Why Aren't My Chickens Laying? Here Are Your Answers!

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I got my first egg on August 28 th. They get the layer/breeder crumbles and pellets and cracked corn every day mixed in their feeder. We throw cracked corn for them every day for scratch. I will make a big pot of brown or jasmine rice for everybody in my house(including dogs and chickens). I will mash a banana in with the rice and put a couple spoons of plain yogurt mixed in as well. They LOVE it. We dig out bugs in our compost pile every day as well for them. They get grass and herbs that I grow for them. We were told not to expect eggs until October or November but we have been getting them since August late. The feed store told me to just give them the crumbles or pellets and any grass clippings and that they would do fine on that. I don't want them to be "fine". I want them to thrive and they are. My friend has a horse farm and she is the one who got me into chickens. We got our Moyers large and Americaunas from the same nursery the same day. Her birds are still not producing and are almost half the size of mine. Her flock only gets crumbles. There is nothing at all wrong with that but I would not be happy to eat the same thing every single day of my life. My girls get something different EVERY day and it is obviously making a huge difference. I will give them crusts of bread that I have torn up. They like boiled potatoes(the skin has to be cooked for them, or it is toxic, or so I have read), they especially love yogurt. A big tub at the grocery store is 2-3 bucks and lasts me all week. We just give them a little with different stuff. Grated raw carrots, cooked beans, cracked corn. My daughter likes to get out a parfait cup and layer yogurt and cracked corn. We will even scramble them an egg or two with the shell still in (I will whir it up in the blender) to help their calcium intake. Just throwing out a few ideas. I am considering myself wildly successful for my first venture with chickens. I keep a few logs in their pen from a tree I had brought down last year. I will roll them over every couple days and they go nuts chasing around whatever "yummy" bugs have decided to foolishly make their home under the log. It gives them something to do. Good luck and I hope you start getting eggs soon.
 
I'm1chickencuddler :

I got my first egg on August 28 th. They get the layer/breeder crumbles and pellets and cracked corn every day mixed in their feeder. We throw cracked corn for them every day for scratch. I will make a big pot of brown or jasmine rice for everybody in my house(including dogs and chickens). I will mash a banana in with the rice and put a couple spoons of plain yogurt mixed in as well. They LOVE it. We dig out bugs in our compost pile every day as well for them. They get grass and herbs that I grow for them. We were told not to expect eggs until October or November but we have been getting them since August late. The feed store told me to just give them the crumbles or pellets and any grass clippings and that they would do fine on that. I don't want them to be "fine". I want them to thrive and they are. My friend has a horse farm and she is the one who got me into chickens. We got our Moyers large and Americaunas from the same nursery the same day. Her birds are still not producing and are almost half the size of mine. Her flock only gets crumbles. There is nothing at all wrong with that but I would not be happy to eat the same thing every single day of my life. My girls get something different EVERY day and it is obviously making a huge difference. I will give them crusts of bread that I have torn up. They like boiled potatoes(the skin has to be cooked for them, or it is toxic, or so I have read), they especially love yogurt. A big tub at the grocery store is 2-3 bucks and lasts me all week. We just give them a little with different stuff. Grated raw carrots, cooked beans, cracked corn. My daughter likes to get out a parfait cup and layer yogurt and cracked corn. We will even scramble them an egg or two with the shell still in (I will whir it up in the blender) to help their calcium intake. Just throwing out a few ideas. I am considering myself wildly successful for my first venture with chickens. I keep a few logs in their pen from a tree I had brought down last year. I will roll them over every couple days and they go nuts chasing around whatever "yummy" bugs have decided to foolishly make their home under the log. It gives them something to do. Good luck and I hope you start getting eggs soon.

It sounds like your chickens are as spoiled as mine are. However I find the breeds I have lay LESS eggs if I give them too many treats, so I toned it down, wormed them and they are laying again.​
 
It's weird. My brother and I got the same chicks at the same time and mine have been laying for a month and his are doing nothing. Very odd. We weren't concerned at first, but a month difference from the same batch? We raised them the same as well. Boggles the mind.
 
I have just read thru a lot of this and have determined that I should just be patient and wait. If all of them are not laying by the end of January then I should really start to get concerned about it. Thank you for all the info. Now I do not have to post my "Why aren't they laying " thread. Thanks to everyone.

Just a note...

I got my first egg on 10-3-11 and received the 2nd on on 10-5-11. I think that my chickens were a little younger than I was told but this works. At this rate I should be overrun with eggs by Dec.
 
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Here's the reason I'm not getting what I should in eggs! She is sitting on 20eggs!! I candled and +baby in egg!

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79733_100_2548.jpg
 
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Ahhh, how sweet. Please make sure she is safe at night or consider moving her and eggs to a safe place - I've read too many stories on here about broodies being killed on their nests.
 
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Broodies are so funny aren't they! Did you notice how wide and low she is just to cover all the eggs. My son slipped 17 eggs under one of our broodies this summer. She hatched out 11, but lost one right away. It's an instantaeous flock! As of now we got two more broodies sitting on 6 eggs each.
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Finally taught my son moderation. Hope your girl is as awesome a mum as our Ezmeralda was with her large flock.
 
Thanks for the information. Now that winter is coming I have been very concerned because we have had a major slow down in production. But I am going to focuse on a few things and see if we can get our production back up.

Joshua Bohmier
 
I have a quick question. I have seven very healthy chickens, at least appearance and attitude, One Bantam, a Barred Rock, Buff, Black Star and two very large RIR. I am sure that they are hens but they are about 13 months old and have not started laying. They seem like high stress birds but the rest of our girls are laying. After finding them in the woods and starting a more strict routine the five smaller girls are laying almost on a regular schedule but those two big girls just won't lay. Any thoughts? Any help would be appreciated.
 

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