Good Morning, Y'all! I hope your chickens are keeping you distracted during our quarantine. I have a bit of a dilemma. I have three 2-year-old Australorp hens -- and four 9-week-old chicks (variety of breeds Wyandotte, Sapphire Gem and Midnight Majesty Maran). The ratio for introduction is good and that is where my dilemma lies. One of my Australorp hens (Blue) is having egg laying issues. She'll go a day and then lay one rubber egg (or shell-less) that is followed immediately by an egg with a thin shell. Invariably both get busted and leaves a huge mess on the coop floor. She often lays from the roost, dropping them on top of each other and they shatter. I know it is just her because my other two lay beautiful, hard-shelled eggs daily about the same time and in the nesting boxes. Blue has been doing this for a few months. Occasionally, she will go in and peck at Pink and Green's eggs if I don't get them out in time. One top of this she has never regained her full Australorp body and feathers following molt. Pink and Green are big, beautiful hens.
I feel I need to cull her but am concerned about the ratio of hens/chicks for introduction time. The babies are in their own little coop inside our run and the run is separated by fencing so the two groups can see each other and get to know each other. They have access to the corner of our yard where they can roam, eat bugs and grass, etc. The big hens access the garden and the rest of the yard and can see the babies through the plastic fencing in the yard. We have allowed them to mingle a bit with supervision, but I still don't trust my big mama Pink, and the babies are quite a bit smaller still. I'm waiting until the Maran is about the same size and they are just about ready to eat the big girl food to introduce them to their coop and integrate the flocks.
ALLLL this to say 1) should I cull Blue? 2) Will there be issues with the 2 versus 4 long term? 3) If I cull Blue, do it sooner than later for the two groups to adjust before introduction time?
Thank you in advance for any and all advice! BTW, we can't just leave them separated. We live in the City and our winters in Spokane can get very, very cold. The "mini coop" is just a pallet wood coop--so it's drafty and no nesting boxes--it will serve a purpose for injured birds, etc., after integration. Our big coop is very well built--no drafts, electricity, etc. Again, thank you.
I feel I need to cull her but am concerned about the ratio of hens/chicks for introduction time. The babies are in their own little coop inside our run and the run is separated by fencing so the two groups can see each other and get to know each other. They have access to the corner of our yard where they can roam, eat bugs and grass, etc. The big hens access the garden and the rest of the yard and can see the babies through the plastic fencing in the yard. We have allowed them to mingle a bit with supervision, but I still don't trust my big mama Pink, and the babies are quite a bit smaller still. I'm waiting until the Maran is about the same size and they are just about ready to eat the big girl food to introduce them to their coop and integrate the flocks.
ALLLL this to say 1) should I cull Blue? 2) Will there be issues with the 2 versus 4 long term? 3) If I cull Blue, do it sooner than later for the two groups to adjust before introduction time?
Thank you in advance for any and all advice! BTW, we can't just leave them separated. We live in the City and our winters in Spokane can get very, very cold. The "mini coop" is just a pallet wood coop--so it's drafty and no nesting boxes--it will serve a purpose for injured birds, etc., after integration. Our big coop is very well built--no drafts, electricity, etc. Again, thank you.
