Who else is waiting for that first egg?

[junebuggena]

It can be difficult to judge whether a chicken is too fat just by looking at it. A bird fed a balanced diet, and has lots of room to scratch and run around should be fine. If you have a bird that isn't very active compared to the rest, is a sporadic layer, and/or has trouble breathing you may have an overweight bird. If you happen to have a larger/rounded girl that looks and acts healthy, there is likely no cause for concern. Treats should be fed in moderation. Things like mealworms and leafy greens will not cause excess weight. Things like scratch grains, sunflower seeds, and corn do convert easily to fat, so be careful about how much you offer.

 

[Diney]

Thanks. They are fed balanced diet and also free range. She seems just as active as everyone else so maybe she is just 'big boned", ha ha

 

[chickendreams24]

So I'm in southern WI and I'm just about ready to start squeezing hens here lol. We got our first hard shelled egg over a week ago so my question is about the weather we've been having. Could it be from it being pretty hot here(upper 80s heat index into the 90s and pretty high humidity)that our girls aren't laying? Not sure but I think only one of our girls has laid. First a soft-shelled egg 2+ weeks ago(they weren't on layer feed or had oyster shell yet) and then about a week later she laid one beautiful brown egg in the nest box.(but nothing since) she never sang the egg song, never squated but layed and we know she layed at least the softshell BC we saw her do it. Anyway since starting the layer feed many more of our girls have started reddening up and a few are squatting. Several look ready to lay. Heard very mild egg songs a few times but not much although they are noisier. The boys are all over the ladies dancing for them and trying to breed. We go on a daily egg hunt but mostly I'm feeling impatient and frustrated. If I knew it was the heat that would be one thing but our girls usually free range from dawn to dusk as they like. Which usually lands them in the cornfield for at least part of the day. I would keep them locked up to get a better idea of who is or isn't laying but again it has been unbearably hot. It would just be nice to know. We have isa browns(including the one who layed the soft-shelled egg) that are coming on 19 weeks, wyandottes that are 18, Orpingtons and EE that are 17 with a few miscellaneous birds in those age groups.

Hope someone can help. thanks. Sorry about the long post

 

[chickmomma03]

Quote: My Buff hen and my Buff roo both are thicker than my others. A lot of it is feathering. There is definitely more weight to my roo than any of them, but from everything I've read about the breed he's suppose to be larger.

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

My Buff hen and my Buff roo both are thicker than my others. A lot of it is feathering. There is definitely more weight to my roo than any of them, but from everything I've read about the breed he's suppose to be larger.

I had buff chicken for a brief time (until my dumb butt dog killed them all) and they were much larger than the flock I have now ever was. They are on my list of birds to get when I get a larger coop. Along with just about every other type lol I'll have a chicken barn by the time I'm done

 

[chickmomma03]

Quote:

That stinks! My buff roo is really awesome! All my chickens are, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that (so far) my roo is docile. He was really awesome when he was younger and let me hold him, now he doesn't care for it too much. I took this picture yesterday after I built that mini "coop" for the younger ones (they'll only be in there temporarily). You can see how large both of the buffs are, the black cochins look big but weigh next to nothing, they're just VERY fluffy girls!

 

[microchick]

I'm puzzled. We got our first Welsummer egg several days ago. Properly medium brown with darker speckles. Then yesterday we had a solid chocolate brown egg in the nesting box. I thought maybe our lone Speckled Sussex had left it for us but today, we had two solid brown eggs in the nesting box along with the light brown Buff O's eggs. Hmmmmmm. If one of our Wellies laid a speckled egg for us, then who is doing the solid brown eggs? We have 7 hens old enough to be laying. 5 Buff O's and 2 Welly's which means our two Welly girls are forgetting to apply the speckles to their egg on their way out.

Sorry, I keep getting this mental image of eggs traveling down a conveyor belt being stamped......never mind....

Anyway, anybody with Wellies getting solid brown eggs from them instead of speckled eggs?

 

[Mutt Farm]

Never meant to make anybody jealous. Once they start laying you'll have more eggs than you know what to do with! Yesterday I got seven out of eight hens!

They are wonderful! Envious. Not jealous. Please keep posting pics of those beautiful eggs! I'm over the moon at 3 per day!

 

[Mutt Farm]

So I'm in southern WI and I'm just about ready to start squeezing hens here lol. We got our first hard shelled egg over a week ago so my question is about the weather we've been having. Could it be from it being pretty hot here(upper 80s heat index into the 90s and pretty high humidity)that our girls aren't laying? Not sure but I think only one of our girls has laid. First a soft-shelled egg 2+ weeks ago(they weren't on layer feed or had oyster shell yet) and then about a week later she laid one beautiful brown egg in the nest box.(but nothing since) she never sang the egg song, never squated but layed and we know she layed at least the softshell BC we saw her do it. Anyway since starting the layer feed many more of our girls have started reddening up and a few are squatting. Several look ready to lay. Heard very mild egg songs a few times but not much although they are noisier. The boys are all over the ladies dancing for them and trying to breed. We go on a daily egg hunt but mostly I'm feeling impatient and frustrated. If I knew it was the heat that would be one thing but our girls usually free range from dawn to dusk as they like. Which usually lands them in the cornfield for at least part of the day. I would keep them locked up to get a better idea of who is or isn't laying but again it has been unbearably hot. It would just be nice to know. We have isa browns(including the one who layed the soft-shelled egg) that are coming on 19 weeks, wyandottes that are 18, Orpingtons and EE that are 17 with a few miscellaneous birds in those age groups.

Hope someone can help. thanks. Sorry about the long post

Hi! Yep, we all get ready to squeeze!

I don't have scientific proof that a heat spike effects laying but it sure does on my farm. 6 had started strong then shut down when temps spiked +20 deg.
If they weren't on layer and didn't have oyster shell a soft shell would be expected.
Some of mine sang like crazy, squatted for weeks without laying. Others just popped in the box and laid without warning!
Your ladies are still quite young, but very close to POL age. Unbearably hot is 110 or an un-ventilated crowded coop. If you want them to learn to lay in nest boxes, I'd lock them up, only let them out for a few hours in the afternoon. Most hens lay in the am to mid-day. Unless you want to be trying to break bad habits, hunting eggs all over the property and guessing how old they are. You mentioned the boys dancing. 1 "boy" per 10-15 hens is minimum. Less ratio will stress the hens, they won't lay well.

 

[Mutt Farm]

I'm puzzled. We got our first Welsummer egg several days ago. Properly medium brown with darker speckles. Then yesterday we had a solid chocolate brown egg in the nesting box. I thought maybe our lone Speckled Sussex had left it for us but today, we had two solid brown eggs in the nesting box along with the light brown Buff O's eggs. Hmmmmmm. If one of our Wellies laid a speckled egg for us, then who is doing the solid brown eggs? We have 7 hens old enough to be laying. 5 Buff O's and 2 Welly's which means our two Welly girls are forgetting to apply the speckles to their egg on their way out.

Sorry, I keep getting this mental image of eggs traveling down a conveyor belt being stamped......never mind....

Anyway, anybody with Wellies getting solid brown eggs from them instead of speckled eggs?

I'm picturing the drive thru car wash where they apply the colored foam! Musta been out! The solid chocolate brown egg was mine. I can drop by to fetch it and the hen that laid it.