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

[Nomibear]

I follow the "fermented feed for meat birds" thread. You can prob see it in my activity on my profile.
Most people combine layer pellets with scratch, although it can be done with just one or the other. Then covered in water, and allowed to ferment for 24+ hours, stired occasionally.
Again, most people use some Apple cider vinegar w/Mother to kickstart the process. That isn't needed, but just gets things going a little sooner.

 

[7 Biddies]

I follow the "fermented feed for meat birds" thread. You can prob see it in my activity on my profile.
Most people combine layer pellets with scratch, although it can be done with just one or the other. Then covered in water, and allowed to ferment for 24+ hours, stired occasionally.
Again, most people use some Apple cider vinegar w/Mother to kickstart the process. That isn't needed, but just gets things going a little sooner.

Just type "fermented feed" in the search box at the top of any BYC page, and the thread will come up.

 

[IronBard]

Howdy. Making my first post ever on this site on this thread I have 8 babies. This is my first venture into raising chickens. So far it has been a blast and very worrisome. Worrisome in that I want to be certain I am doing the best possible job for my babies. On to my question(s):

My girls are 11 weeks old. How old should they be when they begin laying?

One of girls might be a boy. I'm not sure. She's a Black Australorp and is very much the leader of the flock. At 11 weeks old, s/he hasn't crowed but is making adult like sounds (what I call 'big girl' voice). At what age do the roos begin crowing?




This is Xena, my Black Australorp, right after I opened the gate to let them out for the day. She strutted around making her 'big girl' sounds checking out the area for dangers.

 

[kmatt87]

i have several that range from 20 wks to 27 wks and all are laying but my 25 wk old EE! I'm getting so impatient for that EE to start laying! I'm hoping for something besides a brown egg!

 

[farmer boy]

i have several that range from 20 wks to 27 wks and all are laying but my 25 wk old EE! I'm getting so impatient for that EE to start laying! I'm hoping for something besides a brown egg!

ees can take long to start laying my friend i think said hers are 8 months and no eggs but i am waiting with me ee too and same as my australorps you will know when they are gonna start laying by their comb .. it will start getting redder and the wattles will get bigger

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

Howdy. Making my first post ever on this site on this thread I have 8 babies. This is my first venture into raising chickens. So far it has been a blast and very worrisome. Worrisome in that I want to be certain I am doing the best possible job for my babies. On to my question(s):

My girls are 11 weeks old. How old should they be when they begin laying?

One of girls might be a boy. I'm not sure. She's a Black Australorp and is very much the leader of the flock. At 11 weeks old, s/he hasn't crowed but is making adult like sounds (what I call 'big girl' voice). At what age do the roos begin crowing?




This is Xena, my Black Australorp, right after I opened the gate to let them out for the day. She strutted around making her 'big girl' sounds checking out the area for dangers.

And congrats on your first babies!!

The age when each chicken begins to lay eggs is somewhat specific to her breed, but mostly it's just an individual thing. Some breeds tend to lay earlier than others (ex. Leghorn, sex links, sometimes Australorps) at anywhere from 16-22 weeks of age while other breeds (ex. Welsummer, Marans, and Easter Eggers usually take longer) closer to 24-30 weeks. However, that's not to say your sex links won't lay at 30 weeks and your Welsummers have to wait til 24 weeks to start, that's where the individualization comes in. All the breeds I have are listed in my signature. Even the Cinnamon Queens, a type of sex link, didn't start until they were about 24 weeks, when others on this thread own the same kind of birds and they were getting eggs at 16 weeks. Either way, you probably have a couple more months to go on yours. You can tell when they're getting close when their faces get big, developed combs and wattles, when they start squawking out the egg song and checking out nesting boxes, and when they start squatting for the rooster (or sometimes you.) You can look up squatting and egg songs on youtube if you aren't sure what I'm talking about.

As for your australorp, she looks like a pullet to me. If she were a rooster she would be getting thin pointy feathers on her neck and lower back called hackle and saddle feathers. If you could catch her, you could probably see some of them starting to come through, but she looks pullet to me! Hope this helps, and enjoy your birdies!

Oh, also wanted to add that the age when roosters start crowing can vary wildly. Some people on here have had boys trying to belt one out as early as 6 weeks. The earliest I ever heard one crow was 16, and I have a brahma boy right now at 26 weeks that has yet to find his voice!

 

[IronBard]

Thanks so much for information! I'll be extremely happy for her to be a pullet, that's what I wanted

 

[lareynadenada]

My Buff Orp has laid 5-6 eggs, yesterday laid a huge double yolker!!

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

I got a double yolker today too! We usually get one about every 1-2 weeks with 10 girls laying. Does anybody else weigh their eggs or am I just silly for doing that? I like to see how much bigger they get over time. Today's double yolker was a record breaker at 2.7 ounces! Out of a Cinnamon Queen, like all of them have been except once my EE that's laying had one.

 

[Nelson-90]

THOSE ARE ALWAYS FUN