Our blue and black Swedish girls, Moneypenny and Domino, are turning three this July. So, this is there 3rd season of egg laying.
Season 1, they started late February, both close to each other in time. There'd be an egg, and maybe they'd skip a day, two tops, but then they got going and didn't stop until mid September. Each laid about 190+ eggs for the season.
Season 2, they started early March, same pattern, maybe ended a bit earlier, and each laid about 180+ eggs.
This year, Moneypenny laid 6 eggs, over the course of 7 or 8 days, about 3 weeks ago, but then stopped for the past two weeks. Nothing. And Domino, absolutely nothing. And we're almost into April.
Now, they might be hiding them. They've done that before. But if they are, they have done a truly superb job of it. (Since it's still winter, they are up on the covered porch in their more confined quarters, so there's limited room for hidden eggs.) Or they've done it in or by the pond, in one of their few forays out into the yard. (We've had 4 northeasters in as many weeks, they're not getting a lot of outdoor time.) They've hidden eggs by the pond in the past, but usually not until there's more vegetation up and going, so I don't think that can account for more than a couple eggs, if any.
So, is this changing pattern of egg laying part of the normal seasonal randomness, or something that I should be expecting as my girls get older? From what I gather, season 1 was very high production for this breed, so I'm not expecting that. But we've now dropped down a good 20-30 eggs each from that for this season. But maybe it's just them getting older.
They are getting egg layer pellet, and lots of meal worms, and plenty of water. Otherwise they seem in fine health. But, these are the first girls we've had, so we don't know what the expectations are.
Season 1, they started late February, both close to each other in time. There'd be an egg, and maybe they'd skip a day, two tops, but then they got going and didn't stop until mid September. Each laid about 190+ eggs for the season.
Season 2, they started early March, same pattern, maybe ended a bit earlier, and each laid about 180+ eggs.
This year, Moneypenny laid 6 eggs, over the course of 7 or 8 days, about 3 weeks ago, but then stopped for the past two weeks. Nothing. And Domino, absolutely nothing. And we're almost into April.
Now, they might be hiding them. They've done that before. But if they are, they have done a truly superb job of it. (Since it's still winter, they are up on the covered porch in their more confined quarters, so there's limited room for hidden eggs.) Or they've done it in or by the pond, in one of their few forays out into the yard. (We've had 4 northeasters in as many weeks, they're not getting a lot of outdoor time.) They've hidden eggs by the pond in the past, but usually not until there's more vegetation up and going, so I don't think that can account for more than a couple eggs, if any.
So, is this changing pattern of egg laying part of the normal seasonal randomness, or something that I should be expecting as my girls get older? From what I gather, season 1 was very high production for this breed, so I'm not expecting that. But we've now dropped down a good 20-30 eggs each from that for this season. But maybe it's just them getting older.
They are getting egg layer pellet, and lots of meal worms, and plenty of water. Otherwise they seem in fine health. But, these are the first girls we've had, so we don't know what the expectations are.
