My original chickens were chosen for 2 characteristics: they were good layers & they were calm, friendly birds.This is true. They are lovely girls & egg production was fantastic when they started laying.
Then summer arrived. All summer my Barred Rocks went broody. Constantly. Over & over. They hogged the nesting boxes. They got feisty about being disturbed. The Australorps, who were only laying every 2nd or 3rd day, could barely get near a nest & invariably had to share. Egg production dropped. Food consumption did not. I resigned myself. Then the molting started & no~one @ all was laying. *sigh*
So having planned all along to stagger my flock somewhat, & having built the Seaside Mansion for Spoilt Chooks, I toddled back to Beautiful Chickens, where the chickens really are beautiful, to get some more POLs.
I brought them home & put them in the new coop ~ much to my big girls dismay. Chooks are much smarter than most people give them credit for & they knew this coop was theirs ~ so why were there strangers in it? When I added my big girls they were very much of a mind to make a point. Here's the thing: ever since my girls have been providing 2~3 eggs a day. No~one has gone broody & my molter is acting perkier than she has for some time!
The new girls are still some way of laying, judging by their combs. That will shake things up again. Laying gives you status in the hen world, even if you aren't so high up the totem pole. I'm eyeing my Rocks with a jaded eye. They are winter layers. Hopefully they will make up for their summer shenanigans!
No comments:
Post a Comment