She has MAJOR attitude issues and chases the dogs and cat out of the yard. She picks on her sisters and doesn't like to be touched. I have threatened her with words like "dinner" and "crock-pot" but nothing has improved.
I know there are a few people that read this blog (Linda Brown, Colton Finch) that know a little sumpin' about chickens, so let me know if you have any ideas as to what we can do to get her into laying.
Doris and Daisy and just perfect. They lay every morning at 9am and are really great at keeping bugs and slugs out of our yard. They are really friendly birds and I will go as far as to say that I LOVE my girls :)
Can't you tell that they love me too!?
3 comments:
first, not all women and meant to make babies, she probably wants to die alone as a spinster. might as well eat her.
second, you look JUST LIKE YOUR MOM in that pic. wow!
I could offer some suggestions, but I really have no idea. Since I know you probably lose sleep at night, I'll give you my thoughts on reasons why a chicken might not lay anyway:
1) She is too young (not the case here)
2) She is too old (also not the case)
3) She is molting (are there feathers everywhere?)
4) She isn't getting enough light or nutrition (this is probably not the case, since the other hens are laying, but if you want them to keep going strong all winter you will want a timer with the light bulb in their house to keep them thinking "Spring" with 12-14 hours of light each day. Also, if she felt like starting to lay right as her body clock said "shut down for winter", she may just do nothing for the next 3 or 4 months. If you want to wait this long, then I'm sure she won't be able to resist the increasing daylight and warmer temperatures of spring. If she still does, she's a freak and you should eat her. If you DON'T want to wait this long, ask yourself if 2 eggs a day is enough, and if the answer is yes, eat her right now while she's young and delicious.)
5) She is having a hormonal issue because there aren't any roosters around. This may be the case, since she seems to be behaving like a rooster, too. Sometimes hens get all weird and switch gender roles and can even start crowing if there isn't a rooster around to do it. It may be temporary, or she may be screwed up for life.
I agree with your friend Colton. My first instinct was maybe she is not getting enough nutrition and light.Light is a biggie for some of these critters.
Now her attitude is what I have experienced with some of my white leghorns. They were just plain mean. So despite my personal preference to keep them alive, crock pot and dinner might just be the answer since she will probably only get more aggressive as she gets older. Sad but true.
Check out the feed store too. I think they have some supplement for hens that are not laying.
Good Luck!
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