Would you send her to freezer camp - advice please!

[Patricia Jane]

Quote:
x2. I'd give her a little chance to make amends. If you decide to do the deed then I would stick with 5. It's too hard (IMHO) to introduce just one chicken to 5 that are acclimated. Of course if it was me I would expand the coop and add more. Darn chicken math.

Good luck with what ever you do.

 

[lcammack]

Quote:
I don't think that their coop is to small, (it is 6 feet by 6 feet so actually they have 6sq ft per bird) we built it ourselves and it is extremely over built and we did a lot of research on here first. It also is walk in height and they have a lot of floor and roost space because of all the good ideas we found on BYC. But I do agree with everyone that if we did cull her we would only have five chickens, I would not even think about trying to introduce a single hen, she would be tormented for sure. They also have a very large outdoor area and are able to free range during the day.

I wanted to thank everyone for their opinions, I think we will wait until spring and see what happens. Fingers crossed she will start to send some eggs our way!

Happy New Year everyone!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Quote:
x2. I'd give her a little chance to make amends. If you decide to do the deed then I would stick with 5. It's too hard (IMHO) to introduce just one chicken to 5 that are acclimated. Of course if it was me I would expand the coop and add more. Darn chicken math.

Good luck with what ever you do.

x3 Some just take longer.

 

[bobbi-j]

It all depends on why you want chickens in the first place. If it's mainly for egg production, you need to take in consideration the fact that she's been a problem layer all along, and possibly won't improve, even if she does start laying again. Then she should go. If it's for a pet, keep her. You need to do what you think is right for her. I see you have decided to wait till spring, so I guess you'll know then.

 

[lcammack]

Yep I think we will give her a couple of months, but if we start getting soft eggs from her again or absolutely no eggs we will have to make a tough choice. We got these hens for eggs although they all have names and are very close to being pets. But I would rather give the hens that are laying consistently more room then feed a hen that does not lay at all.

 

[bobbi-j]

Yeah, I'm one to give them a chance, too. You're doing what I would do in your shoes. It's a hard decision, but if you go into chicken-raising knowing that someday you may have to cull one of your birds, (regardless of how you do it) it's much easier to handle when the time comes.

 

[lcammack]

I will probably make sure that the girls and I are gone that day if thats what we have to do. I'm sure my DH would rather handle that one on his own.

 

[spiritdance]

Six sq ft per large fowl bird is not enough. they need a MINIMUM of 10 sq ft each, and that, IMHO, is actually cramped. And crowding can definitely influence laying ... whenever any necessary resources are diminished - and space is a necessary resource - the least dominant hens will often stop laying (or just not start). It could be that this bird is just quirky, but if it were me I would most definitely give them more room even if you do decide to cull and replace.

 

[teach1rusl]

I believe the OP is referring to a 6x6 coop shelter, not including outdoor space.
I'm glad you're waiting OP. I tend to agree with some of the other posters that something may be wrong with her reprod. organs...I've had that happen with a young hen before myself (ended up an internal layer who died on her own). But there's always a possibility that it's short days/molting related (some molters are barely noticeable, few feathers here/few feathers there)...two of my spring birds are molting. In a small flock, what she eats over the next two months or so won't make a noticeable difference most likely. And most likely you're not going to try to introduce a single bird over the winter time anyhow, if you tried to replace her. Procrastination rules!!

Crossing my fingers for your girl to start laying by Feb/March.

 

[silkiechicken]

I'd eat her.

Not all birds make good layers. Sounds like something is up with her egg factory, which I doubt is going to fix itself if it hasn't already.