All 3 chickens stopped laying today

[Florence]

They are not quite POL so proably about 16 weeks i think,not sure at what stage Colombines are usually POL,the breeder said about 2 weeks until she lays ,we could have had a older one but my son chose her!

[LittleOwl]

Well, I think we are sorted! The newbies Honey and Treacle took themselves to bed in the cube last night - and this was Honey's first time without "persuasion" from us. She did stand on the top rung of the ladder for 15 minutes thinking about it but when Rosemary started climbing up there to get to bed she walked into the cube ahead of her. This morning all are well and wandering togther. Even the chasing of them is minimal now.

 

It was a bit sad yesterday when all of the original 7 were piled together having a lovely dustbath together and the 2 little ones were just walking around pecking at the ground, but I'm guessing that at some point soon they will join them in their spa activities!

 

So now all that remains is for them to start laying and let me know whether they will be giving me blue, green or white eggs!!!

[Florence]

Just wondered how things are going,all OK at this end although still waiting for an egg from Marge (now Margo).she is definately bottom of the heap but no feather pecking going on and they are now letting her sleep on the roosting bars and not in the nesting box ,so I am inclined to let them sort it out themselves

[batcatz]

Hi Florence, I'm glad your intro has gone so well!

Mine is coming along nicely now. I let them out for a few hours every day. Dotty still pecks Lucy and there is the occasional neck feathers fluffed up and a two way fight between them. It's much better than it was before though and much less violent. I can let them all out and not have to stand over them anymore. Lucy usually runs away from Dotty then stays outside the group looking all lonely. Yesterday, Dotty and Lucy shared a bowl of cooked potato peelings which I was amazed at! The reason Dotty is pecky is because she thinks all the food is hers.

 

The secret to the improvements is the trusty water sprayer. I only have to hold it and show it to Dotty for her to forget about pecking Lucy. If I'm not holding it she will eventually have a good peck or fight, but a spray soon stops that. So it won't be too much longer before they are one group. Another month?

[batcatz]

Well, I nearly put them all in the eglu last night. I changed my mind as Dotty and Hetty were waiting at the door to be let out of the cat run and put back into their usual coop. I want to see if they will all fit in the eglu.

 

Dotty, Lucy and Bianca are all dust bathing together. There are 4 heads around a bowl of treats and no pecking. I also put them all in the cat run together for intensive bonding sessions. I can just leave them together without supervision. Lucy does have a peck at Hetty, but nothing vicious. They are still a bit confused in the run. Not quite a group of four. A couple more nights and I might put them all in the eglu, but I don't really want to get up at 5am to check on them!