barred Rock and Light Brahma. We named one of the hens Little Gray because she is the smallest of the three hens and has more white feathers on her head. The roosters are Trump (because his comb fell over), Thing 1 and Thing 2 (because they look almost identical with the exception that T1 has a few feathers on his feet and T2 doesn't). Little Gray laid her first egg on Halloween! It was so tiny!! She immediately followed it with another egg each day for the next 4 days, then took a day off... then laid an egg a day for the next 5 days and then a day off... then laid an egg a day for 4 days... then a red tailed hawk invaded the yard and killed Thing 2.
Which brings me to finally joining this site (I've read so many threads on here while researching other aspects of caring for my birds... just never needed to post). Little Gray has not laid an egg in 5 days now. I try not to fall into an anthropomorphic mindset, but I know that different stresses can cause them to decrease egg production, and rightfully so. I am just curious if Little Gray will lay again. Is there something I can do to help sooth her back into laying (my other two hadn't even started laying yet and still haven't)? Are there any health concerns I need to watch for that can result from not laying her eggs?
We are glad you joined our flock!
