unruly hens

[ray von]

hi all!

me and my wife are fledgling keepers, we got 6 goldline pullets at easter as chicks, then 3 weeks ago a friend gave us 5 hens they didn't have room for, a cochin/pekin, australorp, light sussex, silkie and brahma (sp?). the poor little pekin takes a fair amount of bulling from all of the hens, but is small and wily enough to escape most of the grief, bless her. i expected some ruffled feathers within the established brood, i got rid of one as it turned out to be a roo, we don't want fertilized eggs, he kept attacking my wife (although this amused the rest of the family) and i got sick of being woke at 6am everyday. shame to see him go but he went to a good farm that rescues and rehomes chickens. the shed they sleep in has nest boxes made for them along with plenty of perch space for the remaining 10 hens but they won't go anywhere near the nest boxes, except the silkie, who from day one found them a quiet place from the goldlines. i have tried sneaking in late at night, picking them up one at a time and placing them into the boxes but after the first couple they start to wake each other up and bedlam ensues. should i just leave them to do it naturally when they start laying (which is any time now i think) or train them?

also, will the new lot (2 weeks young then the goldlines) take longer to start laying while they are settling in?

thanks in advance. oh, and my name ray von is the australorps name because he looks like a raven

 

[dinosaw]

Hello ray and welcome to the forum.

Leave them to find the nest boxes themselves when they start laying, if they lay elsewhere then move a few eggs to the nest boxes to give them the right idea. Ideally you don't want them in the boxes before then as they can get into the habit of sleeping in there which ends with poo covered eggs. Goldlines will normally start laying between 20-24 weeks but I find it is normally on the earlier side, your other birds being pure breeds will usually start laying at around 24-28 weeks with bigger birds being on the later side, so you could find there being a reasonable gap between when the goldlines start to when they are all in lay.

 

[ray von]

eggsellent! (sorry)

i was worried that they were supposed to sleep in them but this makes me feel a lot better knowing that they are happier perching at night. we are looking forward to seeing the pekins eggs, i have already told the wife i want to fry one for a full english and surprise the kids with how tiny it will be (hopefully)

 

[dinosaw]

Pekin eggs are lovely, think they taste creamier than the larger eggs. Your lucky to have well behaved chickens that roost properly not like several of my current lot who have to be shooed out of the nest boxes every night.

 

[valeriebutterley]

Hello Ray,
I am Mum to eight Pekin girls, and they are a great delight. Their eggs are so undersung, rich and creamy, my friends cannot get enough of them, and they lay almost all of the time.
I do have a lemon cuckoo rooster, Pierre, but he is reasonably quiet and extremely tame and good natured and he does have his preferred ladies, two Silkie hybrids who at the moment are a bit bareheaded because of his attentions. I'm not sure he will be too long lived because of his vigour.
But Pekins are just lovely to have around, someone who came to take a couple of little roosters recently, complimented me on a couple of my lovely
"old girls", and I suddenly realise that they have been around for a few years now.
They are out in the garden a lot of the time if I can be out with them, their attention is flattering, I'm just kidding myself it is me though, the way to a Pekin's heart is through the rattle of the corn box and any other treats.

 

[chrismahon]

We have unruly hens, a crazy cock and a naughty cockerel Rayvon. Our cases of sleeping in the nest box have long since been corrected -only the broodies go in there now so we block them off with feed bags and plant pots at night.

One useful weapon is a hand held garden sprayer. Noisy TNN's, any aggression, feather pecking and jumping onto other coops and runs gets a quick squirt. They soon recognise the sprayer and know what they are doing is wrong, so it rarely gets used now, just carried about.