hello im new here and i got a few questions

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emmaellis111

emmaellis111

Songster
Jul 5, 2015
578
169
146
shropshire UK
hello, my names emma and im new to the forum and also new to having chickens, i have 3 light sussex 2 hens and a cockrel, they are aparently 18 weeks old and i was wondering if you could help me a little bit, how much feed should i give them a day and when do they start laying eggs and should my cockrel be treading the hens already?? many thanks Emma x
 
Cockerels try breeding hens, as soon as they figure out they are males. Generally chickens will not overeat - fill your feeders and see how often they get emptied, then you'll know if they need more or less per day. I'm not familiar with the Sussex breed so don't know how early they lay. I have heard they are good layers. Chickens like lots of cool, clean water.
 
I'm sorry I forgot to welcome you. Very nice to meet you Emma, hope you will enjoy Backyard chickens as much as we do.
 



Yep, chickens will eat from a feeder, when, they need it. Fill er up. :)

Sussex are pretty good layers. General rule is, they will start anywhere from 5 to 7 months. Roosters. I have found they can be tricky. I always thought that they would get to business when they started to crow. I've read that some will start before they crow, and then some will wait several months after they crow, because some start to crow really early. Hmmm. Did I make sense? ??
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thank you for your replies, yes you made sense, so with the feed its just trile and error then, i read that they a hen will eat on average 180g a day, is it true that you shouldnt eat the first egg they lay? or can u eat them as soon as they lay? if they hens eggs are fertile can you still eat them as soon as theyve been layed? thank you for the welcomes, i think im gonna like this forum x
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! X4, chickens/ laying hens should generally be free fed / have food in front of them all the time... most commercial mixes say birds eat about 4-6 oz (120-180gm) a day... but that will vary by breed, age, if they are allowed to free range and find some of their own food, if you give them treats etc ... You can eat the first egg they lay, though a lot of people like to save them and make ornaments out of them or something! Pullets that have just started laying sometimes lay funny eggs, double eggs, shell-less eggs, eggs with no yolk etc, so the first egg may be an "odd" one (which I think is where that saying comes from of not eating the first egg) You can eat fertile eggs, just be sure to collect them once a day or so.
 
Kelsie said it. Yes to eating first egg and to eating fertile eggs. All of those farmers in the past didn't let anything go to waste. And usually they had roosters around all of the time, so eating fertile eggs was no big deal. They let their mama hens go broody and would have cute little babies running around the farm, and then later have them laying for them. Wish I was on a farm!
 
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thats good to know it wouldnt kill me if i ate the first egg,
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i would love loads of chickens there lovely there my new friends ive had them a day and they are so calm even when i walk up to them, i called the cockrel and he will walk over to me,
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my kids love them too, they keep opening the coop to see if theyve layed any eggs
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beautiful animals! i too would love to live on a farm xx emma
 

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