5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[roostercluck]

Ok. I figured I would ask this seeing that there is so much information on this thread. My hens just recently stopped laying. I'm talking total egg drop, none a day. Is this because of the daylight hours dropping? They are all healthy and aren't molting. The temperature has even been really nice. I dont know what's up?

 

[ronott1]

Nice pics! I'm so jealous of the Golden Cuckoo Marans

. The roos are just gorgeous!!!
Everyone has their ways of dealing with mites, worms, parasites etc. I take the easy way out. Ivermectin Cattle Pour On...a few drops on the back of the neck of each chicken works like Frontline. I had a bad case of mites, and now that I do it routinely, I've never had a problem since. Added bonus, it's a complete wormer too. Drawbacks: it's not tested for poultry, and I do egg withdrawl for 10 days to be safe. Lots of folks swear by it.

Mites will build resistance to Ivermectin. It would be a good idea to alternate with Frontline. I did read a poultry study that found Frontline in the oil glands but none traceable in the eggs. Withdrawl was recommended for Processing as meat but not for eating eggs.

Since both have not been certified for use with chickens you are not supposed to sell the eggs. I eat them when treated with Ivermectin. If worried, feed the eggs back to the chickens or to your other animals.

 

[draye]

I so forgot to post pictures of my eggs going into the incubator. Oh well, I wasn't really in it to win any contests anyway. I just wanted to hatch a long with you guys anyway.

 

[chickengirl1193]

I have another question related to chicken management if you guys don't mind... I give my girls grit free choice and I just gave them a fresh handfull and they all ran over and ate so much, do you think they weren't eating it before cuz the pieces were to small? I'm still learning all the things that you only get from experience. books only have so much info

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote:
Thanks Ron, that's good to know about the resistance. I hadn't thought of that. I actually already have Frontline, and the chickens are ready for a dose, so I'll use that this time!

 

[itsbob]

Quote:
DO they roam? We thought twice this year that a couple of our chickens stopped producing.. First it was our 2 Red-Xs, no brown eggs for a couple of weeks, then the wife decided to clean up the wood line to get rid of the green briar, and lo and behold she hit the motherlode.. 16 brown eggs all on the same nest at the base of a tree. Second was our Easter Eggers, no blue eggs for awhile so we let the chickens out somewhat late one day and I watched our EEs and sure enough one RAN out of the coop and beelined for a spot in the woods and laid down. When she got up, found another mother lode of eggs. She REALLY had to lay that egg, and lay it right NOW!! Again, about 12 eggs in that nest. We screwed up on the first nest and picked up all the eggs, and cleaned up the nesting area, and then we couldn't find where they moved their nest to. The EE nest we took all but two eggs, and sure enough would go back every day and find another one or two eggs there. Now we don't have that issue as we now have a fox issue instead, and all the chickens and ducks are locked in the coop during the day.

 

[mspj]

Thanks Ron, that's good to know about the resistance. I hadn't thought of that. I actually already have Frontline, and the chickens are ready for a dose, so I'll use that this time!

Frontline for chickens? Or do you use frontline for dogs?

 

[Gardeningmama]

Ok. I figured I would ask this seeing that there is so much information on this thread. My hens just recently stopped laying. I'm talking total egg drop, none a day.

Is this because of the daylight hours dropping? They are all healthy and aren't molting. The temperature has even been really nice. I dont know what's up?

It does happen about now If you're not doing supplemental lighting. Last month I had 1 hen laying out of 13 all month. This week 2 more started back up laying. You say none of your hens are molting, but I'd bet a few are gearing up for one. My coops are a mess with all of the feathers, and I've heard a lot of talk about others molting. 'Tis the Season. Mid-late February they should be getting back to normal.

 

[ronott1]

Frontline for chickens? Or do you use frontline for dogs?

Use frontline for Dogs. It is off label for chickens. It is expensive to certify medicine so companies do not do it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Don't give up on him yet. Fertililty for Roos can be low at this time of the year. Light does not only lower egg laying in Hens.

Good point. Roosters also need to be photo stimulated. It's even been observed that not only the day length, but also the age at which roosters were photostimulated is even more important than with hens.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...iTxfJPi-7IVAvk-BQ&sig2=Qbo4k1HMBtZq1xAD58IcYg

I would think that light and nutrition are big factors this time of year in rooster fertility.