Hi everyone!
I acquired 10, 10-month-old hens on March 19, four RIRs, 4 Australorps, a New Hampshire Red (absolutely love her), and what might be a black sex link. They were raised together from day one. I've had troubles with two of them, one to the point that we culled her today because she was eating several eggs a day. I added oyster shell calcium to their diet and tried plastic eggs, golf balls, solid wood eggs, and eggs filled with mustard (she'd just wipe her beak off on the bedding and go back to eating the shell), before we ended up making roll-out nest boxes. She outsmarted those, too, figuring out how to crane her neck into it, hook her head around the egg, and roll it back into the box where she could peck it open. She'd stalk and pester the other chickens as they were laying, knowing she'd have a snack soon. That being said, she was also low chicken on the totem pole.
The second chicken is a bully who also has a taste for eggs, but she doesn't appear to be smart enough to retrieve them once they've rolled down the slope into the collection box. She also walks up and down the cover of the collection box when other chickens are laying, even pushing the curtains aside and staring them down, or marching back and forth on the roost and squawking loudly if any of them are in the process of laying. She also pecks at my legs whether I'm bringing them food or collecting eggs.
They all seem to sense something is up, since one of them is missing. Even the bully didn't harass me when I went to secure the coop tonight.
So, my question is, will having the lowest member of the flock removed change the pecking order at all? Is there a chance that the bully will lose her place? If not, how do I go about isolating her for a few days so I don't have to send her to the stew pot as well? I have a 2'x3' wire dog crate I could house her in, but where should I put it? I'm in northern Wisconsin where it's still too cold and wet to leave her outdoors in the crate.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I acquired 10, 10-month-old hens on March 19, four RIRs, 4 Australorps, a New Hampshire Red (absolutely love her), and what might be a black sex link. They were raised together from day one. I've had troubles with two of them, one to the point that we culled her today because she was eating several eggs a day. I added oyster shell calcium to their diet and tried plastic eggs, golf balls, solid wood eggs, and eggs filled with mustard (she'd just wipe her beak off on the bedding and go back to eating the shell), before we ended up making roll-out nest boxes. She outsmarted those, too, figuring out how to crane her neck into it, hook her head around the egg, and roll it back into the box where she could peck it open. She'd stalk and pester the other chickens as they were laying, knowing she'd have a snack soon. That being said, she was also low chicken on the totem pole.
The second chicken is a bully who also has a taste for eggs, but she doesn't appear to be smart enough to retrieve them once they've rolled down the slope into the collection box. She also walks up and down the cover of the collection box when other chickens are laying, even pushing the curtains aside and staring them down, or marching back and forth on the roost and squawking loudly if any of them are in the process of laying. She also pecks at my legs whether I'm bringing them food or collecting eggs.
They all seem to sense something is up, since one of them is missing. Even the bully didn't harass me when I went to secure the coop tonight.
So, my question is, will having the lowest member of the flock removed change the pecking order at all? Is there a chance that the bully will lose her place? If not, how do I go about isolating her for a few days so I don't have to send her to the stew pot as well? I have a 2'x3' wire dog crate I could house her in, but where should I put it? I'm in northern Wisconsin where it's still too cold and wet to leave her outdoors in the crate.
Thanks in advance for any help.
and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about the egg eating problems, they are a pain to deal with. Have you tried pinless peepers on the bully? They are sometimes a good quick fix. Are those two the only ones who were/are egg eating, or are others in the flock also doing it?
