Attention Mainers: Anyone have eggs yet?

[ptig78d]

I'm getting frustrated with my hens not laying eggs yet! I get eggs through my WIC for my youngest...but there's nothing like fresh ones!
My hens live with 2 mature roos in a dog-kennel converted to a coop, and a seperate nesting box. If you want pics, see my BYC page. I've put fresh hay into the nest box..even threw a couple of plastic eggs. I had hens lay last winter, and it seemed colder then...plus, I didn't have as many chickens in the coop to provide body warmth.
So...what gives?!

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Widget]

One of mine just started laying again. I am getting an egg about every other day. Two others are just now at the age that they should start laying. Hopefully they will get the hint from the other one. Everyone else is still a bit too young. I don't expect much from them until April.

 

[ptig78d]

I hope I'll at least get an egg soon. I've got nearly 15 hens....surely, one of them's just itching to lay an egg?!

 

[blueseal]

i just rehomed 4 older hens i had 21 now down to 17. 14 pulletts 8-10 months old and 3 buff orps about 2 yrs old. when i had all 21 i was getting 12-18 eggs a day all winter . now im getting 9-14 eggs a day from 17 . i use a light on a timer in my coop on at 3am off at 830 am. waiting for all my pullets to give me 1 egg a day.

 

[ptig78d]

I thought about forcing them to lay during winter with a timer light, but I've heard that it shortens their lifespan or laying span...whatever you call it. I figure I'll just have to be patient and wait. It'll be easier once my LG bator arrives tomorrow

and then my hatching eggs soon after!

 

[JoMama]

I heard the same thing about forcing them to lay. However I figured 2 1/2 months was a long enough break!! I'm an NO expert, but I think it has more to do with light rather than temp. I'm in Southern CA and it doesn't get very cold here at all, but we're only getting 10 hours of sunlight. 9 days ago I put a red light with a timer on my girls and I got an egg last night!! I have it set to come on 3 hours before sun-up and 3 hours after sun-down. I hope all 6 will start to aly soon!

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Recently I read an article in the Back Yard poultry mag. I keep pusing (I've learned a lot), that a hen is born with all the eggs she will ever have at birth. She can lay no more or less.

I keep a red heat light on all the time and a white heat light on a timer. Personally I don't see that it would hurt, since a chicken who doesn't lay is either just a bird or a rooster.

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, hens gotta lay or til the day that she dies. Can't help lovin those chickens of mine.

 

[dragonlair]

Farmingdale Maine here. I have 2 Polish hens, 5 Golden Comets and 1 RIR. All are laying, have been since they went through their molt this fall, I'm guessing they started back laying in November? Actually, the older Polish started laying in late December while her pullet room mate just started laying mid January. I brought the hens inside the goat barn/dog kennel (actually 1 car garage) after the first snow and put them in a goat stall, so they have been getting extra lights because of the dogs and goats.

 

[dragonlair]

Oh, yeah, I have been getting between 4-6 eggs a day from the "red pen". The 2 Polish have been giving me 1 egg a day. I think they rotate laying duty. Once in a while I will find 2 eggs in their pen.

 

[WoodChic]

I'm from New England, and about 12 out of 15 chickens lay regularly. They could be going through a molt though. Our's did a few months ago.