Ok, new to chickens anad it's been great so far. Then 4 of the 10 began to lay eggs. Bernadette, my dominant (RIR) hen started first and has become not just a nest hog, but a COOP hog! Is this normal?
I watched for 2 hrs today as she was doing the egg-laying dance, in and out of nest boxes, around the feeder, up on the roost, corner to corner and repeat. While she was "dancing", two other hens came in to lay. Bernadette flapped wings, chest-bumped, and pecked the other two so badly they fled back to the safety of the run!
She then kept the others out of the coop until she finished laying, on the floor!
Will she mellow out (she's only been laying a week) or should she go in the stew pot?
I watched for 2 hrs today as she was doing the egg-laying dance, in and out of nest boxes, around the feeder, up on the roost, corner to corner and repeat. While she was "dancing", two other hens came in to lay. Bernadette flapped wings, chest-bumped, and pecked the other two so badly they fled back to the safety of the run!
She then kept the others out of the coop until she finished laying, on the floor!
Will she mellow out (she's only been laying a week) or should she go in the stew pot?