My 1.5 year old barred rock is not laying at this time. Since fall, she has been harassed and picked on by the other three hens to the point of drawing blood. One other hen in particular seemed to do most of the damage. Honestly, the other hens just terrorized her to the point where I can't even imagine she had enough time to sit in the nest box to even lay an egg. She was one stressed out chicken.
We separated her in early December. She is living in our basement in her very own cushy cage and she has calmed down a lot. We regulate her light to about 12-14 hours/day.
She can generally free range on the weekends with the other hens without problems (one other hen continues to chase her a bit), but we still keep her separated at night and during the day. Her comb has been very small and orangey for a couple months now. (Back in October, it seemed to get small almost overnight, which was my signal that she probably stopped laying at that point). She's alert and appears to be in good health. Her pecking wounds have healed nicely. She has put some weight back on and she's much calmer now.
I understand she's been stressed and it may take her some time to recover. Anyone have an idea of how long it may take for her to start laying again? Not that I'm in any hurry as my other three hens are crankin' out the eggs.
We separated her in early December. She is living in our basement in her very own cushy cage and she has calmed down a lot. We regulate her light to about 12-14 hours/day.
She can generally free range on the weekends with the other hens without problems (one other hen continues to chase her a bit), but we still keep her separated at night and during the day. Her comb has been very small and orangey for a couple months now. (Back in October, it seemed to get small almost overnight, which was my signal that she probably stopped laying at that point). She's alert and appears to be in good health. Her pecking wounds have healed nicely. She has put some weight back on and she's much calmer now.
I understand she's been stressed and it may take her some time to recover. Anyone have an idea of how long it may take for her to start laying again? Not that I'm in any hurry as my other three hens are crankin' out the eggs.
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