Easter Egger club!

[junebuggena]

I use a combo of new country organics layer and grower feed at present. It has no soy which is a delayed laying culprit.Thank you for the information!

Easter Eggers need a lot of protein while their bodies are maturing and getting ready to lay, so keeping them on a starter or grower is best.

 

[mamatink7]

I love my Easter eggers. Why do people not like them? My girls are awesome....Vera, Miss Marple, Miss Money Penny, Miss Piggy (because she will get in the feeder), and Prudence.
They are all about 4 months now. Any ideas on when they might start laying?
All of your birds are absolutely gorgeous. I especially like the chick pictures as I didn't get my girls until they were pullets. (as pictured when I first got them)

your EE look so pretty! We have 3 and they look totally different than yours. 2 lay blue eggs and 1 lay light green eggs. They are 31 weeks and have been laying since 22 Sept. For the past wk or so (since the 21st)though, none of them have laid for some reason.
EE are not early layers at all, especially since the cold weather and shorter days are here it may later than normal even.
Good luck!

 

[abigfathen]

Thank you for that. I thought the colder weather might delay.

 

[junebuggena]

Thank you for that. I thought the colder weather might delay.

Cold weather has no effect to onset of lay. The shortening days does. Chickens require daylight for reproduction. Not enough daylight, and the reproductive systems slow dramatically and become dormant in adult birds.

 

[ikemiker]

I have only one out of sixteen that is laying, should I switch? I just bought a new bag, I hate to not use it.

 

[junebuggena]

I have only one out of sixteen that is laying, should I switch? I just bought a new bag, I hate to not use it.

Don't give layer until they are ALL laying. The only thing extra that layers need is a source of calcium. The high calcium levels in layer feed can cause serious damage to the kidneys.

 

[FlyWheel]

I love my Easter eggers. Why do people not like them? My girls are awesome....Vera, Miss Marple, Miss Money Penny, Miss Piggy (because she will get in the feeder), and Prudence.
They are all about 4 months now. Any ideas on when they might start laying?
All of your birds are absolutely gorgeous. I especially like the chick pictures as I didn't get my girls until they were pullets. (as pictured when I first got them)

Why some people don't like EEs could be any one or more of a number of reasons. They aren't 'pure' or for that matter even a recognized breed (show), they don't lay as many eggs in a year (Production), their eggs are smaller than, say a Rhode Island Red (again, production). On the other hand for pets they are generally friendly, they come in an almost endless variety of colors and personalities and of course there's the different and uniquely colored eggs. So it really just matters what the owner is getting their chickens for.

My first EE's started laying around 23-25 weeks. But they were born hatched, ironically enough, on Easter weekend. My August pullets should be maturing sometime end of February beginning of March, However with the colder and shorter days of winter upon us (in the northern hemisphere), I cannot say when they will start laying, so I'll just have to wait and see if it has any effect. It's probably safe to assume that it will be dependent on the individual bird. Such is the way with Easter Eggers!

 

[abigfathen]

So its the lack of sunshine that slows egg production?

 

[abigfathen]

High levels of calcium are only an issue if there is not enough magnesium in the diet.

 

[junebuggena]

High levels of calcium are only an issue if there is not enough magnesium in the diet.

Not true. It's a very well researched topic. Many scientific studies have been conducted regarding the effects of too much calcium.
http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/87/7/1353.full
http://www.roudybush.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=birdBrain.articlesRead&article_id=10
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.629.4608&rep=rep1&type=pdf