Sometimes, yes slow to get the hang of things....their bodies need time to adjust...yes chickens need 14 hours in order to lay but there is a looooooot of people including myself who think winter is a time for rest. Hens will burn out much faster if not given time to rest and molt naturally during the winter. I'm opting not to light mine in the winter. I see you liv in Alaska and you winters are longer? Making daylight short? If I were you I would research what others in your area do because it is so different from the continental US but I would recommend giving your birds the normal 4-5 months off during the heavier winter months. As far as what light to use, most people don't get fancy and you won't need heat unless your temps get below like 10F, chickens tolerate cold fairly well. I have heard of a lot of people on here raising mealworm farms, and there are threads about it...frankly I buy dead dried ones because they freak me out too....yucky. And the hens still go BATSH**CRAZY over them. Good luck with your girls....just keep in mind it is natural and probably healthier for them to take time off so I wouldn't light year round. You can keep them warm without lights. The biggest deal is keeping drafts O-U-T while still keeping the coop venilated. Chickens create a lot of body heat when they're in the coop together so as long as it isn't drafty they should be good. Hope that helps.So I got my first teensy little egg on Friday night and now nothing since? are they pretty slow when they get started?
They were only 18 weeks on 9-13, so I know they are still just babies.
Also, I am thinking about adding light to the coop in the mornings. Is a regular light bulb sufficient? I need to shoot for about 14 hours, right? I am also going to put some x-mas lights way up high in the coop for a "night lite" - Just a small strand of LEDs.
Does the coop need to be warmer, too (for eggs?)? I live in Alaska, so I know its going to be chilly, but I also know I have cold-tolerant breeds that should weather it out just fine.
If its hard on them to encourage laying in the winter, I won't do it. I want happy girls. Eggs are just a neat bonus
PS I am so interested in maintaining a HAPPY flock I am considering raising mealworms. You'd have to know me to appreciate how bad that freaks me out....
Oh dear, lol yeah any new material might freak them a little at first but they will catch on to it super fast no worries chickens are super curious after allIn an effort to make everyone happier I shoveled a bunch of sand into the run...
bad idea for the time of day... It was getting dark and they were desparate to get back into the coop
but were deadly scared of the sand. Some were trying to leap from the doorway to the ramp!!! I had
to push one cochin inside by her butt, and they were trying to perch on the water bucket to avoid stepping
on the sand. Two were so scared they went back to their old habit of flying into the trees where i can't
get them out...
never a dull day!! but STILL NO EGGS
They are great right? Chickens are cool...I got lucky...my first layer was 16 1/2 weeks and the last to start was 21. It took them about a week to get the hang of it, but some take longer and some don't lay their first egg even until almost 30 weeks or even more...it seems like the Maran owners on here have been waiting the longest. Some breeds will lay sooner and more often than others so there are a lot of variables.
YAAAAAAAAYYY!!! Nice work! 20 weeks is still on the younger side too, aren't Leghorns nice?
They are finally here!!
This evening when i checked to coop i found these two smaller eggs waiting for me. I added an extra Lg egg from the store for comparisons sake.
oh, they my girls will all be 20 weeks old tomorrow
I've heard Cochins can be late bloomers and 21 weeks is still on the young end so.....patience young padewan! The roos chasing them is a good sign, it means everyone is reaching sexual maturity. Watch for red, swelled up combs and wattles and the "squat" The hens will be doing that for the roos in order to make mating easier...it's where they hunch down with their shoulders raised. They may do it for you too if you walk up to one and bend over like you're going to pick her up. It's a good sign you have eggs on the way! Are you going to be hatching chicks?
