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A contest for the duds!

Its so hard to decide which dud to post about! LOL. Ill go with Rosie, the faverolles. She is 29 weeks old, likes to sing the egg song, squat and go in and out of nests. But doesn't like to actually lay an egg! She is a "special" girl, who can't run in a straight line. She tends to walk in circles and frequently gets lost while walking around a tree.
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I hope you don't have too many duds! Feel free to post about them all.
 
Its so hard to decide which dud to post about! LOL. Ill go with Rosie, the faverolles. She is 29 weeks old, likes to sing the egg song, squat and go in and out of nests. But doesn't like to actually lay an egg! She is a "special" girl, who can't run in a straight line. She tends to walk in circles and frequently gets lost while walking around a tree.
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Awe. I affectionately call my chickens "the idiots." I have my doubts about even the brightest of the bunch. I bet your girl will lay somewhere special when the time comes too... maybe the top of the ramp so the egg rolls down ;)
 
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I’ll join in! I currently have 12 girls freeloading. 1 barred rock, 1 Australorp, 1 mottled bantam Cochin, 2 Easter Eggers, and 2 silkies. All about 23 weeks old. 2 SLW who are only about 3 months old, and 2 silkies who are about a year to a year and a half. 1 New Hampshire red who is about 5 months old. The silkie hens have been here for about a month and laid a couple eggs each then quit. I haven’t seen an egg in 2 weeks. I’m in upstate NY so I expect a slow down but these girls are killing me. The Easter Eggers are both squatting and I can get 2-3 fingers between their pelvic bones. They’ve actually become very friendly and have been following me around. But still no eggs!!!
 
4 out of 5 of my 26 week olds are duds so far: 1 Black Australorp (and my first pick for the next one to start laying), 1 Easter Egger, 1 Golden Laced Wyandotte, and 1 Cuckoo Marans. The golden comet is the only one laying so far.

I also have a 6 year old retiree dud, but that's not who the contest is for. This one was a great egg layer for about 5 years.
 
I love Rosie,she's Lulu's sister from another mister. If Lulu ever lays I'll send you some eggs that way you can have an army of goofballs. :)
Its so hard to decide which dud to post about! LOL. Ill go with Rosie, the faverolles. She is 29 weeks old, likes to sing the egg song, squat and go in and out of nests. But doesn't like to actually lay an egg! She is a "special" girl, who can't run in a straight line. She tends to walk in circles and frequently gets lost while walking around a tree.
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We have four out of five not laying yet. I was wondering if I should be concerned but after reading the late layer threads, I think this is normal.
  • All from a reputable hatchery, all the same age, 26 weeks old today! Hatched May 4th.
  • We have not had 14 hours of daylight since they were only about 14 weeks old - I'm guessing that is a big part of the delay. (We don't even have 16 hours of light at the summer solstice).
  • We currently have only 10 hours of light every day, and that will drop (obviously) until the winter solstice (we'll have under nine hours at that point).
  • They started a transition from grower to layer feed at 16 weeks (free choice of both, and they all ate both) until the grower feed ran out at about week 23.
  • They have been offered free choice crushed oyster shell since about 18 weeks. All have eaten at least some.

Charley - barred Plymouth rock - Awesome girl! She's been laying flawlessly for two weeks and three days (started between 23 and 24 weeks). Though now she's taken to laying eggs from the roost while she sleeps or is just waking up. C'mon, girls! Follow suit! But use the nest boxes, please. Oh, but Charley is a silent egg layer. Only the first time did she make a couple "bwaks." Ever since, total silence before and after laying. Interesting...

Amelia - Barred Plymouth rock - Just started submitting a few days ago. Nice red comb and wattles. Always was a chatterbox but is hollering constantly now. We're expecting her first egg any day (minute!) now. However, the others...

Aurora - Australorp - Pretty small comb and it's pale, but it is growing. Wattles have filled out and are nice and red. Shows no signs of submitting and has never made "layer" vocalizations.

Babs & Holly - Both RIRs - Exact same situation: Comb was very small and pale, but last week started growing noticeably. Combs are bigger than Aurora's. Both have wattles that have filled in and are red. Both have taken to making a lot of noise including what I think of as the classic egg laying announcement. Both have had HUGE clear "poops" every now and then for the past month or so. I think they are yolkless, shelless ablumens.

Fingers crossed! I'm tired of buying two dozen eggs a week :p
 

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