Fun with the chickens and a question

[LindaSmith]

What a fun month so far. My Black Ameraucana has been laying for just over a month now and I average 5 eggs a week. My Barred rock just started laying last week and the first egg was in the middle of the yard and almost a transparent white. The second egg was where it belonged (in the nest box) a mottled white/brown so we'll see what happens next. Yesterday was the first day I got 2 eggs in 1 day. I was thinking wow, we can each have an egg for breakfast but not to be, hubby ate both of them lol! Oh well, there'll be plenty more where these came from.

Now for my questions:
I plan to keep the eggs in a basket on the counter till eaten and am assuming that is safe, right? *I won't wash till I use them and will heat the shells to give back to the girls. I've read this is the way to go so and only hope I am doing right.

The next question is with the 2 new 3 year old girls I got on Sunday, I have them separated but in the same run (I know the owner of these girls and they are fed the exact same food (mine is fermented and hers is not) and most of the same treats as I feed mine. I checked them all over and found no sign of mites or anything. Mine get ACV in their water and garlic in their food and I have yet to see any signs of mites or other critters on mine so these girls are getting the same food/treatment as mine to and they love it so far. I am hoping to eventually have them in the same coop and live in harmony

. Here's the current scene, the RIR growls, almost constantly! I would swear there was a creature other then the hens in the run if I didn't know better, it even got my dog looking for something that wasn't supposed to be there. Is this normal? She is pretty sweet with me if my hens are out of the run but if they are in the run, she but tries to get to the other side to get at the other hens and if they come within 2 feet of the fence, she goes ballistic. Shall I leave them like this or create a darkened barrier so they can't see each other? She flew right over the fence (4 feet) the first minutes they saw each other and jumped right on the back of the barred and grabbed her comb drawing blood. (I treated it with triple antibiotic cream and she seems to be doing fine. You can't even see where it was torn) I put a barrier up so she can't cross over. I've read many posts on integrating hens bur they are for introducing chicks to pullets. I am introducing 3 year old hens to 7 and 8 month olds.
Does anyone have any input to make things easier?

 

[cavemanrich]

Maybe in time they will be able to tolerate each other. Also if they were free range instead of in the run , then maybe introduction would be smoother, Certain breeds are more aggressive than others. If fighting gets to point where injuries are often, you can opt to trim their upper beak some. Never lower because they would not be able to drink water. I know keeping the chicken separated is a pain in the heinie. Wishing you PEACE AND HARMONY AMONG HENS

Now as for your eggs, when you don't wash them , the protective layer keeps them from spoiling. There are of course limitations as to how long you can keep them at room temperatures. Is there a reason you don't want to refrigerate them??

 

[LindaSmith]

I'll take it slowly with them. I want them to live as stress free as possible. I'll try free ranging them this weekend when i have time to keep a closer eye on them and see what happens. I now have a mystery roo, a barred rock, ameracauna as the original flock. The newbies are a leggorn and a RIR. Today seemed to be a lot calmer.
I have a cool egg rack that takes up too much room in my fridge the eggs are always eaten within 3-4 days of laying at the most in my house. We wash just before cracking them open.

 

[ThePRfan]

It's safe,I do this everytime I get eggs.

As for your hens,their just being territorial,or doing a order.She is growling constantly because of the new birds.
RIR's are a aggressive breed and I only hear stories on them,and all end up like this.

Do not seperate/enterrupt this!You'll just make the case worse.

If you want,try a the production red hens.Mines clean,free range ETC with me,and I rarely have this problem,UNLESS i'm introducing new birds,plus,most birds do this.
The Production Red is a territitorial bird,it is mixed with RIRXNewhampshireXa lil bit of leghorn to help egg production;now beware,not all these personalities form;if you don't spend enough time with them!

Good luck!

ThePRfan

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