Egg question

I got my first egg last week. I have 7 hens, 1 rooster (all Buff Orps), but am only getting 2 eggs per day. Shouldnt I be getting an egg from each hen? Sorry, still learning....

NO do not be worried, they will all be laying before long. Some one has to start the rodeo and your first hen has, the other pullets will come along soon. Also remember this is the time of year when hens lay the least.
hytop

This is perfectly normal, with the decreased daylight/cold this time of year chickens do not lay very well. Mine usually start up again around Christmas time. Good luck with your flock.

More information about short days. December 21st is the shortese day of the year, in January your hens/pullets start picking up.

Breed Eggs cold hardy
Orpington Good (3/wk) Brown Yes

As you can see they are not the best layers around at only three eggs each per week, whereas Rhode Island Red's, Black Star, Barred Rocks and a couple of other breeds lay 5 to 6 eggs .ea week for the same about of feed and care.

So what I an telling you is each one of your hens is going to lay three eggs in a week and do nothing but eat the other 4. Theoritacally it will go sometning like this, mon-1, tues-0, wed-0, th-1, fri-0, sat-0, sun-1 (times 7) when hens are at full production as compared to a Black Star that lays 6 eggs a week per chicken, wow twice as much for the same operating cost. I will say Orpingtons are beautiful chickens.

Here is a site where you can look at different breeds and their characteristics.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/breed-list.aspx

Hope this helps.
hytop

Wow...very informative. Thank you!

hytop3 said:

More information about short days. December 21st is the shortese day of the year, in January your hens/pullets start picking up.

Breed Eggs cold hardy
Orpington

Good (3/wk) Brown Yes

As you can see they are not the best layers around at only three eggs each per week, whereas Rhode Island Red's, Black Star, Barred Rocks and a couple of other breeds lay 5 to 6 eggs .ea week for the same about of feed and care.

So what I an telling you is each one of your hens is going to lay three eggs in a week and do nothing but eat the other 4. Theoritacally it will go sometning like this, mon-1, tues-0, wed-0, th-1, fri-0, sat-0, sun-1 (times 7) when hens are at full production as compared to a Black Star that lays 6 eggs a week per chicken, wow twice as much for the same operating cost. I will say Orpingtons are beautiful chickens.

Here is a site where you can look at different breeds and their characteristics.

http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/breed-list.aspx

Hope this helps.
hytop

Click to expand...

I must have mutant buffs. They both lay at 4-5 eggs a week.

Some people really get hung up on breed don’t they? They seem to think that every chicken of the same breed is identical to every other chicken of that breed on the planet. That’s not even close to true. While some breeds have some tendencies, strain is much more important than breed. Even with the same strain, each is an individual and can vary quite a bit from flock norms.

The person that selects which chickens get to reproduce has to be very careful to reinforce certain traits each and every time or pretty soon the flock lose those traits. That’s basically how breeds are developed. Someone decides what traits they want and breed to those traits.

If someone takes a flock of Buff Orpingtons and only selects the good egg layers to reproduce you soon wind up with a flock of Buff Orpington that lays really well. If that person does not use egg laying as a criteria, then you probably wind up with a flock of Buff Orpington that does not lay all that well. Most hatchery BO’s lay pretty well. It’s not just that the good layers are selected to reproduce, since they lay more eggs they have more offspring that makes its way into the breeding flock. The poor layers don’t have that many opportunities to put an offspring in the laying/breeding flock. Over time that selection process, whether intentional or not, tends to produce hens that lay fairly well. Since it is probably not a criteria, egg size and color can vary quite a bit too.

On the other hand if someone is breeding for show then egg laying is not a big criteria. The judge doesn’t see the eggs to judge them so the breeder concentrates on other things. While some breeders may also select for egg laying the trend is that the show quality birds don’t lay as well as their hatchery cousins.

Dansanddogs, there can be a wide variation in when pullets start to lay. Each is an individual, even if they are the same breed or strain. I’ve had pullets start to lay as early as 16 weeks while some of their sisters took months longer to start. I don’t know which side of the equator you are on but days getting shorter or longer and how severe (hot or cold) the weather is also has an effect. Diet can have an effect on when they start. Heredity is important but it is not the only factor.

What you are describing sounds extremely typical. Some start laying earlier than others, often weeks if not months earlier than others. Eventually the others will start, maybe really soon, maybe not. They will probably stagger when they start.

If yours are hatchery chickens from a major hatchery in the US, expect more like 5 to 6 eggs a week from each hen once they start. Some individuals will do better than others. If you got them from a breeder, well I don’t know what that breeder was using as their criteria.