April 2010 Pullets- wanna wait with me?

[GermanChick]

I am thinking about putting up a neon sign above the nesting boxes - EGGS HERE with a big fat arrow pointing down.
18 1/2 weeks and they haven't even looked at the nesting boxes !!!!!

 

[Vanessabuffsnsilkies]

My pullets from April 12th have yet to even squat. Some are getting red..guess its gonna be a while.

 

[1USAVET]

Hi all...very new on the posts.

I have 8 chickens: 6 that were born on 4/6 and 2 BR that were born on 4/1. We have 4 pullets and 4 roos (male/female of 4 different types!) Their wattles/combs are all red except for the female Light Brahma who is a pale pink. I am hearing an egg song (I think)....just this week a loud agitated sounding clucking that I hadn't been hearing before. This afternoon, I saw the rooster Light Brahma do the loud clucking song!! Also, we have an EXTREMELY aggressive Silver Wyandotte that chases everybody. She tore the ear of our sweetest girl, our BR "Star". Star is fine, but after putting up with her chasing males and females and biting us (we let all the chicks free range from around noon till 7-8 pm (bedtime). Anyway...Moonie (the mean SW), I decided to put her in the small chicken hutch in the pen to isolate her and keep her from further damaging Star. (I also read that that might change her aggressivness by bringing her down in the pecking order?) So she was locked up all day today (we did let her out of the hutch a couple of times within the pen while we changed food and water so she could stretch...). NOW, after reading the posts on here, I am wondering if she has been acting this way because she is just ready to mate and is ticked off because she isn't getting enough?LOL

And yesterday (before I knew she had hurt Star, but after she chased the male BR half way down our long driveway (she has done this several times), while trying to make her head back towards our house, she kept "laying down" every few feet (squatting?), but I felt like she was just trying to get me to think she was nonchalantly sitting there so she could attack me!

AND now after reading the posts, I am going to have to try to keep the girls in the pen (maybe until 4 pm?) so they are just free ranging for a few hours? Or, is this still not a good idea? We have 5 acres and I don't want them laying all over the property. I want to know when they have laid an egg, not find one days later!

Do I have to keep them in all the time? Do they mostly lay in the morning? Should we just let out the males? We have a 10 x 15 pen with several roosts. Oh yeah, I have one LARGE nesting box that we have had in the pen for about 2 weeks and Star the BR has been checking it out!

(sorry for the long post, and thanks for all the great info!)

 

[DurangoCal]

Quote:
No they can lay at all times of day!

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

I have 12 pullets of several standard and banty breeds, all hatched around April 9. We got our first eggs this weekend! First came a soft-shelled brown egg that was squished on the nesting platform, two days later a hard-shelled brown one on the nesting platform and a cream-colored banty egg on the ground in the shelter, then the next day, one cream banty egg on the platform. By the looks of the girls' combs, wattles and behavior, I'm guessing the brown eggs are from one or both RIRs, and the banty eggs may be from a barred cochin and/or a silkie, but I've heard silkies lay a little later than most. About a week ago I started putting straw on the platform. They had it strewn on the shelter floor a few hours later...twice! Then I tried wood shavings, which lasted a bit longer but then ended up on the floor. Will they get the idea of leaving it there for a nice soft nest instead of laying on vinyl floor tiles?

 

[pattgal]

Quote:
Well good thing I didn't put any money on it. we got our first egg last night at 8:30 pm. I'd eat it but there was no shell

 

[heksa]

My April chicks have already started laying - Dominique last week, and White Rock yesterday. Only Buff Orpington has not layed yet, but I think this breed is a little slow with laying.

 

[GermanChick]

Quote:
That's what I do for the same reason. I feel bad for them because they are staying at the gate of the run and are practically begging to be let out but I don't want to hike through woods and underbrush to look for eggs. Some days I give in and let them out by 2pm

 

[JustOneMore]

Quote:
I've lost track with the many of us who are eagerly waiting with you. Kittykorat, have you had your first eggs come yet?

Ours are 4 days younger than yours so I greatly look forward to news that your wait has ended.

 

[dolly85]

I have some hatched April 2nd and April 26th. I can't wait for some yummy eggs!