19 and a half weeks old and still no eggs :( egg countdown anyone??

[7 Biddies]

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.

Ditto what blondiebee said. Remember, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

 

[StarLover21]

Ditto what blondiebee said. Remember, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

I agree. I have to say it kind of annoys me sometimes when people complain about their chickens not laying in the winter. It's normal, and healthy for them, and IMO, they deserve a break.

For the same reason I don't like giving birds cayenne pepper or ACV to help them lay...yes, it may help them lay more eggs for a short while, but a chicken only has a limited number of egg cells...it will just make them stop completally faster.

 

[cheeka]

my gang is going to be 22 weeks on Friday. I have 2 that are really showing all the signs of starting very very soon, 2 that are about a week behind them and 2 that I have no clue... they don't seem likely to lay before Spring. But it's not the order I would have expected at all...! One of the late bloomers is an EE, so I did expect to have to wait for them, but the other EE is one of the 2 that is about a week behind...
due to start any day = Wilma, a BR, and Rose, a RIR
at least a week behind = Betty, a BR, and Blu, an EE
Spring??? = Isis, an EE, and Violet, a RIR
and one little bantam cochin x EE that I don't know how old she is or what to expect... but she sure is cute!
I'm not going to push them into laying with anything other than layer feed, oyster shell, a few nice treats and time. I don't plan on lighting the run or coops unless they need to be battened down so tightly due to severe winter weather, that it is completely dark in there during the day. it can get pretty darned cold and windy up here...
I want eggs... but I want happy healthy birds more. Come Spring, I will have more eggs than I need and plenty to share.
My oldest cockerel, Royce, was second in line to Barney, who was killed by a fox about 6-7 weeks ago. When Barney was around, Royce seemed "randier". he would follow Barney's lead, Barney was an extremely dominant boy and doing "roostery" things very early in his short life. Since Barney has been gone, Royce stayed very docile, but stopped showing interest in the girls. WELL... today, he was quite successful with Rose, and I must say, he was absolutely a gentlebird about it. Rose seemed quite willing, so there was no major "grab and tussle", and he was simply gorgeous with his wings spread around her! it was a proud moment... lol

 

[B J Hopkins]

My 2 cochin girls are 21 weeks, nothing. The roosters are chasing them....my guess is they're almost ready. I hope they haven't been laying already and some crow is taking them.

My Cochins I bought last year didn't start laying until after they were 6 months old. I've some chicks from them this year and they are following the same pattern. Slow to start laying, but 2 of the 3 went broody just 6-8 weeks after they first started laying. One of the hens has been broody 3 times since December. They make Great Momma's and accept extra chicks if you give them while her eggs are hatching.

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

I got a welsummer egg! It's so pretty! I heard they don't all have speckles, so I thought this one was extra special

This is compared with a 1.1oz cochin egg and a 2.1oz Cinnamon Queen egg.

 

[Nomibear]

For the same reason I don't like giving birds cayenne pepper or ACV to help them lay...yes, it may help them lay more eggs for a short while, but a chicken only has a limited number of egg cells...it will just make them stop completally faster.

Are you sure that there in an increase in laying with these natural products? I have read from some of the "oldtimers" that they will give this when the chicks are only a few days old. They use it to improve the chickens health, not egg production. I would assume a healthy chicken may lay better then an unhealthy one, but not more then it should....

 

[milo1108]

I don't use ACV to increase egg production (because my chickens haven't started laying yet) but only to keep their water from growing algae in the plastic containers I have it in. ACV also helps to regulate their bowels. You can also ferment their food in ACV and it also helps to regulate their bowels as well. (They love fermented food!) I even sprout food in it as well. Maybe I just have spoiled chickens. I think if anything it has encouraged them to not eat as much as they would if their bowels weren't regular. Not saying that they are unhealthy but that they don't have to eat as much to get full because of the fermentation of the grains and food I give them.

 

[Tin Flamingo]

I picked my Welsummer because I thought they would be dark brown with speckles.

 

[Tin Flamingo]

I live in Northern CA. I have a question about winter cessation. My hens will be 24 weeks old November. How likely will it be that my hens don't lay at all this year? We have comparatively mild weather. Only freezes a couple times a year during an especially hard winter. We only get on average 10" of rain a year and usually only need a light jacket during the worst of winter. The coop is in sunny location and when the tree looses it's leaves there won't be any shade covering the coop or run.

 

[Rhoise]

I live in Northern CA. I have a question about winter cessation. My hens will be 24 weeks old November. How likely will it be that my hens don't lay at all this year? We have comparatively mild weather. Only freezes a couple times a year during an especially hard winter. We only get on average 10" of rain a year and usually only need a light jacket during the worst of winter. The coop is in sunny location and when the tree looses it's leaves there won't be any shade covering the coop or run.

Pullets will start laying in December if that's when they come of age, with or without light...will they lay as vigorously if they matured in Feb or March? maybe, maybe not! but if they start a bit later and mature a bit more slowly it is a good thing for their health,longevity, and long term production.Without a doubt as the days get longer in early spring of 2013 your girls will be on fire!!

I turn lights on(by timer) at 6:15am now ( sunrise is at 7:15 and will be 8:15 in the dead of winter) just because I like to see what I'm doing while doing chores(feeding scooping poop etc before work), I stopped the evening lighting because it was agitating and causing escalated fights on the roosts. It is so much easier to let them just go to bed as the sun sets naturally, and I really don't want to get up any earlier(gotta adjust a few minutes a day for Daylight savings now because the girls don't play that game!) and 6:15 will soon be 5:15 so it's already a hassle for me. I go to work early(6:30am), keep my girls locked down in inner coop(saftey) and prefer to check on them and put feed out before I leave(don't like keeping feed in coop or run at night because it attracts predators and rodents, they will find a way!). Hope this helps, it's really a personal choice, and everyone is different. Lots of info on this topic just search this sight and read old posts, find out what works for you.....