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

[beccybumbles]

ok, in the uk the weather is cold and wet! i have had my 2 girls for 4 wks now, they are 25 weeks old, i am gladualy taming them! they r brill! luv them to bits but still no eggs! why? someone told me that as its october now they might not start laying till spring? is this true?, they r free range and cooped at night but we also have 3 cats, dog rabbit who interact with them all are friends.
they have layers pellets and grit, plus veg and all sorts of food found in the garden. they are road island reds cross wiv suffolks.

they are very spoilt and very loved but i have told them we would like some eggs! they are not listening. should i be worried or will it be next spring??? who knows, advice pls all you chicken lovers xx

 

[marianne7]

Well don't know about anyone else but In the past we have got chickens in September younger than yours, and they layed all through the winter, chickens dont stop laying in the winter, they may lay less, but they still lay, so I would keep looking for eggs

 

[blondiebee181]

My EE hen Noodle finally laid her first egg the other day!

I was so excited I nearly dropped it!

Hahaha! Noodle?! Lol the name made me chuckle....good for her! I dropped an egg once.....very sad...I even apologized to the hen that laid it....but it was a slippery sucker! I droped it and caught it TWICE before it finally escaped, cracking on the ground like Humpty Dumpty falling off a wall...

 

[Runawaylobster]

Beccy Bumbles....The thing that is really working against you is that you have very short daylight in the winter... maybe adding a little
artificial light for a couple of extra hours would help... Lesley (ex brit)...

 

[blondiebee181]

ok, in the uk the weather is cold and wet! i have had my 2 girls for 4 wks now, they are 25 weeks old, i am gladualy taming them! they r brill! luv them to bits but still no eggs! why? someone told me that as its october now they might not start laying till spring? is this true?, they r free range and cooped at night but we also have 3 cats, dog rabbit who interact with them all are friends.
they have layers pellets and grit, plus veg and all sorts of food found in the garden. they are road island reds cross wiv suffolks.

they are very spoilt and very loved but i have told them we would like some eggs! they are not listening. should i be worried or will it be next spring??? who knows, advice pls all you chicken lovers xx

I second what Marianne7 says, I've heard stories of a lot of hens laying (though less) in the winter, especially first-year layers....alot of folks say that to keep a high egg count going you should artificially light your coop, but it is wiser to stay away from this unless you have specific reasons like hatching spring chicks for sale. The reason being, artificial lighting will up egg production, but it is hard on the hens. Winter is a time for them to take a break and moult and relax from pumping out eggs and your layers will burn out much quicker and cease to lay sooner if you do this.

As far as your girls not laying...you say you've had them for 4 weeks? Does this mean that you got them from someone else and transported them from familiar surroundings to your place of residence, their new home? If so, it probably triggered a stress moult...have you been noticing a few more feathers than normal floating around? Especially the softer belly feathers? A stress moult happens when a bird is taken from it's familiar environment and placed in a brand new one...it will take them a bit to finish this short moult, but right now they still may be using all that egg laying energy to form new feather growth. Hens typically feather out more for winter anyway (I think) so that plus a moult may be a bit stressful...you may yet see eggs but don't worry, winter is a strange time as far as laying...rather unpredictable I think...this is my first winter with my girls so I am curious to see how they will fair....good luck!

 

[beccybumbles]

thanks hun x

 

[cheeka]

beccybumbles, I agree with blondiebee... often with the stress of a move, a laying hen can stop laying for as much as 4 weeks, and since yours are fairly young and weren't laying to begin with... you really have nothing to worry about. 2 of my girls didn't start laying til they were 24 weeks plus a few days, and they were followed by another 2 at 25 weeks. I'm still waiting on 2 more, who are 26+ weeks, although one was in the nest box for most of the afternoon, so

I will have another little egg this evening?? I also have one other, an EE, who just started squatting yesterday... I'm not expecting an egg from her before she's 27 weeks at the earliest. there are lots of folks waiting 30+ weeks... hang in there and definitely keep looking! I had a small flock back in the 90's, and they laid all winter with very minimal difference in egg #'s, this is my first winter with this bunch.

 

[Nelson-90]

hi everybody look what i found today

 

[cheeka]

oooooooooooooohhh! chickies!

 

[Nelson-90]

arent they cute