New chicken mom

[ame4thesky]

This site is fabulous! As a new chicken owner, I've read countless posts on feeding,coops,treats, etc....trying to understand my girls and how to keep them happy. Thank you everyone for all the great tips.

I got my first 3 pullets on July, 13. 2 red rhodies and a black star. They were about a month away from laying. On july 16th, a drunk driver crashed through my fence and hit the coop head on. One of my rhodies was killed and the coop was destroyed. Amazingly two girls made it out alive. A new coop was built and the girls are finally settling in to life in the front yard, while the fence gets rebuilt.

I had my heart set on 3 girls so I contacted the same farm and got a white rhodie. The other two girls seem set on killing her when I try to let them mingle, but the white rhodie has her own coop and run now, so I can slowly bring the flock together.

The white rhodie has been laying perfect eggs since her first day here. The red rhodie laid her first egg this morning and I think she's getting too much calcium somehow. I'd like some advice on it though.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Welcome.
Do you think it is too much calcium because of the inconsistent coloring? It looks more like a floor egg coloring.

At any rate, If you take one of the established flock and put it in time out and put the Rhode Island White in the common quarters to let them become a flock, then reintroduce the bully, it should work.

I wouldn't worry about excess calcium with new layers unless for some reason you are adding calcium to the diet.
Once they start laying regularly and depositing 2 grams of calcium in each shell things should be good.

 

[ame4thesky]

Thank you very much. I will try that. The black star is the leader , so I'll start with her.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas and . Pleased you joined us and are enjoying the chicken lifestyle! Here's a great article on egg formation and abnormalities you might find interesting https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems
Best of luck to you!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

Sorry about the drunk driver and loss of hen. That is certainly something no one plans for when building a coop. Too bad you didn't have an electrified fence to wake him up.

You may want to look up the "Look but, don't touch," method of integrating new birds with established flock.