Should I remove whining and crying chickens from my flock?

[JuliaSunshine]

Have you considered an automatic door for your coop?

I have but I don't want to spend that much money to buy one at the moment.
Also I don't want to let them free range when it's not quite bright yet because of predators.

 

[Mrs. K]

You are a bit tight on space, so I think I would try reducing the flock a little bit. It does several things:

• less food competition
• more space
• less pecking order problems due to tight quarters.
• I think the whining might be a sign of tension in the flock.

Sometimes I think people keep birds they really don't like, kind of like these are the birds I got, and they need to be forever friends, I am stuck with them. You really are not. Laying hens are easy to sell.

Mrs K

 

[WingsysRoost]

I have one chicken that just yells very loudly in the morning before the coop door opens. Some of the others join in, but it is mostly the one hen making most of the noise. I can hear her from the moment I go outside to check things in the morning. Some of them just seem to like being loud, it seems. She does it outside of the coop too every time I go outside, especially if there's treats, so I know it isn't likely anything related to them being too crowded.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

You are a bit tight on space, so I think I would try reducing the flock a little bit. It does several things:

• less food competition
• more space
• less pecking order problems due to tight quarters.
• I think the whining might be a sign of tension in the flock.

Sometimes I think people keep birds they really don't like, kind of like these are the birds I got, and they need to be forever friends, I am stuck with them. You really are not. Laying hens are easy to sell.

Mrs K

I wonder if they have 10 square feet of space each, they'll be quiet in the first hour of the morning. I'll add a temporary run next to the coop and find out. I wish I could build a big run for them but we're tight on level surfaces, living in a hill and hardware cloth is so expensive. We have minks here so every inch of a run has to be covered with 1/2" hardware cloth.

And yes, I'm thinking about selling a few hens. Now I can tell which ones I don't really want to keep. But the one I want to sell the most is not a good layer so I feel like I'm dumping her on somebody.
Actually she laid eggs almost every day for 2 weeks or so in late September when she started using a nest box in the shed all by herself. I made that box just for her as she seemed scared of going into the coop.
(She's the bottom of the pecking order and the rooster often shoos her away.)
Another chicken started using that box too but everything was fine other than some whining over the box in the morning.
One day in October, I kept all the chickens in the coop the whole day as nobody was home.
Since then, she stopped laying as far as I can tell. She would loudly scream for a long time before she started laying, so it's easy to tell whether she lays or not.
I wonder if she'll lay better when she feels more safe and comfortable in another flock.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

I have one chicken that just yells very loudly in the morning before the coop door opens. Some of the others join in, but it is mostly the one hen making most of the noise. I can hear her from the moment I go outside to check things in the morning. Some of them just seem to like being loud, it seems. She does it outside of the coop too every time I go outside, especially if there's treats, so I know it isn't likely anything related to them being too crowded.

Same here actually. The problem is the two hens that whine and scream the most just stop making noise as soon as they see me. They all act innocent eager to come out, making only cute and soft sound.

They look look all the same so even leaving a cam won't probably help. A camera can't zoom on their ankle band like Hunan's eyes do.

 

[3KillerBs]

But the one I want to sell the most is not a good layer so I feel like I'm dumping her on somebody.

If you're honest about her laying then it's up to a buyer to decide how important that is. I sold a bunch of hens this fall despite being honest about their age and likely impending molt. Eggs aren't the only reason people keep chickens.

They look look all the same so even leaving a cam won't probably help. A camera can't zoom on their ankle band like Hunan's eyes do.

Maybe a spot of food coloring on the birds' heads to help you tell which is which?

 

[JuliaSunshine]

If you're honest about her laying then it's up to a buyer to decide how important that is. I sold a bunch of hens this fall despite being honest about their age and likely impending molt. Eggs aren't the only reason people keep chickens.



Maybe a spot of food coloring on the birds' heads to help you tell which is which?

Thank you for your advice. I will think more seriously about selling her. But since I've been working a lot on her, I feel attached to and sorry for her and that's why I've kept putting off making a decision about her. But I'll have to sell a few next year anyways as I'll raise a new batch. It's a matter of keeping her in the winter or not.

I didn't know you could use food coloring on their heads. I'll look into that!

 

[3KillerBs]

Thank you for your advice. I will think more seriously about selling her. But since I've been working a lot on her, I feel attached to and sorry for her and that's why I've kept putting off making a decision about her. But I'll have to sell a few next year anyways as I'll raise a new batch. It's a matter of keeping her in the winter or not.

I didn't know you could use food coloring on their heads. I'll look into that!

I believe that some hatcheries use it to mark chicks of different breeds. It's perfectly safe and will wear off/fade out over time.