Are My Hens To Old?

[PortageGirl]

Yeah, it's certainly been beautiful weather here this past week, and I live very close to marymac

I keep mine much longer than I should too, so I talk a big game... hehe, still a stay of execution is definitely in order!

 

[wohneli]

No offense taken. I was simply relaying information I had read in several other posts.

Quote:
Disagree with this, those rocky rolly thin hollow things are nothing like the solid round things that are in a nest. Do feed them away from the nests, but other than that, hens aren't smart enough to equate empty shells in the feed area with eggs in a nest.

Not trying to pick on you wohneli, no offense intended, but in 30 years of hen keeping, never seen them figure it out. The rare egg eater has only happened after accidental egg breakage in the nest, or the nasty hen who pecks at everything on principal. And she's got to pick pretty hard at a good solid egg. Once started, it -can- be learned by others but still usually quite rare and due to thin shells and/or extreme boredom.

 

[Lollipop]

Ohhh, you girls are gonna fuss at me for this. marymac, I suggest you try to borrow a rooster. Give him a few days with your old girls and see if he can`t "prime the pump", so to speak. Now I know it`s not suposed to work like that, but I`ve also seen it work. Whether coincidence or not, it has happened on more than one occasion. Whadda you got to lose?

 

[marymac]

Well, I actually have a rooster with my girls, BUT, he is a little Silky and he can't do anything for them. Oh, he tries for sure. They squat down, he climbs aboard, rolls around and falls off. Nothing accomplished. He is just too small for them. I even wondered about that. I have a silky sitting on some BLRW eggs for me, and If they hatch, I'm sure I'll have a roo or 2, so I hate to go out and get another one, but I may be able to borrow one. HMMMM, there's and idea brewing now.