Single hen

[beckyfitz]

... a few questions!

Our clever girls laid their first egg on Manday & we have had one every day since. The first two were big - 72g, & one was a double yolk. The subsequent eggs have been considerably smaller. Is this normal for one hen or could it be they are both laying? I haven't been able to tell yet who's laying but my gut instinct tells me its Ginny, who has always looked slightly bigger & more mature, & that Molly hasnt started yet. Me & the boys had dippy eggs for breakfast at the end of the week & were surprised to find the yolk so near the top, whereas usually its near the bottom - is this because they were so fresh? & the golden yolk colour is totally gorgeous

And just a quickie... I have started to only let the 'girls' out now when the boys are in as they are so pecky. My 6 year old is even a bit nervous of them now as they seem to chase him around & my two year old is terrified since they steal his biscuits ( have learnt from that one!) & peck every bit of exposed flesh, particularly toes. I have even had to stop wearing my Crocs in the garden as they won't stop pecking my toes through the holes!!!

Any advice? We are so proud of them & keep telling them how clever they are but they do seem to be naughty chikens when they are allowed out!

Becky XXX

[robskyd]

Our 3 sound exactly the same as yours. If there's a case of them being 'over tame' then we have it. They aren't afraid of anybody now and will have a nibble of anything they think is food. Especially painted toe nails (the wife's, not mine!!)

 

As for your eggs we were the same again. We had a couple of double yolkers and different sizes but now after a couple of months they have all settled down.

[arowland17]

I'll be interested in seeing responses to this, our 2 are very pecky too, they don't go for exposed toes so much as long as you stay aware but my mum got pecked on the toe very hard the other day and the chicken in question managed to draw blood so they're not little pecks to see if it is worth eating, they're full blown bites!!

regarding eggs, I was positive the larger and redder-combed chicken was responsible for our first ones but then we caught little buttercup in the act of laying!! all our first eggs were little, and have gradually got bigger apart from one little one about a month in!

[petite70]

Will have had my 4 girls for 3 weeks and still no sign of any eggs so i am soo jealous of you all. I have 4 sons and the youngest is nearly 2 and the hennys love him (he keeps feeding them cheese and onion crisps) and i caught him giving them his juice too.

Just wondered how long have you had your hennys?

[arowland17]

ours didn't lay til they were about 25 weeks old, so we had about a 3 weeks wait and waiting is the worst bit, everyday we were out there checking!!

about a week before they start laying they'll start crouching if you try to pick them up, and their combs will redden up (although our had quite red combs anyway so didn't notice a difference in that)

also, our were free-ranging most of the day when we had some time off work, and the first couple of eggs were laid in the garden so keep an eye out for eggs in flower beds etc!!

[cutechicky]

I have been told that you can train them...but I can imagine it taking a long time! I tried to train mine not to go near our back door but they persisted on coming in the house to see whats going on! Now I shut the door and they spend half their day looking in the kitchen window and snoozing outside the back door in the hope that I will open it and let them in! Well they wouldn't be the same if they weren't cheeky. We like them that way right?

[Jules.]

Becky I would advise you never to let your children out in the garden unless they are fully dressed. Ethan once went outside wearing only a tshirt & got a delicate part of his body pecked

[superjules]

Ethan once went outside wearing only a tshirt & got a delicate part of his body pecked

 

I know i shouldn't laugh, but

[BeckyBoo]

Becky, I think they should settle don eventually, ours used to peck everything and anything to see if they could eat it, now they know what's edible and what's not (as far as we are concerned anyway!) They don't even peck my fingers now when I'm trying to lock and unlock the padlock to the run and have my fingers half way through the wire, so give them a bit of time and they will know which bits taste nice! Also like you said, never let your kids out there with food unless its for the chooks, my smallest boy (2) STILL hasn't learnt and every so often comes in crying cos they've stolen his banana / biscuit / apple/ sandwich etc etc

 

It might help if you have a treat bowl - ours is an old chicken roasting tin so the chooks know they can have whatevers in it!!

 

Mrs Bertie