Hi,
This OLD gal is simply AMAZING! I bought her two years ago as a retired battery hen. Im not sure how old they are when they are retired, but I would guess at least 1 ½ years. Since I have her for two years now, that would make her approximately 3 ½ years old (I think). She actually laid 22 eggs in 22 days in a row! And they were always in the morning, so I guess when she laid one, she immediately started working on making another one. So this is how she earned the name Wonder Woman. She has such a troubled history (aside from being a battery hen, which is bad enough in itself), which makes it so much more surprising.
First, she went into a very bad molt (hardly any feathers left--really pathetic looking) and the other girls must have decided they didnt like her appearance and started picking on her mercilessly, even though they had been together for a long time. I had to do something about it (I think they would have killed her--she wasnt allowed to eat or drink) so I put her with my seven pullets. She blended in beautifully and started to re-grow her feathers.
But then DH felt it would be a good idea to blend the pullets in with Wonder Womans old coop mates and I knew I couldnt let Wonder Woman back with them. They had all seen each other for a long time through a chain link fence and they adjusted very well, but I took Wonder Woman out and put her with my Silkies (and a few other assorted birds, including Olive). Well, my girl Olive (an EE which is so named for laying olive green eggs) took an instant dislike to Wonder Woman and harassed her terribly. So I took Olive out and put her with the pullets, which were now integrated with Wonder Womans old coop mates--I know this gets confusing!
No one seemed to like Olive too much but she has a much stronger, more aggressive personality than Wonder Woman and after a week or so, it was like she was there forever. Wonder Woman settled in with the six Silkies and the remaining others (one Frizzle, one Sizzle, one Polish, and an unknown small Bantam) very peacefully. She also developed a very friendly personality instead of being scared about who would pick on her.
I know I am probably wrong to switch the girls around like that and should let them work things out, but I just cant stand watching the bullying that goes on because of this pecking order thing. Its a good thing I have 4 separate coops with runs so I can kind of sort them out!
Aside from her age, Wonder Woman had just gone through such a bad molt that I really didnt expect any eggs for a while. But one day, I found a very large, very dark brown egg that I knew couldnt come from anyone else in the coop. Wonder Woman was sold to me as an RIR, but I believe she is really some kind of red sexlink (perhaps Golden Comet?) due to her light reddish coloring and some white feathers. She had previously been with others that laid eggs similar to hers (the ones that wound up picking on her) and I never really knew who laid which egg but, in this group, her egg really stands out!
Another surprising thing is the quality of the eggs--very strong shells and only an occasional small blood/meat spot, nothing worse than I get from many of my much younger girls.
At first, I didnt keep track of how many eggs she laid in a row but then I realized I was very regularly getting these beautiful large (actually Jumbo+ at an average of 2.6 ounces each) dark brown eggs. The first time I kept track, she laid 17 in a row, then skipped just one day and laid 22 eggs in a row. After that, it became extremely cold out and she went through a short irregular period where she would lay 2 or 3 days in a row and then skip a day. Now she is getting back up there--the last time she laid 8 days in a row and now she is on day 9 (so far) without skipping. I wish my others (younger ones) would do as well!
Here is Wonder Woman! She is checking out my little Sizzle. She is very docile and never does any harm to the little ones
This is one of her GORGEOUS dark brown eggs
This is Olive, the troublemaker. She really never gave anyone trouble except poor Wonder Woman. Now that she is in a coop with others as tough as herself, there are no more problems
Just had to share!
Genie
This OLD gal is simply AMAZING! I bought her two years ago as a retired battery hen. Im not sure how old they are when they are retired, but I would guess at least 1 ½ years. Since I have her for two years now, that would make her approximately 3 ½ years old (I think). She actually laid 22 eggs in 22 days in a row! And they were always in the morning, so I guess when she laid one, she immediately started working on making another one. So this is how she earned the name Wonder Woman. She has such a troubled history (aside from being a battery hen, which is bad enough in itself), which makes it so much more surprising.
First, she went into a very bad molt (hardly any feathers left--really pathetic looking) and the other girls must have decided they didnt like her appearance and started picking on her mercilessly, even though they had been together for a long time. I had to do something about it (I think they would have killed her--she wasnt allowed to eat or drink) so I put her with my seven pullets. She blended in beautifully and started to re-grow her feathers.
But then DH felt it would be a good idea to blend the pullets in with Wonder Womans old coop mates and I knew I couldnt let Wonder Woman back with them. They had all seen each other for a long time through a chain link fence and they adjusted very well, but I took Wonder Woman out and put her with my Silkies (and a few other assorted birds, including Olive). Well, my girl Olive (an EE which is so named for laying olive green eggs) took an instant dislike to Wonder Woman and harassed her terribly. So I took Olive out and put her with the pullets, which were now integrated with Wonder Womans old coop mates--I know this gets confusing!
No one seemed to like Olive too much but she has a much stronger, more aggressive personality than Wonder Woman and after a week or so, it was like she was there forever. Wonder Woman settled in with the six Silkies and the remaining others (one Frizzle, one Sizzle, one Polish, and an unknown small Bantam) very peacefully. She also developed a very friendly personality instead of being scared about who would pick on her.
I know I am probably wrong to switch the girls around like that and should let them work things out, but I just cant stand watching the bullying that goes on because of this pecking order thing. Its a good thing I have 4 separate coops with runs so I can kind of sort them out!
Aside from her age, Wonder Woman had just gone through such a bad molt that I really didnt expect any eggs for a while. But one day, I found a very large, very dark brown egg that I knew couldnt come from anyone else in the coop. Wonder Woman was sold to me as an RIR, but I believe she is really some kind of red sexlink (perhaps Golden Comet?) due to her light reddish coloring and some white feathers. She had previously been with others that laid eggs similar to hers (the ones that wound up picking on her) and I never really knew who laid which egg but, in this group, her egg really stands out!
Another surprising thing is the quality of the eggs--very strong shells and only an occasional small blood/meat spot, nothing worse than I get from many of my much younger girls.
At first, I didnt keep track of how many eggs she laid in a row but then I realized I was very regularly getting these beautiful large (actually Jumbo+ at an average of 2.6 ounces each) dark brown eggs. The first time I kept track, she laid 17 in a row, then skipped just one day and laid 22 eggs in a row. After that, it became extremely cold out and she went through a short irregular period where she would lay 2 or 3 days in a row and then skip a day. Now she is getting back up there--the last time she laid 8 days in a row and now she is on day 9 (so far) without skipping. I wish my others (younger ones) would do as well!
Here is Wonder Woman! She is checking out my little Sizzle. She is very docile and never does any harm to the little ones
This is one of her GORGEOUS dark brown eggs
This is Olive, the troublemaker. She really never gave anyone trouble except poor Wonder Woman. Now that she is in a coop with others as tough as herself, there are no more problems
Just had to share!
