INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

DS's silly serama (Coge) has OCD. She keeps hoping the fence to get our attention. After getting tired of throwing her back into the chicken area, I put her in a mini coop that currently has some older chicks. (I figured it would at least keep her safe & prevent her from wandering all over the place.) That's where she laid her 1st egg. She was harassing the young pullets in the mini coop, so I let her out & the rest of the day was normal.

Same thing kept happening the next day until I contained her inside the mini coop again. 2nd egg was made. Once again, I knew she wanted out when I heard the squawks of the young pullets.

So today I found the silly serama wandering around inside the garage. I decided to try to break this weird habit by locking her up inside the main coop. 2 nest boxes were in use, but 2 were empty. About 10 min later there was such a ruckus. Not only were the birds inside the coop making noise, but the rooster & several other hens outside were also "singing." It was so loud I honestly thought there was a predator nearby. When I opened the coop all 3 females ran out - without leaving a single egg!

Coge made a run for the garage, so I quickly shut the doors. She circled all the way around and was unsuccessful at gaining entry. Then she stopped next to the mini coop & tried to get inside. As soon as I opened the lid to the nest box, she flew up and jumped in. Less than 5 min later, I heard the squawks letting me know that it was time for Coge to leave the mini coop. Sure enough, she made her 3rd egg.


How do I break her of this habit? (She really seems to want me to put her inside the mini coop to lay her egg & then wants out as soon as she's done.)
This is a lot of effort for a tiny, 1 inch egg!

Tillie's egg (DS's Leghorn) & Coge's egg (DS's serama)

 

[oldrooster]

DS's silly serama (Coge) has OCD. She keeps hoping the fence to get our attention. After getting tired of throwing her back into the chicken area, I put her in a mini coop that currently has some older chicks. (I figured it would at least keep her safe & prevent her from wandering all over the place.) That's where she laid her 1st egg. She was harassing the young pullets in the mini coop, so I let her out & the rest of the day was normal.

Same thing kept happening the next day until I contained her inside the mini coop again. 2nd egg was made. Once again, I knew she wanted out when I heard the squawks of the young pullets.

So today I found the silly serama wandering around inside the garage. I decided to try to break this weird habit by locking her up inside the main coop. 2 nest boxes were in use, but 2 were empty. About 10 min later there was such a ruckus. Not only were the birds inside the coop making noise, but the rooster & several other hens outside were also "singing." It was so loud I honestly thought there was a predator nearby. When I opened the coop all 3 females ran out - without leaving a single egg!

Coge made a run for the garage, so I quickly shut the doors. She circled all the way around and was unsuccessful at gaining entry. Then she stopped next to the mini coop & tried to get inside. As soon as I opened the lid to the nest box, she flew up and jumped in. Less than 5 min later, I heard the squawks letting me know that it was time for Coge to leave the mini coop. Sure enough, she made her 3rd egg.


How do I break her of this habit?
This is a lot of effort for a tiny, 1 inch egg!

View attachment 1908692
Tillie's egg (DS's Leghorn) & Coge's egg (DS's serama)

I have no idea how to help, but just be thankful she's using A nesting box, not the one she's supposed to, but she gets an A for effort in my book....

 

[BACOG]

Anybody from the Elberfeld area?

 

[Faraday40]

I have no idea how to help, but just be thankful she's using A nesting box, not the one she's supposed to, but she gets an A for effort in my book....

Thanks, but I feel like her servant.

She comes looking for me and is a pain until I put her in the nest..... and then calls me back when she's done.

When winter comes, this serama (& our other "useless chickens") will move into the mini coop and put on the back porch. Hopefully the chicks currently residing in there will be sold. Seramas cannot take our cold winters, so Coge will have to be assimilated into the little "useless chicken" flock. Laying eggs in that mini coop is what she'll have to do in a month, so I suppose she's just early. She'll 1st have to make a transition. The bantams have their own pecking order sort of outside the main flock. In the nicer seasons they sleep in the main coop at night and use a chicken tractor during the day. (DD won't risk hawk attacks, so her useless chickens are escorted back & forth each day.)


