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

[jkraze]

It had two yolks. It tasted awesome!

Wow! That was big!!! : D

 

[Tikkajazz94]

What type of feed could you be using that has no protein? Please let us know the brand and type of feed. Also, there's no "crown"...is your friend talking about their combs/wattles? When they begin to be ready to lay eggs their combs and wattles with grow larger and get much more red in color, rather than pale pink. 21 weeks is still well within range of normal for your birds to not be laying yet though, I wouldn't worry too much unless they're somehow ill.

Ah, cracked hen scratch..... There might be protein in corn, barley and wheat, But I called the provider and they said theirs no Protein in it, or does it say the persentage of protein. yes combs sorry. ah okay. so some have a pink comb. :/ ah okay....

 

[zooweemama]

Well my oldest pullets are 27 weeks old yesterday. No eggs. I have 1 bantam hen that recently finished molting and hasn't resumed laying yet. The rest of my chickens are 16 and 18 weeks old. (no eggs there either tho) I only have 2 hatchery strain pullets- my 2 EEs. The rest are all heritage breeds so I know it could take some time. Trying to be patient...

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
You really do need to get to the feed store and buy your girls some proper feed; chickens should never be fed a diet solely of scratch; that's more of a treat to them, and should be less than 1/10th of their daily intake. They should be on 16-20% protein feed, and should be getting plenty of calcium, either in their feed or in a separate dish by way of oyster shells. You can look for Layer feed, which will likely have 16% protein and somewhere between 3-4% calcium.

 

[MrChickenMan]

In my experience, it takes 6-8 months before they start laying.

 

[blondiebee181]

My birds are going to be 21 weeks on saturday....No eggs :/ I found out that my feed has no protein Which isn't good. So my dad is off to buy some feed. So their Danish browns leghorns ...... my friend asked me if they have a nice crown on them, which I was what?

You weren't feeding straight scratch grain or corn were you?

 

[blondiebee181]

Ah, cracked hen scratch..... There might be protein in corn, barley and wheat, But I called the provider and they said theirs no Protein in it, or does it say the persentage of protein. yes combs sorry. ah okay. so some have a pink comb. :/ ah okay....

Answered my question......lol...yeah scratch should never be fed as the only feed because there is not much protein in it that's true...it should be given sparingly as a treat only. You need to be feeding a layer complete feed. It's a mixed pellet feed that is formulated specifically for laying hens. If your dad comes home with something like "grower" or "flock raiser" that's fine too these are all complete feeds BUT laying hens MUST have access to extra calcium if you aren't going to feed layer specific feed. Calcium is usually fed to them in the form of oyster shell which you can also get at feed stores. It should be offered free choice in a seperate container from their feed and should be available at all times. If hens don't get enough calcium in their diet, their eggs will not have hard shells.

 

[blondiebee181]

Well my oldest pullets are 27 weeks old yesterday. No eggs. I have 1 bantam hen that recently finished molting and hasn't resumed laying yet. The rest of my chickens are 16 and 18 weeks old. (no eggs there either tho) I only have 2 hatchery strain pullets- my 2 EEs. The rest are all heritage breeds so I know it could take some time. Trying to be patient...

Zooweemama, you can answer my question you have laying ducks........I may have asked this but I wasn't planning on making seperate nest boxes for them (as I hear ducks seldom lay where you want them too anyway) If they lay in the straw of their house that will be good enough for me....do ducks need fake eggs around lay time like chickens or they just don't care? Do you know if first year laying ducks will lay in the fall anyway like a lot of chickens I've heard or do you think they'll wait till Spring?

 

[zooweemama]

Zooweemama, you can answer my question you have laying ducks........I may have asked this but I wasn't planning on making seperate nest boxes for them (as I hear ducks seldom lay where you want them too anyway) If they lay in the straw of their house that will be good enough for me....do ducks need fake eggs around lay time like chickens or they just don't care? Do you know if first year laying ducks will lay in the fall anyway like a lot of chickens I've heard or do you think they'll wait till Spring?

When my ducks first started laying - they seemed to just let them roll out whenever and wherever in the coop. Laying from 7am all the way up to 11am at first. We have 3 lay boxes - literally they are large cozy rubbermaid tubs (best lay boxes for ducks everrr). They wouldn't lay in those for beans. The drakes would take giant dumps in there and mess it all up but no eggs. After about 7-10 days they started laying the eggs in certain spots in the coop. By the door, one corner and a spot BY one of the tubs/lay box. After 2 weeks we found 1 in a lay box and the rest in the usual spots. By 3 weeks they began laying them all in boxes and laying by 830am. And we are on week 4 and a few days and they lay them ALL in the same tub/lay box now. We usually find my sweetie WH, Maggie May, sitting on them- like she is protecting them all. When I approach her I give her a pet and greet her and she hops up and walks off so I can collect them.

I used no faux eggs. We use pellet bedding on the floor but I put soft pine shavings in the tubs/lay boxes. My ducks started laying Sept2. They are not all laying. I am only getting 5 eggs a day and I have 11 layers. I suspect the time of year is messing with my late bloomers. My ducks are 23 and 26 weeks old.

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

We have a second Welsummer laying! She laid her first speckled egg today and it was a double yolker! She is 28 weeks, 1 day old. I have 3 more Wellies the same age not laying yet.