15 hens 8 weeks old no eggs

[jopheso]

DC,

Im not providing any artificial light. Right now in South Louisiana we are getting 13+ hours of daylight, but less than 14. Maybe that is the issue.

 

[Little-Farmer]

I'm supplementing two extra hours if light right now. And they are active during that time.

I've been giving them oyster shell mixed in with their food. Is that the grit you are talking about dc?

They are under our children's tree house so that they have plenty of cover with a breeze. I put a couple potted plants in front of their coop for cover. It is fairly close to our pool waterfall that has to stay on all day for filtration but it goes off in the evening. I wonder if that is throwing them off. I hope they'll get used to it...

And of coarse there is a weed eater and mower that comes through once a week. Normal yard stuff. I don't know how we could avoid these interruptions in our yard.

 

[dc3085]

Oyster shell is just a calcium supplement. You can purchase poultry grit at most feed stores.

If there are no other sounds, the sound of running water is actually very stressful for birds. A cheap radio playing jazz or classical will help filter the noise though.

 

[Little-Farmer]

We have eggs! Well, only two for now but it's a start! Plus, I think they were fertilized. That was yesterday. No eggs today. My son said he saw two hen with fluffed tail feathers. I'm assuming they are the egg layers... Hoping to see the rest of the hen follow suite!

Ps. I got them grit two days before they started laying. Not sure if that could have made the difference.
I decided not to serenade them to drowned out the waterfall. These birds! They're spoiled! They must have gotten used to it since they've heard it all day long every day for the last 6 weeks.

 

[Sill]

We have eggs! Well, only two for now but it's a start! Plus, I think they were fertilized. That was yesterday. No eggs today. My son said he saw two hen with fluffed tail feathers. I'm assuming they are the egg layers... Hoping to see the rest of the hen follow suite!

Ps. I got them grit two days before they started laying. Not sure if that could have made the difference.
I decided not to serenade them to drowned out the waterfall. These birds! They're spoiled! They must have gotten used to it since they've heard it all day long every day for the last 6 weeks.

 

[absn2010]

I live in Los Angeles and the temps are now really good as is the hours of daylight. Even with all of that we only got eggs when the hens were almost 12 weeks old and only after changing their food to 28%... We kept them laying with artificial light during the winter. We do like to keep the ration around 4-5 hens per male but then we do hope to get fertile eggs

 

[jopheso]

well we are over 9 weeks now. The egg watch continues. I am going to get a solar powered LED light to put over their pen. maybe its the fact that we are only getting 13-13.5 hours of daylight. perhaps some night lights will kick things into gear.

Wish me luck

 

[Little-Farmer]

Ours only laid two eggs two days ago and stopped. We have 8 hens I believe. I'm hoping they just aren't regular yet. That was a tease!! I did have to give them a different food because I ran out and I order our feed.

 

[Little-Farmer]

Correction: 3 more eggs! Apparently, we have three birds laying and the rest have not matured yet.

Just a note: I read over and over that quail will not use a chicken coop because they are ground dwellers. We trained ours by initially putting them in the box and locking them in for the first three days. Then we proceeded to use our hands and guide them up the ramp every evening for bedtime and opened the door in the morning to watch them all file out down the ramp.
They now run up and down that ramp throughout the day and are nesting and laying up in the box. They are also keeping it fairly clean. There's hardly any poop up there. I am assuming this is because they spend the majority if their time in the open down below and that is also where their food and water is.

My hens seems broody. They all lay around the one hen while she is sitting on the egg. I also read this has been bred out of them. Apparently, our birds did not read the same articles and forums as I did.

 

[jopheso]

Well I got home from work yesterday and there was the first egg!!! 11.5 weeks old and one of them saved all the others from freezer camp! I decided the leave the egg out there as a source of inspiration to the others and when I went out this morning the hen was fully engaged in sitting the egg. She even stayed on it when I got pretty close to her, which is not their normal behavior when im in the pen.

I know that broodiness is bred out of coturnix, but I really have to wonder if environment makes a difference. Mine live on straw covered ground with grass growing in 50 square feet and 6 feet tall. I mean they actually fly around the pen a bit. They have also dug and maneuvered the straw to have 5 or 6 nests around the floor of the pen.

Anyway I was REALLY surprised to see her sitting the egg this morning. If she continues to do so I will leave it to her, but the first time I go out there and its uncovered IT'S MINE!!!