strangeanimal
Songster
Hello there to who is reading this on BYC 
,
About a few weeks ago it has been very problematique with my old flock , I adopted two hens that needed to be rehomed and were for free and the problems started . One of them had anxiety attacks constantly due sevear abuse by its previous owner , she couldn't manage at all , not even in a total new and safe envirement , when I wanted to scoop her up gently and accidentally touched her back she went into some kind of shock and she just needed way too much time and help to get back ' to earth ' so I already had to cull one , later on many chickens had issues defending themselves because the peckingorder got disturbed as my roo was borrowed to some neighbours , no roo you'd say , but think again , I had a Barred Rock hen ... that was the roo , and not just one , quite some rooster she was ! LOL but the flock started to become smaller and smaller because they moved to my small backyard as I got complaints about the chickens running around on my ground were houses are rented and as owner you need to take your responsibility in that , make a decision in keeping the people who rent or keeping the birds tthere , so I took a mixture of the hens to my backyard , back there a sudden outbreak of desease occured , So now only a few are left but not at my place ( they are still with the vet and will unlikely come back home ) , now I'm having some good news I do like to share first of all but secondly I do like to prepare myself for what I am going to tell you ...
New chickens !!!!! I am since yesterday walking around with an idiotic smile on my face because I am thrilled and nervous at same time ! Because I do not want to take any risks anymore I have chosen to adopt young hens , all already vaccinated etc yet some of them should lay and some of them are not laying yet , honestly I have zero experience in young chickens close to laying eggs because the old flock I had was one I inharited from my old man so now I'm busy reading a lot about young hens but still so many goes trough my mind and therefor I turn myself to the BYC , knowing that here are many people with a lot of experience vs knowledge .
Some (perhaps even stupid or dumb ) questions :
1. I had a young chicken recently that had began to lay but could not lay her egg due the fact the bones on the bottom were not yet spread ( the three finger test between those bones , just above the cloaca ) , how can I avoid my new chickens to have eggs that riped of and have to get out if they are still too young ??
2.secondly , how do I know which hen is about to lay or has to lay and how can I give them the best comfort so they would lay their eggs ??
3. what kind of feed is best to give to a young laying one and a young hen that shouldn't lay yet , can they all get the same food ? I usually give laying mash which is already mixed up with grains ?
All input very much appreciated since this is totally new to me yet I do look forward and am preparing !!
Lots of sunny greetings ,
and ty in advance !
,About a few weeks ago it has been very problematique with my old flock , I adopted two hens that needed to be rehomed and were for free and the problems started . One of them had anxiety attacks constantly due sevear abuse by its previous owner , she couldn't manage at all , not even in a total new and safe envirement , when I wanted to scoop her up gently and accidentally touched her back she went into some kind of shock and she just needed way too much time and help to get back ' to earth ' so I already had to cull one , later on many chickens had issues defending themselves because the peckingorder got disturbed as my roo was borrowed to some neighbours , no roo you'd say , but think again , I had a Barred Rock hen ... that was the roo , and not just one , quite some rooster she was ! LOL
but the flock started to become smaller and smaller because they moved to my small backyard as I got complaints about the chickens running around on my ground were houses are rented and as owner you need to take your responsibility in that , make a decision in keeping the people who rent or keeping the birds tthere , so I took a mixture of the hens to my backyard , back there a sudden outbreak of desease occured , So now only a few are left but not at my place ( they are still with the vet and will unlikely come back home ) , now I'm having some good news I do like to share first of all but secondly I do like to prepare myself for what I am going to tell you ...New chickens !!!!!
I am since yesterday walking around with an idiotic smile on my face because I am thrilled and nervous at same time ! Because I do not want to take any risks anymore I have chosen to adopt young hens , all already vaccinated etc yet some of them should lay and some of them are not laying yet , honestly I have zero experience in young chickens close to laying eggs because the old flock I had was one I inharited from my old man so now I'm busy reading a lot about young hens but still so many goes trough my mind and therefor I turn myself to the BYC , knowing that here are many people with a lot of experience vs knowledge . Some (perhaps even stupid or dumb ) questions :
1. I had a young chicken recently that had began to lay but could not lay her egg due the fact the bones on the bottom were not yet spread ( the three finger test between those bones , just above the cloaca ) , how can I avoid my new chickens to have eggs that riped of and have to get out if they are still too young ??
2.secondly , how do I know which hen is about to lay or has to lay and how can I give them the best comfort so they would lay their eggs ??
3. what kind of feed is best to give to a young laying one and a young hen that shouldn't lay yet , can they all get the same food ? I usually give laying mash which is already mixed up with grains ?
All input very much appreciated since this is totally new to me yet I do look forward and am preparing !!
Lots of sunny greetings ,
and ty in advance !
