Tags
Black Sex Link, Black Star, chick, Chickens, hens, ISA Brown, pullet
This has been a hard year for the chickens. After some early losses that we believe are due to a huge red tailed hawk that lives in the area, there were many more losses that we believe were due to a fox. It was seen while killing one of the hens near our neighbors home, and has since been removed. Since then there have been no further losses. We went from 7 hens to 5, and from 7 youngsters to 1.
Purple is the only youngster left from the 7 chicks we got 20 weeks ago today. After her last sister was killed she stayed by our house, in the trees, bushes and on our deck, which is protected from above by a tree. The hens have been slowly accepting Purple, and there are a couple of them that she has been hanging out with and they even eat together some. She is now a bit bigger than the hens, as she is Black Sex Link which get about a pound or so heavier than the ISA Browns.
I have been spending some time with her every day, and she seems to enjoy the company. As she is slowly integrating into the flock she is spending less time in the trees, and more time with the hens.
It is almost impossible to get a photo that properly shows how lovely her black feathers are. They have a beautiful purple/green sheen to them.
And today when I went to check for eggs I got a great surprise!
We are nearly out of the flock feed that they have all been getting, and we have some layer feed which will be mixed in the next time. I keep crushed oyster shells in a couple of places, and also give them crushed egg shells. The hens have free access to as much as they want. I have noticed Purple taking some, which the youngsters don’t do until they are ready to lay. And today was the day! She is now a laying hen.