new coop ?

[gnatboy113]

So me and my daughter have taken up chickens as a hobby , and so far we have 6 bitties that are rhode islands and eleven eggs in incubator. We built a brooder first , then remodel an old builing on my property for a coop . we were waiting on eggs to hatch and bitties to grow when a friend of mine gave a small flock to start with . So now i have 4 riw's , 4 rir's and a rhode island roo . these birds were laying for him at his house when i got them from him . so how long should i expect b fore they start laying in the new coop . Im giving them everything they need and they seem happy in new coop. The second thing is the rir hens were being chased around by other birds at old home . They have some feathers missing off their back as evidence of this . So what can i do to help their feathers to come back in . I dont like haveing hens walking around thith the butts showing .lol

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

When hens are moved to a new location, sometimes they lay an egg or two right away, then stop for a bit--that's the eggs already queued up in the oviduct coming out, then she stops for a bit. Other hens will just not lay for a week or two. I wouldn't worry about it at all unless it's been two weeks and you haven't seen a single egg. The other thing to watch for is whether they are hiding eggs somewhere--I couldn't tell from your post if they range or not.

If you have a rooster, you may always have barebacked chickens. Some birds just seem to lose back feathers to roosters no matter how gentle the roos are, and some hens have tougher feathers. Whether the lost feathers are due to plucking in their old home or the rooster's attention, they will come back when the birds moult (and then the rooster may rub them off again immediately). There are some ways to force a moult, but I don't know that you want to do them--withhold feed for a couple of days, and/or darken the windows so that the birds get less than 10 hours of daylight for a week or so. Personally, I would just let them moult on their own schedule.

I know you don't like seeing the bare backs, but the chickens themselves don't seem to care a bit. It doesn't hurt them or anything, it just doesn't look good. If it really bothers you, you may have to get rid of the rooster or put the boys in a separate location.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

I'm sure you'll be getting eggs soon. Welcome to the site!!

 

[gnatboy113]

Thanks for the reply I only plan on keeping the one roo and he is a gentle fellow , or he seems to b . It has only been a couple of days since the move so I will wait patiently