Distinct possibility. Lack of songbird noises may have also contributed to the ladies nervousness too.There has been a Change in Environment
Ever since the hawk attack and the video I took of the hawk hunting in the trumpet vine, the song birds were non-existant here. I did not see one.
This morning they are back in force. The yard is full of them again.
Does this mean the hawk has moved on? I wonder.
Be persistent. It grew by about 1500 pages while I was working through to now.
She's looking fantastic !
Beautiful fluffy bums! Do I spot a red cochin girl in the bottom of the first picture?
Yes. It is an old drawer a plywood roof to create more nesting box locations.
Yup! She (and the other 2 Cochins) are about 8 months Now, but I don’t think they are laying yet. Her name is Ruby. I could post a pic of her if you would like
Not that I know of. I have Khaki Campbells, Orpingtons, & Rouens; (Khakis are the 'reputed queens' of layers), and have had no reproductive issues yet. My oldest are only 4.5 y. o. though. All of mine lay 5-6 eggs/week for their first couple of years (minus a slow-down when they molt...they molt much slower than chickens). But their eggs are much larger, generally 1.5 - 2 x size of chicken egg.
I'd love to see more pictures of her and the other cochins. I recently acquired 6 blue cochin girls in September and so far I've been impressed with them. They turned 2 last month and are still very reliable layers. They are also now friendly to a certain point. I think if they had had a different upbringing they would be in your face friendly. 1 of the girls has already had a half-hearted broody attempt. That should not surprise me as most of my hens are insanely broody although trying it in December is nuts. They will probably drive me crazy this spring and summer. As far as looks go, they are my brother's favorite of my hens and he likes to pick fights saying they are better looking then my beloved Marans. I had plans to hatch a few Marans x Cochin crosses later in the spring. That is being bumped up sooner then expected. My mom does not think due to their extra fluffy bums that my Marans rooster is able to do his job. She wants to do a test hatch. So now, I agreed starting Jan 1st I will properly store the eggs for hatching and after 14 days whatever I've collected from them is going in the incubator. She thinks I'll be lucky if 1 or 2 hatch, I told her she's crazy and I'm seeing fertile eggs every time I crack one and that Basil is definitely doing his job.
