ccat1
Chirping
- Sep 3, 2015
- 39
- 8
- 72
First off, I am a rookie at the chicken game and have tons of questions/concerns.
I had 4 Copper Maran's, 3 Black and 1 Blue. One of the Black started laying last Wednesday and has layed 5 eggs.
The Blue Copper maran has been seeking out the nesting box. She, like the others is almost 21 weeks old. She doesn't have much of a comb or wattle, but it has changed from pink to red in the past few days. (whether that makes any sense).
Apparently she layed her first egg today. When we got home from teaching school, my wife and I found her standing very still in the chicken tractor and the egg was up in the coop, but not in the nesting box, but about 16" from it.
She didn't move for about 30 mins and could have been standing there for a lot longer. She seemed in shock.
She finally walked out of the tractor but just stood there.
Question.......Is this normal behavior for "some first-timers"? I have Oyster shells offered for them, which she did peck at later on. Will this help the shell develop or is this just something that happens to a few hens?
After about an hour, she did eat a little and went on up to roost at dark.
I think everything is ok with her. Our first hen who layed last week showed no signs of wear, but this one made me concerned.
Again, this is probably a big rookie question, but I just need to know she will pull thru as others have dealt with this before.
Thanks for the help and advice.
ccat1
I had 4 Copper Maran's, 3 Black and 1 Blue. One of the Black started laying last Wednesday and has layed 5 eggs.
The Blue Copper maran has been seeking out the nesting box. She, like the others is almost 21 weeks old. She doesn't have much of a comb or wattle, but it has changed from pink to red in the past few days. (whether that makes any sense).
Apparently she layed her first egg today. When we got home from teaching school, my wife and I found her standing very still in the chicken tractor and the egg was up in the coop, but not in the nesting box, but about 16" from it.
She didn't move for about 30 mins and could have been standing there for a lot longer. She seemed in shock.
She finally walked out of the tractor but just stood there.
Question.......Is this normal behavior for "some first-timers"? I have Oyster shells offered for them, which she did peck at later on. Will this help the shell develop or is this just something that happens to a few hens?
After about an hour, she did eat a little and went on up to roost at dark.
I think everything is ok with her. Our first hen who layed last week showed no signs of wear, but this one made me concerned.
Again, this is probably a big rookie question, but I just need to know she will pull thru as others have dealt with this before.
Thanks for the help and advice.
ccat1