.... I can't understand why they think humans are their servants.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I have a rooster question. 3 of my 6 birds are male. I doubt ill have much luck rehoming two of them since I see quite a lot of posts mentioning a rooster abundance and I really doin't want to cull if I don't have to. Since this is my first go-round I was hoping for a bit of advice. I see them as backyard pets, so I don't want to create a situation where they are miserable trying to kill each other

Ugh, hard to rehome. Wish you luck. This year has been rooster overload for us too, currently have 14 that are freezer bound. When roosters mature you will see the alfa fella. They will fight, I have a coop for roosters only. I am really picky who I keep he has to be gentle and care for his hens.

DS's silly serama (Coge) has OCD. She keeps hoping the fence to get our attention. After getting tired of throwing her back into the chicken area, I put her in a mini coop that currently has some older chicks. (I figured it would at least keep her safe & prevent her from wandering all over the place.) That's where she laid her 1st egg. She was harassing the young pullets in the mini coop, so I let her out & the rest of the day was normal.

Same thing kept happening the next day until I contained her inside the mini coop again. 2nd egg was made. Once again, I knew she wanted out when I heard the squawks of the young pullets.

So today I found the silly serama wandering around inside the garage. I decided to try to break this weird habit by locking her up inside the main coop. 2 nest boxes were in use, but 2 were empty. About 10 min later there was such a ruckus. Not only were the birds inside the coop making noise, but the rooster & several other hens outside were also "singing." It was so loud I honestly thought there was a predator nearby. When I opened the coop all 3 females ran out - without leaving a single egg!

Coge made a run for the garage, so I quickly shut the doors. She circled all the way around and was unsuccessful at gaining entry. Then she stopped next to the mini coop & tried to get inside. As soon as I opened the lid to the nest box, she flew up and jumped in. Less than 5 min later, I heard the squawks letting me know that it was time for Coge to leave the mini coop. Sure enough, she made her 3rd egg.


How do I break her of this habit? (She really seems to want me to put her inside the mini coop to lay her egg & then wants out as soon as she's done.)
This is a lot of effort for a tiny, 1 inch egg!

View attachment 1908692
Tillie's egg (DS's Leghorn) & Coge's egg (DS's serama)

Confine her is theonly way so she learns where the nest box is.

Anybody from the Elberfeld area?

I'm in Ingalls, welcome!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

We leave for our vacation October 4th. Last vacation was 2005! Dad care is set up and we will be an hour away. Farm care is arranged. I have 1 cow due and 1 goat due this month, ugh. 2 broodies a Muscovy and a BCM pullet. A bit nervous about it but think my DB has got this.
Really need this time away. I love my farm, these critters and what we've built here. Need to recharge and just not fuss and worry a few days.

 

[Faraday40]

Here's the little serama "Coge" that I've been talking about. She's certainly not the prettiest chicken we've ever had, but her personality more than makes up for it. She sort of melts like a silkie when being held.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My DB went to TSC in Anderson to pick up feed today. Came back with $1 chicks and ducklings. 2 SLW several BSL and some Sapphire gem layer pullets. Think he got 5 pekins, 2 are ducks for sure not drakes. So TSC is selling out for the season! Check your local Tractor supply for deals.
Bad time of year to start chicks or ducklings but I cannot hatch them that cheap. They also had several black white top polish chicks but I don't care to keep bantam sized birds again. If I do it will be old English game or Seabrights.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Not been on here much lately but many of us are planning our keepers for winter. What breed is working out for you? Myself I know my leghorns produce well. My Bresse are near POL and BCM are already laying.
I do start new layers late summer so we are not eggless in February!

 

[pginsber]

We hatched one bator full this year--3 out of 10 made it, 2 made it to coop life. They're integrating into the coop life this week. A few scratches and chasing, but otherwise all is good. Here's a picture of Loretta, our NN/Aracauna mix:

And the other chick, Sully, a roo--Aracauna/Norwegian Jaerhon cross:

We tried to hatch a second bator, but only 1 of 11 eggs made it to lockdown, and that one was dead in shell and never hatched. Our rooster is Aracauna, and that breed is known to have poor fertilization rates and a lethal gene. I just didn't expect it to be like that. Anyways...

While I was observing the behaviors of the babies & old one in the coop yard, I got a few current pics of some of the flock. They're molting, so they're not looking fabulous right now:
Some old gals just checking thing out: