Non-layer

[Mrs. K]

Well, I would not take a battery chicken due to the possibility of bringing in a disease to your remaining birds. Course with just two birds, you are not risking a lot, but I never take birds I feel sorry for. Too much risk.

It is pretty difficult to quarantine in most backyard set ups, and there is no cheating at quarantine. If you don't do it all and proper, you may as well not do it at all.

Another issue with chickens are when they are past 2-3 years, they lay larger eggs, but less eggs each year, and many birds naturally die around 3-4 years. Unless I am wrong, I assume that battery birds are production birds that they sell, because they are at the end of their high performance.

Good luck with the butchering, the worst is the first one, but there is a pride in being able to do a difficult job. Do rest the carcass in the fridge for 2-3 days before cooking it, and it will be more tender. And stewing a bird of this age would be best!

Oh as for the remaining birds, mine seldom act any differently. Just slip her off the roost as night. When they wake up she will be gone, no trauma at all.

If space is not an issue, get two or even 3 birds, introducing two birds to two birds is much better than introducing one strange bird to two territorial birds. A see no touch for a couple of days makes this work much better.


Mrs K

 

[Kilm]

Well, I would not take a battery chicken due to the possibility of bringing in a disease to your remaining birds. Course with just two birds, you are not risking a lot, but I never take birds I feel sorry for. Too much risk.

It is pretty difficult to quarantine in most backyard set ups, and there is no cheating at quarantine. If you don't do it all and proper, you may as well not do it at all.

Another issue with chickens are when they are past 2-3 years, they lay larger eggs, but less eggs each year, and many birds naturally die around 3-4 years. Unless I am wrong, I assume that battery birds are production birds that they sell, because they are at the end of their high performance.

Good luck with the butchering, the worst is the first one, but there is a pride in being able to do a difficult job. Do rest the carcass in the fridge for 2-3 days before cooking it, and it will be more tender. And stewing a bird of this age would be best!

Oh as for the remaining birds, mine seldom act any differently. Just slip her off the roost as night. When they wake up she will be gone, no trauma at all.

If space is not an issue, get two or even 3 birds, introducing two birds to two birds is much better than introducing one strange bird to two territorial birds. A see no touch for a couple of days makes this work much better.


Mrs K

Some good advice, thank you. My neighbour hasn't had any issues with battery - they come full vaccinated and in relatively good condition. Perhaps the term battery is a touch misleading as to how they're kept.

I think we could definitely do with at least two more though. The neighbours have developed quite a taste for bum warm eggs!

 

[Kilm]

I now wonder if the non-layer reads BYC and has had a moment of reflection.

Went out this morning to open their door / clean the poop, and I find a crushed and broken egg at the back of the hut, down between the grating.

Both my layers gave me an egg each yesterday and none of them have ever laid more than once in a day, so I doubt it would be them. They also lay in the bed, never the perches.

The only thing I've changed in the last few days is how their food is presented to them. Given the hot weather, I've been putting out a tub of layer pellets and corn soaked in some water. The three of them are demolishing this on a daily basis, so I wonder if the NL is getting more food in and has no choice but to fire out an egg.

I'll keep a watch, I might try and get a wee IR camera in so I can see who does it if it happens again.

My question is: from them voluntarily going to bed (no eggs) and until now was 8 hours. Is it likely in that time that the NL could lay and, more importantly, could she then crush the egg by accident? The shell was in one piece, but just collapsed in on itself with the yolk everywhere. Nothing to suggest it had been pecked to bits.

The plot thickens!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Was the crushed egg hard shelled or soft shelled? Do the 2 layers both lay the same color of eggs, or can you tell the difference?

If it's hard shelled and can't be IDed by color/texture/shape as belonging to the other 2, then it's possibly from your non layer. Soft shelled, then it's possibly from any one of the birds, as a bird laying more than 1 egg a day isn't the norm and can sometimes result in a soft shell even if the bird normally lays eggshells without issues.