Thanks for the feedback! As long as it's relatively normal, I'm fine with it. They laid all last winter, being their first winter, so I didn't expect that they would totally quit this season. They got through their moult just fine and are fat and happy again, lol. I don't mind waiting.
I haven't gotten an egg since end of November. I have 8 RIRs, this is their second winter. They are from a breeder and started laying quite late (6-7 mos old). Always laid well, until the fall when I had a few broodies, then some started molting. I don't use light or heat, just let them go...
Yeah, it's just the way it goes, for the most part. I've been getting less since early Sept. Had some broodies, then the molt started. Now I'm getting usually 2 eggs a day form 8 hens. Sometimes 1, sometimes none.
I just lost a hen today. Glad to find this thread. It's frustrating and sad. She was always healthy, perfectly fine yesterday, eating, drinking, having snack with all the others yesterday evening. This morning, I went out to open the run door and let them out for the day, and she was laying in...
I've had 6 broodies this spring and summer, and they seem to be done now. I tried the two different ways: I didn't have a wire cage early on, so I kept removing my broodies from the nest. That did nothing. Then I built an outdoor chicken jail and kept them in there. That was OK, but they still...
Are they free ranging? My birds eat wayyyy less layer feed in the warmer months than over the winter. If you're ranging them, they are probably finding plenty of food on their own. Extra protein works. I give mine black oil sunflower seeds as a high protein snack. It's really good for them, in...
Another question because I'm thinking of getting a wire cage. Does the bottom need to be wire too, or just solid metal? I can't find anything with an actual wire bottom. And how do you keep the food and water from spilling? I tried a dog crate a couple months ago for my other broody and the...
I have 2 hens that have been broody for going on a month now. They aren't sitting on eggs, I dunk them in cold water a couple times a day and put them in an outside chicken jail, so they stay away from the nests. Why are they going past 21 days?? Has anyone experienced this? Thanks!
Mine are out all winter, even in the snow. I generally shovel some areas for them to hang out in. The forge their own paths, too. We're in western NY, near Niagara Falls and Buffalo.
It's annoying me to no end. I'm hardly getting any eggs these days, only about 5 from 10 hens. I was getting 9 a day. I also dunk my broody's bottoms in a pail of cold water. That seems to speed up the end of broodiness. At least it did last time. The two I have right now are worse than the last...