Ok really! WHO IS SICK OF IT?! ~UPDATED!~

[mommissan]

LOVE that first egg! Congrats!

 

[Prisserbabe]

Thank you Thank you Thank you!

I made this thread because i was sick of waiting! now i am happy with my 1 out of 7 egg every day (so far).
so all those who still waiting... KEEP WAITING! it will happen and when it does, on the day you least expected, It will be WORTH it!

 

[loricarls]

my chickens are about 5 mon. old and got one egg for the last 30 days and now getting about 2-3 a day with 10 hens. barred rock layed first...then some orpingtons and now americana laying just began yesterday. The eggs are mostly small and this is not typical of the barred rock and orpingtons...will they get larger? The one has been small for a month.

 

[IMDeggman]

Mine starting laying at just about 4 months and a week or so, and pretty soon going full tilt. I have 7 hens (barred rock, golden, Americauna) and a rooster, also Americauna. With the 7, I average 5 or 6 eggs a day, even getting 7 at least once a week. Could it be that the presence of the rooster is improving the output?? This is, I think, my fourth batch of birds in several years, and I am no expert, but maybe the presence of the rooster- and the mating- is boosting the egg output. (Past flocks averaged 2 eggs a day per 3 hens, and there was only one other rooster around, and he was separated from the hens because he was aggressive to human females.) After all, why bother laying eggs if there is no prospect of reproduction? Maybe better to conserve energy and nutritional resources. And if that is so, I imagine commerical egg producers have some additive to get around the rooster problem. Does anyone have some good science to offer? Meanwhile, good luck with your girls.

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

Quote:
This is as far as I got in this thread. You culled your chickens for lack of egg production and OUT OF ANGER? I don't know if you are male or female, but it makes me wonder what you would/would have done if you wanted a baby human.

Maybe I'm just too sensitive.

They were more than a year old. I would have been angry and culled them too. I don't have pet chickens (as entertaining and cute as they are) I have a flock of egg layers. They are expected to feed my family and they will do it, either with eggs or in soup. And I'm a great parent, probably partially because I know the difference between animals and people.

Well, I must say, most of the time, when a hen isn't laying when she is that old, she either has some sort of problem, or she isn't getting everything she needs to live happily. { Yes, happily, many hens won't lay if they are unhappy, angry, or scared } Hens won't lay if they don't get enough sunlight, they need a LOT of greens along with enough calcium to make their shells, enough space to be happy, if other hens are bullying them they sometimes won't lay, they may not be getting everything they need from their feed too, hens love to scratch around and mine lay best when they are allowed to free range. Some breeds have a laying "cycle" and it isn't the hen's fault, that's just the way God made her. They could be going through a molt, or be broody. I must agree that lack of laying eggs when humans { Who aren't the ones who have to lay the eggs } think they should be laying is by no means a reason to cull hens. I don't mean to offend anyone, I'm just voicing my opinion and trying to be helpful.

 

[missred871]

Well I have a BUNCH of chickens... do I get an egg? Nope. I actually needed a few today, I refuse to buy from the store, I havent bought an egg from a store in 4 stinkin years... my lovely 5 year old took the duck eggs out of the duck pen today and fed them to the hog... oops. None of my EEs are laying, I get MAYBE one gold laced cochin egg every few weeks out of that pen, when I first got the Ameracauna and the EE hen, they were over a year old... and that was like 6 months ago... they laid for me about a month before they stopped.... not even an egg from my usually good laying ee hen.... sad really.... they are starting to tick me off though.... thinking seriously about heating up a pot of water....

but I will give em till spring LOL

 

[horsecrazychicklovingkid]

Quote:
If it has just gotten cold where you live, you probably won't be getting any more eggs than that for a while. We put heat lamps on our hens in the winter, it keeps them warm and laying throughout the cold.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Reality point. Birds bred to the standard often make poor utility birds. The fancier and more exotic the breed, generally the less productive. If you want lots of eggs, go with Black Stars and California Grays (best temperaments, although not as productive as Red Stars and White Leghorns.) Utility Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds are generally good for purebreds from the American class. Production Reds are good layers but are prone to aggressive temperaments. Just about everything else is usually marginal for serious egg laying.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

1) A quality balanced laying ration is critical.

2) Limit treats, including greens, to what they clean up in fifteen minutes each day so you don't imbalance the ration.

3) Oyster shell is a must; grit is needed if they are fed anything besides a commercial laying ration.

4) Chickens born later in the year tend to reach production later; they mature during declining daylight instead of increasing daylight. Late February into April is the best time for heavy breed chicks; with Leghorns you can start them as late as early June.

5) Heritage breeds do not lay longer than commercial laying hybrids; one is more likely to notice if one goes from an egg a day per hen to five eggs a week; going from four eggs a week to three is less noticeable.

6) If you give them supplementary light, do it in the morning so they will roost naturally and not be caught in the dark which is terrifying for them because they are essentially night blind.

7) It is the shorter daylight, not the temperature which causes them to stop laying.

8) It is an old practice to cull hens the fall of their second year; this dates to the days of yarded and pastured poultry in the early 20th Century at least. Old time farmers didn't care to carry the older hens through the winter. Peak production is at around 30 weeks of age; and when they molt the second year is the traditional time to replace them. A good hybrid will come out of molt and resume, as will a utility heritage breed; but egg laying declines with age although egg size can become larger.

 

[DebbieDee]

My girls are 5 months and a week. I hope in 10 days I get on here and have a brown egg report from my pullets...