New chicken mum with a few questions - age of chicken / comb / broody?

[urbanchickmum]

Hello, I've never posted on any website before, so hope this works! I'm a relatively new Mum to two chickens. When we bought them (5 weeks ago) we were told they were both between 18 - 20 weeks old. Straight away one started laying, and has laid an egg a day for 5 weeks (she's only not laid for 3 of those days). The other has not yet laid an egg. But her comb is not 'up' yet. It looks like it's still growing. Is that a sign that she's younger than the other, and I don't need to worry that she hasn't laid yet? That's my first question. The second is that I'm fairly sure the layer has turned broody on me.

They both sleep all night in their next boxes, so I have to clean them out each morning, and now the layer (her name is Dorothy) won't come out at all during the day. She is still laying an egg a day, and once she's laid, I've been taking her out of the nest and putting her outside, only for her to go back in again.

I'm figuring with her that my options are to wait until she's laid, then boot her out (nicely!), and block off the nest. BUT, if the second one (Glinda) wants to start laying at some stage, I can't really have the nest blocked off.

I guess I'm looking for reassurance that a) Glinda will eventually start laying, and that b) Dorothy is in fact broody, and perhaps I need to follow other advice on the site and put her in a wire cage for a few days to knock this out of her.

They both have been eating well, but they both seem to be looking on the slim side at the moment, and I'm a little worried.

I hope this post isn't too long, and that someone maybe has some advice or some reassurance for me.

Thank you!

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Welcome!

I always wonder why folks worry that posts are too long? Tell your story in your own way, I say. You did a great job

Glinda will most likely lay when she is ready. One of the problems with buying grown birds is you are relying on the previous owner - you don't really know what you are getting. With chicks, you raise them and so have a history.

You can tell if shes ready by probing her pelvic region. If it is soft and yielding, and you can fit three fingers across her widened pelvic bones, she is not far off. It is also possible that she wont lay; there are those that don't for either physical reasons or "mysterious" ones. Nature is like that.

But for the most part, just be patient. It will come.

AS for Dorothy, it indeed sounds like you have a brood hen on your hands. There is little you can do, without intervention, to stop her - its what she is on this earth for. SHe is intent on fulfilling her purpose.
TO stop her you have to separate her from the nest and make life "uncomfortable" for her. Some recommendations for breaking a broody are:

1. Hang her in a wire cage until she is broken. Only food and water are kept with her.
2. Pen her up in her own yard-square pen, by herself, with only food and water.
3. Remove her eggs quickly each day and hope she gets over it soon.

The first two seem a bit medieval, but are known to work. You may have to resort to one or the other.
Or you can just go with option 3 and leave her be to "do her thing."

Aint chickens fun?

 

[urbanchickmum]

Hi Davaroo - thank you for replying to my post! It's quite a weird feeling posting a note into the world wide ether and then having someone somewhere in the world reply to it - so thank you!

And thank you for your advice. I guess the one question I should have asked is what is the worst that can happen if I don't do anything about Dorothy's broodiness, and you have answered that for me.

I think for now that I will change their setup at night to ensure they sleep on their roosting bars, rather than in their nest, and then go from there. If she is just going to do her thing, and then get over it, then I will give her a while longer to do that and hope nature takes its own course.

And as for Glinda - if she lays she lays - I do hope she will soon, but if she doesn't then I shan't love her any less!

Many thanks for your help. And yes, chickens are fun!!